• Atlanta Falcons bolster their offense: Signing Kirk Cousins should enable Atlanta's offense to carry the team to a NFC South title in 2024.
• Baltimore Ravens‘ dominant run game just got better: Adding Derrick Henry to Baltimore's rushing attack makes them an even more difficult offense to defend.
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With the first week of free agency in the books, some teams have seriously improved some of their position groups while some have yet to accomplish that feat.
With that, we give you our most improved units (so far) during the 2024 free agency period.
Offense: Atlanta Falcons
The quarterback position guides NFL offenses and no team upgraded their signal caller more than the Falcons after the signing Kirk Cousins. The former Viking had a career year in 2023 before his Achilles injury derailed his season. In 2021 and 2022, Cousins ranked sixth in PFF WAR and was on his way to another top-six finish in 2023. Contrast that to the Falcons' 2023 starter Desmond Ridder, who ranked 44th in that metric. Even if Cousins struggles to start the season coming off his injury, we can’t imagine Cousins playing so poorly that he’s playing at a bottom-five QB level.
Additionally, the Falcons have added to an already strong receiving group, which should enable them to be NFC contenders and arguably the favorites in the weak NFC South in 2024.
Receiving: Atlanta Falcons
What would you expect after signing the underrated Darnell Mooney and trading for the misused Rondale Moore. Mooney and Moore’s lightning speed will stretch defenses, opening up options for Drake London and Kyle Pitts to unlock their talents. New offensive coordinator Zac Robinson brings the successful Sean McVay offense that Cousins thrived in under Kevin O’Connell. An offense that utilizes motions, tight splits, and gets receivers open at all levels of the defense, Robinson has the weapons to unleash on the NFC and the QB to find those open receivers.
Rush Attack: Baltimore Ravens
“King” Henry has entered the AFC North: a division known for smash-mouth, run-it-down-your-throat offenses. If the Ravens weren’t already terrifying enough with Lamar Jackson threatening to run it at any moment, now defenses will have to contend with one of the best bulldozers of the past decade in Derrick Henry. And when he needs a blow, the electrifying Keaton Mitchell is there to back him up. Henry was successful running behind one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL in 2023, as he was only afforded 1.0 yards before contact per rush attempt. The Ravens enjoyed 1.6 yards before first contact. The NFL is often a game of inches and now Henry gets quite a few more of those to pick up a head of steam.
Offensive Line: Carolina Panthers
Several of the top free-agent offensive linemen have not signed anywhere as of this writing, so the most improved offensive line unit could change seconds after publishing this article. That said, the Panthers made their big splash early on in free agency, signing guard Robert Hunt to a massive five-year, $100 million deal to beef up their offensive line. They didn’t stop there as they looked to shore up both guard positions adding Damien Lewis to a four-year, $53 million deal.
Hunt battled injuries in 2023 but when healthy is one of the top guards in the NFL, grading as the sixth-best guard in 2023. Lewis has posted a 70-plus PFF grade in two of his four seasons in the NFL and still produced a solid PFF WAR in 2023 despite a down year grade-wise. They’ll vastly improve a guard group that graded the worst in the NFL last year at 40.9, no matter who they trotted out there at the position.
Pass Rush: Houston Texans
The Texans added Danielle Hunter and Denico Autry over the first days of free agency to bolster their pass rush. Hunter totaled 84 pressures and 18 sacks (by PFF standards) with a 79.1 PFF pass-rush grade. It’s an upgrade over Jonathan Greenard’s 75.2 PFF pass-rush grade and 48 total pressures. Autry provides good value with a pass rush win rate of over 12% in three straight seasons. He will be a great rotational piece to spell Hunter and defensive rookie of the year Will Anderson.
Coverage: Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins have made a plethora of moves in the first week of free agency as they look to retool their defense. The biggest improvement should come in their secondary and coverage units due to releasing the underperforming Xavien Howard and replacing him with Kendall Fuller, the fourth-best coverage cornerback in the NFL in 2023. On top of that, they added safety Jordan Poyer (74.4 2023 PFF coverage grade) and linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. (76.8 PFF coverage grade). Improvements in coverage at three key positions should alleviate pressure from Jalen Ramsey and Jevon Holland in the secondary and improve a unit that graded 22nd and ranked sixth-worst in success rate allowed in 2023.
Run Defense: Washington Commanders
While the biggest defensive move of free agency was the Las Vegas Raiders signing Christian Wilkins, he’s already joining a respectable run defensive unit that ranked 13th in EPA per rush allowed. The Lions signing DJ Reader will improve their run defense unit that ranked 13th in success rate allowed. Both defenses were graded as top six units in 2023 as well.
Nevertheless, the Washington Commanders added two of the best run-defending linebackers in the NFL in 2023 — Bobby Wagner (91.5) and Frankie Luvu (74.0). The Commanders ranked 23rd in success rate allowed per rush in 2023 and graded as the second-worst run defense unit. The combination of the new additions and staff will transform the Commanders' run defense to where it should no longer be a liability in 2024.
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