Atlanta Falcons' Day 3 pick, Year 1 starter: WR Casey Washington

Illinois receiver Casey Washington could bust into the Falcons' deep receiver corps

(Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports) / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Falcons come into the 2024 season with more weapons than offensive coordinator Zac Robinson may know what to do with. Quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. (however that goes in the long run) have former first-round picks Kyle Pitts, Drake London, and Bijan Robinson as primary passing targets, and there's the acquisition of former Bears receiver Darnell Mooney to the group.

Still, there may be opportunities for starting reps for sixth-round pick Casey Washington out of Illinois. Robinson is from the Sean McVay school, which means a lot of three-receiver sets. And the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Washington has a lot of reps as a bigger receiver Last season per Pro Football Focus, Washington caught 49 passes on 76 targets for 670 yards and four touchdowns. He had just four receptions of 20 or more air yards on nine targets for 165 yards and a touchdown, but the tape shows a lot more vertical potential than that.

It will be highly interesting to see how Washington bulls his way up the depth chart, especially in the preseason, when Penix (who led the NCAA with 117 deep passes last season) is letting it fly in his general direction.

Illinois (and now Falcons) receiver Casey Washington: 49 catches last season, 10 explosive plays. 6'2", 200-pound vertical receiver who can be a real problem for defenses on fade balls. Atlanta got this one right. pic.twitter.com/Xm9G7T9o3m

— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 28, 2024