Kevin Stefanski and Tommy Rees are preparing to lead the Atlanta Falcons’ run game, focusing on building upon an already strong foundation rather than making sweeping changes.
Running back Bijan Robinson is coming off a standout season, considered one of the best in franchise and league history. The Falcons’ offensive line brings significant experience, with few NFL teams matching their collective time together. This established unit has contributed to a run game that is both effective and explosive.
Stefanski’s background includes successful stints in Minnesota and Cleveland, where his offenses emphasized wide-zone running schemes. He noted the importance of focusing on specific strengths: “I think that’s a really good place to start when you’re talking about run game,” Stefanski said. “I do believe you can’t be good at everything. I don’t believe you can be so diverse that you’re trying to live in every single world. I think you have to hang your hat on specific things.”
Robinson’s versatility is seen as an asset for the coaching staff. While he has played primarily in wide-zone systems as a professional, his college career at Texas featured gap schemes, giving him experience across different approaches.
Tommy Rees addressed how he plans to balance diversity in the run game with maintaining a clear identity during his introductory press conference. For Rees, it comes down to differentiating between scheme and presentation: “You can be very consistent in scheme with the illusion of a different presentation that can get some of the variances that you’re looking for,” Rees explained. “Then, I think you have to have something, ‘Hey, this is what we hang our hat on. These are going to be our compliments. That’s where your 75, 80% of your run game comes from,’ and then week to week, based on a defensive structure, you might pull from something that you installed in camp and say, ‘Hey, the defense is telling us we can run this, we’ll pull from that.’
“But again, scheme’s one thing, presentation is a little bit different in terms of keeping a variance and then you have your core stuff, you have your counters and then you have the things that you can pull from that are kind of in the well ready to go.”
The Falcons plan to refine their approach by blending wide-zone principles with timely gap concepts while varying how plays are presented defensively. This strategy aims for consistency at its core but allows for unpredictability through disguise.
The Atlanta Falcons compete in the NFL’s NFC South division according to their official website. The team began as an expansion franchise in 1965 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia (source). They reached the Super Bowl twice—in 1998 and 2016 (source).
If Stefanski and Rees succeed with this balanced approach—emphasizing both continuity among players like Robinson and strategic creativity—the Falcons hope not only to maintain their status as one of the league’s most dynamic rushing attacks but also become one of its most complete.