Casey

Washington

We last saw London play in Week 11 against the Panthers, when he caught 7-of-9 targets for 119 yards before suffering a PCL sprain. He practiced in a limited capacity on Wednesday and Thursday this week before sitting out on Friday. We really would have preferred to see him practice fully at the end of the week, though it is entirely possible that the team gave him the day off for rest and rehab. London’s target-earning ability keeps him in the WR1 tier, though his range of potential outcomes is far wider than normal. The Falcons declared CB Mike Hughes, RB Nathan Carter, LB JD Bertrand, OL Michael Jerrell, WR Casey Washington, DL Elijah Garcia and WR Malik Heath inactive for Week 16 against the Cardinals.

Falcons WR Darnell Mooney is, unfortunately, just a dart-throw FLEX option with London sidelined. Mooney has totaled 45-plus receiving yards just twice this season. Falcons TE Kyle Pitts will continue operating as the No. 1 pass catcher. He should be started as a high-end TE1.

S Jessie Bates and the Falcons’ starting skill players are active this week. Harrison (knee) and Bowman (hamstring) will each miss another game, keeping the Falcons a little bare on the front seven.

Agnew has been dealing with a groin injury that caused him to miss Week 2. He did not practice all week and will now miss Week 3 against the Panthers. Also out is Casey Washington (concussion) as the Falcons will have to rotate around the injuries for the lower half of the receiving depth chart. Terrell was ruled out earlier in the week with a hamstring issue after leaving Week 2 with the injury.

McClellan is sixth-round rookie who is now a healthy scratch with the Falcons having a full running back room Week 1. Washington, Orhorhoro, Gwyn and Dorlus are also healthy inactives. Hamilton was ruled out due to a groin injury, but other than that, the Falcons enter Week 1 against the Steelers with a clean bill of health.

Washington wasn’t on many draft radars this offseason, but the Falcons went out and selected the former Illinois Illini with the No. 187 overall pick in this year’s draft, giving him a chance to make the 53-man roster this offseason. In addition to the praise heaped on Washington by London, Falcons beat writer, Daniel Flick, noted that Washington also took first and second-team snaps during the middle of OTAs, and had the chance to catch passes from Kirk Cousins and rookie first rounder Michael Penix. Washington still has a long way to go to break camp with the 53-man roster. We’ll see how things shape up next month once the pads come on for training camp.

Washington is a five-year prospect who topped out at 670 yards and four touchdowns last season. Last year marked the first in which Washington found the end zone, and nearly a third of his yards came in a season-finale against Northwestern when he went for an unprecedented 9-218-3. Washington ran a 4.46 at Illinois’ pro day, and will likely compete for a backup role early on.