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Now that we’re three months into the offseason—or maybe it just feels like that, given how tragedy ages you—it’s time to start thinking ahead. One of my big focuses over this weekend is going to be free agency, and the free agents the Falcons should be chasing.
While I’m catching up on those names, though, I do want to note that the Falcons can break a couple of records in this upcoming season. After their all-out assault on the record books in 2016, which saw Matt Ryan holding every single franchise passing mark and Matt Bryant setting the franchise scoring record, there naturally are not as many big milestones to hit this year. But there are still some.
Here’s a couple of records that may fall next year.
Field Goals Attempted
Morten Andersen: 224
Matt Bryant: 222
Bryant already owns the franchise records for field goals made, extra points attempted and made, and scoring, making him easily the best kicker in franchise history even when you consider the era in which he’s playing. He’s extremely likely to return for at least one more year in 2017, which means he’ll break this record by the first or second week of the season, and will have surpassed Andersen in everything. $$$$, y’all.
Interceptions Returned for Touchdowns
Deion Sanders: 3
Kevin Mathis: 3
Deion Jones: 2
Incredibly, the already great Deion Jones needs just one interception returned for a touchdown to tie Deion Sanders, and two to break his all-time franchise mark. Given Jones’ incredible speed and nose for the football, I’m gonna go ahead and not rule this one out.
Pass Deflections
Brent Grimes: 56
Robert Alford: 52
This is an imprecisely tracked statistic, as well as a much more recently tracked one, so it’s probably safe to say that Robert Alford will not have more pass deflections than anyone else in franchise history. In the eyes of the record books, though, he’s a shoe-in to low by Brent Grimes this upcoming season, given how frequently he gets his hands on the ball.
That’s it. Jonathan Babineaux, if he returns, will continue to climb up the ranks of games played in a Falcons uniform, and it goes without saying that Devonta Freeman and Julio Jones have nowhere to go but up in their quests to go down as all-time Atlanta greats. For 2017, at least, these are the only records that seem to be in doubt.