Falcons name five captains for 2026 season

FLOWERY BRANCH — The Falcons have named their captains for the 2026 season.

Running back Bijan Robinson, right guard Chris Lindstrom, linebacker Divine Deablo, safety Jessie Bates III and kicker Nick Folk will sport the captain patch on their jerseys this fall.

It’s the first time Robinson, Deablo and Folk have been voted captains. Lindstrom was a captain in 2023 and 2025, while Bates has held the honor each year since joining the organization in 2023.

Robinson, 24, is the team’s youngest captain since A.J. Terrell earned the nod in 2022, a few weeks before turning 24. The Falcons’ star ball carrier has steadily ascended as a leader, and he feels he grew substantially in that category while watching the first week of training camp from the sideline in anticipation of a new contract.

“It was cool just to see that perspective and if something did go wrong or if it could have got corrected, I was right there to help them and to just give them the right advice to make the next play,” Robinson said Aug. 5. “So, as a leader, it was really cool to experience that, and I’m never going to stop being that guy.

“And now that I did that, you know, I know I can help those guys in all aspects of their game as well.”

Deablo, 28, wears the green dot on his helmet as the lead communicator on the Falcons defense. Kaden Elliss, a captain in 2025 who now plays for the Saints, held the play-call responsibility last season. Deablo has now taken over both roles.

A naturally quiet individual, Deablo — with guidance from linebackers coach Barrett Ruud and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich — has emphasized being louder this offseason. Evidently, he passed the test.

“I’ve been around guys that are really demonstrative leaders that can have that effect, where it’s like their voice just calms you down because they’re so demonstrative and so certain in everything they do and so even-keeled,” Ulbrich said in OTAs. “They’re that rock you can lean on, and he does that in a way I’ve never seen before.

“I think he’s got the capacity to be an amazing leader, and a leader in his own unique way now, but an amazing leader.”

The 41-year-old Folk is entering his 19th NFL season. He’s led the NFL in field-goal percentage each of the past three years, and his blend of tenure and reliability makes him a viable captain.

“This guy’s such a professional,” special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman said during camp. “He’s a guy that’s very steady. He’s not going to ever get too high or too low. He’s just a steady guy, and I think guys usually gravitate toward that. Like, ‘Hey, this guy is really cool, calm, collected, and he’s going to end up making those kicks.’”

Lindstrom has started 100 of the Falcons’ last 101 games at right guard, missing one in 2023 because of an ankle injury. He’s been a Pro Bowl selection and second-team All-Pro honoree each of the past four years, and receiver Drake London said this summer that Lindstrom has helped “set the foundation” for the Falcons’ future.

Bates, 29, hasn’t missed a game in three years with the Falcons, and he’s twice earned second-team All-Pro recognition during his time in Atlanta, including last season. During OTAs, Falcons secondary coach Justin Hood referred to Bates as a leader and tone-setter within the team’s defensive backs room.

Hood pointed toward Bates’ mentorship of second-year safety Xavier Watts, a third-round pick in 2025 who finished fourth in the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year race last season.

“You watch him work with a young guy, you watch him kind of help and facilitate the growth of ‘X’ (Watts),” Hood said in camp. “You see Jessie kind of take ‘X’ under his wing, if you will, and help facilitate that growth. I think that’s just the leader that Jessie is and kind of who he is as a person.”

The Falcons carried five captains in 2025 and four the year before. In addition to Terrell, two captains from last year — quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and offensive tackle Jake Matthews — also won’t wear the captain’s patch this year, a nod to the Falcons’ depth of leadership.

First-year Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski believes his team is well-stocked with both leaders and followers, far beyond the five who reached captain status.

“I think we have a bunch of good leaders from the older vets,” Stefanski said in camp. “I think there’s some emerging leaders. I think there’s some young guys, first-year guys, second-year guys that have the opportunity to grow into those roles. … You have a bunch of leaders on your team.