The Win Column: Mostly positive predictions for 2026

Greetings, salutations and happy New Year’s Eve, my friends. Hope you enjoyed a little time off and a lot of warm family fuzzies.

While you’re reflecting, make sure to add the 25 local sports stories that moved us in 2025 to your reading list … then gird those athletics-loving loins.

We’re belly flopping right into 2026.

I’M PROBABLY WRONG, BUT …

Credit: Jason Behnken/AP

Credit: Jason Behnken/AP

I’m not a resolution guy. I’ll get to things when I get to them. Or won’t when I don’t. Whatever.

I also hate making predictions. Life — and sports — are uncertain endeavors. Perceptions are rarely reality. Chaos is the rule, not the exception.

Unlike this dude who picked a perfect high school playoff bracket(!), I’m not particularly good at any of it.

But you know what? I’m kicking off the new year with a little bit of both.

👀 That’s right: Today’s Win Column is all about making predictions and resolutions for several local teams. Falcons. Dawgs. Braves. Hawks. Jackets.

And when in doubt, I went bold.

We’ve got stars leaving. Coaches staying. Titles and awards being won.

👀 Now keep on scrolling to check out the rest — then submit your own 2026 predictions here. Perhaps we’ll include the best (or funniest) in next week’s Win Column.

And try not to take things too seriously, k?

THE FALCONS … EMBRACE THE STATUS QUO

🔮 Prediction: Special teams coordinator Marquice Williams would be wise to watch his six after Sunday’s season finale with the Saints — but neither head coach Raheem Morris nor offensive playcaller Zac Robinson are going anywhere. Right, wrong or indifferent, that ship’s already shootin’ the ‘Hooch toward Apalachicola Bay.

So how about this: Our dear, sweet, beloved Bijan Robinson will win Offensive Player of the Year in 2026. In fact, he should be considered for it this year — he’s already set the franchise record for total yards in a season and, as you’ll see in the lovely chart below, he’s pushing the leaguewide mark too.

Credit: Rahul Deshpande

Credit: Rahul Deshpande

Yowza.

And how’s this for another blind guess bold prediction: The Falcons will go 10-7 and make the playoffs next season … with Kirk Cousins under center. Because wouldn’t that just be the most Falcons outcome?

Falcons could do a lot worse than that. I’m not sure of the right word to describe this franchise (confounding? plain old annoying?), but expect ‘em to run it back in 2026.

💪 Resolution: I will stop poking fun at Kirk Cousins. Maybe.

THE BULLDOGS … COME OUT ON TOP

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

🔮 Prediction: Not sure this is going out on much of a limb. And maybe it’s cheating to make such a short-term prediction?

Nevertheless: Georgia football will beat a Lane Kiffin-less Ole Miss team in their playoff-opening rematch tomorrow (8 p.m. on ESPN). Then the Bulldogs will beat the winner of tonight’s Ohio State-Miami game (we’re rooting for a matchup with Athens expat Carson Beck).

Because, if you’ll excuse the expression, them Dawgs is hell again. Battle tested. Peaking at the perfect time.

In their last three games against real competition (Texas, Georgia Tech and Alabama), the Bulldog defense has surrendered a grand total of 26 points. That’s less than nine per.

“I just think there’s a lot of guys that have grown up over the course of the year,” coordinator Glenn Schumann said this week. “We knew that would be the case. The more you play, the more confidence you gain.”

Indeed.

Expect them to ride that confidence all the way to a natty.

💪 Resolution: I will continue telling people to read this lovely story on Bulldog lifer Loran Smith. And not just because my old running buddy Fletcher Page wrote it.

THE BRAVES … GET THEIR GROOVE BACK

🔮 Prediction: First of all, Andruw Jones will finally get the Hall of Fame call, when the newest inductees are announced on Jan. 20.

Secondly: How does Ronald Acuña Jr., two-time MVP, sound?

La Bestia will be back in beast mode in 2026, fully healed from his latest knee surgery and dominant enough to beat out the marvel that is Shohei Ohtani for some hefty hardware.

As for the team:

I’m on board with all of that. The depth is much improved already. And this has to be the year when they catch a few breaks, injury-wise … right?

Here comes division title No. 24.

💪 Resolution: The Mets will miss the playoffs again, and I will enjoy it thoroughly.

THE HAWKS … MOVE ON

Credit: Mike Stewart/AP

Credit: Mike Stewart/AP

🔮 Prediction: The Hawks will try to avoid an eighth straight loss when they host the Timberwolves and hometown hero Anthony Edwards today at 3 p.m. Kristaps Porzingis has missed a ton of time. The defense has been … woeful. Despite all that, I still think soon-to-be-All-Star Jalen Johnson and the rest of the crew will do enough to make the playoffs outright. No play-in tournament required, for once.

Then there’s this: Trae Young will not be in Atlanta next season. I don’t know if that means a pre-February trade (Marc Stein recently reported a “growing belief leaguewide that the Hawks are more open to trading him away than they’ve ever been”). Alternately, would an extensionless Young decline his contract option for 2026-27?

Hard to say. But it sure smells like that era of Hawks basketball is approaching an end, one way or another.

Cue the sad girl dancing memes.

💪 Resolution: I vow to stop randomly yelling “ca-caw!” at my children.

THE YELLOW JACKETS … GOT WORK TO DO

🔮 Prediction: Brent Key and Co. will take a small step back in 2026, because that’s generally how this kind of thing works. And, you know … gotta rebuild the offensive coaching staff. And replace that quarterback (transfer portal opens Friday). Then play a schedule that includes hosting Tennessee and traveling to Clemson, Georgia and James Franklin’s Virginia Tech Hokies.

“They just have to build,” departing cornerback Rodney Shelley said, post-Pop-Tarts Bowl. “Keep putting the pieces together and build. Stay consistent. Have that will to come in every day and just do what you need to do.”

Next year’s Jackets will do that. But these things aren’t linear.

Look for an 8-4 finish, pre-bowl game.

💪 Resolution: Say it with me: We will be patient. We will have faith. We believe.

ONE MORE IMPORTANT THING

You may have heard that today’s print edition of the AJC is the final one. But as Publisher Andrew Morse enjoys saying, we’re not going anywhere — we’re going everywhere. And that includes sports.

Let me know if you have any questions or complications. I’ll help get ‘em addressed.

Onward!

Thanks for reading to the very bottom of the Win Column. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.

Until next time.