How will Kevin Stefanski use the Falcons’ weapons on offense?

Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski will be charged with getting the Falcons’ offense going.

Browns cornerback Denzel Ward, a five-time Pro Bowler, applauded the hiring.

“That’s cool,” Ward told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’m happy for him. I think coach Stefanski is a great coach. I think he’s going to do good things over there for Atlanta. I wish him nothing but the best.”

Ward indicated that Stefanski had command of the Browns’ locker room.

“He was great,” Ward said about Stefanski’s locker room presence. “He’s a player’s coach and a guy that the players really respected. I think he’s going to do well over there.”

Stefanski was hired in part for his acumen on the offense. He worked his way from the bottom of Minnesota’s coaching staff under Brad Childress to the offensive coordinator position. After a spectacular 2019 season, he landed the job with the Browns. He worked with Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins in 2018 and 2019.

In 2018, the Vikings ranked 19th in the NFL in points and 20th in yards on offense. Cousins tossed 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as the Vikings went 8-7-1. He was sacked 40 times.

In 2019, the Vikings ranked eighth in points and 16th in yards on offense. Cousins passed for 26 touchdowns and six interceptions as the Vikings went 10-6 and went to the playoffs. Cousins completed 69.1% of his passes, but was sacked 41 times for a league-leading minus-342 yards.

Running back Dalvin Cook, a 5-foot-10, 210-pound slasher, helped to power the offense out of the backfield. He played in a role similar to how the Falcons used Bijan Robinson under Raheem Morris as a runner and pass catcher.

Cook and Robinson both can run routes. Stefanski likely will continue to use Robinson’s route-running ability in the pass game and use him as more than just a check-down receiver.

In 2018, Cook rushed 133 times for 615 yards and two touchdowns. He caught 40 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns.

In 2019, Cook combined for 303 touches for 1,654 yards and 16 touchdowns and went to his first of four Pro Bowls. He had 250 carries and caught 53 passes out of the backfield.

The Falcons leaned heavily on Robinson last season with the wide receiver positions in a state of flux because of injuries to Darnell Mooney and Drake London. Robinson, who was named to the Pro Bowl and was voted All-Pro, had 366 touches for 2,298 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Stefanski will need to push some of the touches back over to the receivers for Robinson’s long-term durability while trying to improve the scoring offense, which ranked 24th in the league (20.8 points per game) last season. Also, he’ll have to improve the third-down offense, which ranked 30th in the NFL (33.3%).

Stefanski has worked with a variety of quarterbacks over his career.

It’s been noted that he had 15 quarterbacks over his tenure in Cleveland, starting with Baker Mayfield and ending with Shedeur Sanders.

Mayfield was drafted No. 1 overall in 2018 and was the Browns quarterback for Stefanski’s first three teams before getting traded. It was musical chairs at the position after that, mostly because the Deshaun Watson trade.

During Stefanski’s tenure in Cleveland, the offense finished in the top half the league (16th or higher) in points scored and yards in three of six seasons. The past two seasons, with the injury to Watson and initial mistake of not retaining Joe Flacco, were poor, as they ranked 32nd and 31st in points and 28th and 30th in yards.

Last season, the Browns, after re-signing Flacco and then moving on from him, started Dillon Gabriel (six games) and Sanders (seven).

In Cleveland, Stefanski heavily relied on running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt from 2019 through 2022. Chubb was injured in 2022. Chubb had four consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons from 2019-22, averaging 255 carries per season, with a high of 302 in 2022.

Hunt helped in the run game and the pass game, with a high of 841 yards in 2020 and at least 22 catches each season from 2019 to 2023.

Stefanski used the Chubb-Hunt tandem like the Falcons used Robinson and Tyler Allgeier. So look for another tandem in the backfield for the Falcons with a lot of play-action.