The Atlanta Falcons took a whoopin' at the hands of the Denver Broncos tonight, losing at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, 27-7. The good thing is that wins and losses don't matter in the preseason - only evaluating young players and figuring out roster bottles ahead of the regular season.
When it comes to the Falcons' rookie class of 2026, we got to see at least a couple brief flashes of the ability that allowed them to get to this level.
With top draft pick cornerback Avieon Terrell out, the rest of Atlanta's rookies had a chance to shine against the Broncos. Let’s review how a few key rookies performed in their preseason debuts.
WR/PR Zachariah Branch
Zachariah Branch didn’t see any targets from Tua Tagovailoa - who had other problems - with his first touch coming on a six-yard punt return. In the second quarter the Falcons got Branch going with a handoff that he took for three yards before he was forced out of bounds. He got stuffed for a loss on his next touch on a play action flare. Branch finished with just nine yards on three touches, but illustrated how useful he could be around the line of scrimmage.
WR/KR Vinny Anthony III
Undrafted rookie Vinny Anthony III out of Wisconsin faces an uphill battle making the initial 53-man roster at wide receiver, but he showed some real burst as a kick returner in his Falcons debut. Anthony racked up 90 yards on three return attempts. That special teams ability could ultimately make the difference.
OT Ethan Onianwa
Early on Atlanta's long-time left tackle Jake Matthews suffered a minor injury and had to leave the field. Mike Jerrell took his place at left tackle, leaving seventh-round rookie Ethan Onianwa to take over at right tackle. It was a rough challenge for Onianwa, who let Tua Tagovailoa get hit in about 1.9 seconds on his first rep. To his credit, he picked Tua up off the turf and apologized for the rep.
QB Jack Strand
After an atrocious run by veteran Cooper Rush, undrafted rookie Jack Strand came in to start at quarterback to begin the third quarter. Strand was a definite improvement - although he was lucky a laser he threw on his first drive was not intercepted. Strand got the Falcons on the scoreboard the next time out with a QB sneak, aided by an 18-yard catch and run from Joshua Simon and a gritty run to get to the goal line by Tyler Goodson. Strand finished the game 6/12 for 50 yards and a 61.1 passer rating.
LB Kendal Daniels
Defensively the big standout from the rookie class was off-ball linebacker Kendal Daniels, a fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma. The Falcons struggled mightily getting any pressure on Jarrett Stidham early on, but Daniels did manage to get a quarterback hit to his credit. Daniels also notched half a sack and three tackles.
CB Malcolm DeWalt IV
Atlanta played much better defensively in the second half, punctuated by (almost) two turnovers. The first came from linebacker JT Bertrand, who punched the ball out to force a fumble which was recovered by Jammie Robinson. The second was a beautiful pick from rookie Malcolm DeWalt IV, who appeared to win a jump-ball at the one-yard line to pick off Sam Ehlinger early in the fourth quarter. The replay showed he landed out of bounds, though. Nevertheless, it was an excellent interception from the UDFA out of Akron.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Falcons rookie watch: Takeaways from preseason debut vs. Broncos