Which first-year player are you most looking forward to seeing as rookie minicamp begins?

McELHANEY: I go back and forth about who I want to see most. Originally, Ruke Orhorhoro came to mind (but spoiler alert, that’s who Terrin writes about in the next section). I could go the easy route and say Michael Penix Jr., but I don’t think I am going to.

There’s probably a lot of Penix fatigue at this point. You know he’ll be there. I know he’ll be there. I could drone on and on about him being there. But I don’t think I am going to since — of course — we’re all looking forward to seeing him as rookie minicamp begins. That’s a given. And that’s why I am not highlighting him in my section, because if I am being honest, we already know so much about Penix. We can kind of build a foundation in our minds of what we expect from him. We’ve seen what he did in college football for the last two seasons. He sat at the top of the FBS, literally (in stats) and figuratively (in the scope of media attention on Washington).

That’s why I always like picking someone I don’t know much about, someone I am curious about. And that person is wide receiver Casey Washington, the Falcons’ sixth-round pick out of Illinois.

Washington doesn’t come from a Clemson, Georgia, Alabama, Notre Dame or Washington. As a college football fan myself, I have watched many games of these programs over the last two seasons, particularly. These are all programs that find themselves in the top 25 of CFB rankings week-in and week-out. They are also programs that everyone else in the Falcons draft class hails from. Not Washington, though, and I say this in the nicest way I know how: I have not watched a moment of an Illinois football game. Nothing against Illinois at all. I really just think the last time I saw the Fighting Illini in action was when they gave Michigan a scare in 2022. The Wolverines were ranked top five in the country at the time and snuck away with just a 19-17 win. Even then, I only watched the final quarter of that game.

I say all of this to say: Of the draft class, I have watched Washington the least. Which means I am most excited to see what the Falcons saw in him.

He enters into a solidly restacked wide receiver position group: Drake London, Darnell Mooney, Ray-Ray McCloud, Rondale Moore and KhaDarel Hodge. There’s not a true need for Washington, but that doesn’t mean he can’t stand out. He can, and the Falcons have history on their side when it comes to hitting on some late-round picks in the fifth through seventh rounds. Take…