FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Professional Writers Association of America released its 2025 All-NFL, All-AFC and All-NFC Teams Monday, and three Atlanta Falcons were among the players honored for their performance this past season.
Running back Bijan Robinson, right guard Chris Lindstrom and rookie safety Xavier Watts were selected to the PFWA's 2025 All-NFC Team, making the Falcons one of six NFC teams to have three players selected. The Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos led all teams with five selections each. No Falcons players were chosen for the PFWA 2025 All-NFL team, but a strong case could have been made for each player.
Robinson, who was the first-team running back on the Associated Press' 2025 All-Pro team, could make the most compelling argument for inclusion.
He led all NFL players in yards from scrimmage with a franchise-best 2,298 yards, which earned him a spot at No. 12 on the all-time list of single-season production. While accumulating his noteworthy total, the third-year back left a wake of dropped jaws and broken ankles as he generated big play after big play. Perhaps none were bigger than the 93-yard touchdown run in Week 17 against the Los Angeles Rams on prime-time television. That house call was the longest rushing touchdown in Falcons history.
Buffalo Bills running back James Cook, who led the NFL in rushing yards with 1,621 during the 2025 season, and San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, who led all running backs with 924 receiving yards, were the All-NFL selections at the position.
Lindstrom was a second-team All-Pro selection and earned his fourth-consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl for his play last fall. A first-round pick in 2019, Lindstrom has been a consistently excellent and durable player in the trenches for Atlanta. He missed only 10 snaps during the 2025 season and finished third on the offense in overall snaps played. His offensive PFF grade of 88.4 led all Falcons players and ranked third among all guards; he led all offensive guards with a run blocking grade of 91.7.
Watts earns his first career accolade. The rookie, selected by the Falcons in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft, intercepted five passes and secured 96 tackles in his debut season. His five interceptions set a new team record for picks by a rookie safety, and they tied him with Deion Sanders for the second-most interceptions by a first-year player in Falcons history. Watts reached that total with a two-interception performance against Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford in the season's penultimate game, punctuating a spectacular year. That performance was the only multi-interception game by a rookie this season and Watts became the first Falcons rookie to record multiple interceptions in a game since Michael Booker did so in 1997.
