Falcons’ revamped wide receiver room took final shape with the Casey Washington pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, here’s why

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — In order to tell the story about why the Falcons drafted Casey Washington in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft in May, you have to go back to January.

The Falcons’ season had just ended, and the wide receiver position was at a crossroads.

There was only one receiver on the 2023 squad that was under contract with the team in 2024. That lone receiver was Drake London. So, yes, Atlanta had work to do to build up the room around him.

It’s work that started early, with Ike Hilliard coming in as the wide receivers coach, and continued through the start of free agency. The Falcons brought back KhaDarel Hodge and signed a trio of receivers: Darnell Mooney, Ray-Ray McCloud and Rondale Moore. It didn’t take long for the room to shape out. But there was still a little something missing. The Falcons still needed a catch-all, someone with a certain position flexibility. Enter Washington, a 200-pound, fifth-year senior from Illinois.

“What’s intriguing about Casey, regarding his size, is it’s relative to how we had to rebuild the room when we got here,” Hilliard explained the night the Falcons drafted Washington. “He’ll be a player that we’re going to ask to play all three positions.”

Washington had been on the Falcons’ radar for years, according to area scout Richard Sanders. He’d been consistent in his performance with the Illini, only accounting for seven drops in five seasons and 55 games. As Dane Brugler noted in his 2024 draft guide, the “top selling point is (Washington’s) hand-eye coordination.” That, and still, the Falcons liked the look of him.

“You see a big-body receiver with good speed and hands,” Sanders said. “He catches your attention.”

It’s true that Washington’s Illinois stats don’t fly off the page the way some top picks in the class do. Sometimes you have to look at the development to try to predict what a player could be, more than the sheer numbers he’s accumulated in college.

“With kids like Casey you want to see growth, you want to see maturity, you want to see them get better on a yearly basis. That progression is important, for him to take advantage of opportunities and get better was attractive,” Hilliard said. “But we like kids that are tough. We appreciate kids that are able to get their nails dirty and who are not afraid to play in between the numbers.”

Nothing ever came easy for Washington. He was a high school receiver in a run-heavy, wing-T…