Storylines at Falcons Training Camp

With training camps opening all around the league, it’s that glorious time of year when football is so close we can taste it. Even though preseason games won’t start for another two weeks, it’s time to discuss the Falcon's storylines as they get into the groove of training camp and fit for the upcoming season.

OFFENSIVE LINE STABILITY

All last season the center position gave fans unsettling anxiety with every shotgun snap; you could tell from every seat in the Dome that Matt Ryan was uncomfortable behind center. The position need for the Falcons was arguably the most glaring need at a single position for any team. When the Falcons signed Alex Mack from the Cleveland Browns it was the most valuable signing in the league. Mack has played in Shanahan’s system before, he’s an established veteran and played like a top center in the league for years. He walks into the Falcons locker room as the no-doubt-about-it leader on the line. Schraeder and Matthews anchor the ends, as they have the last two seasons - Matthews needs to continue to grow at the position to prove he was worth the sixth overall pick. The guards are once again an open competition between Chris Chester, Andy Levitre, and Mike Person. If the Falcons get consistent offensive line play that they can rely on in key moments of the game, this offense has the ability to be one of the best in league with the weapons at the playmaking positions.

MORE TALK ON TRENCHES

On the other side of the line of scrimmage the Falcons are in dire need of improvement on the defensive front. Vic Beasley was moved to outside linebacker where he’ll play with his hand off the line much less frequently, but other than that not much has changed from last year as far as personnel - Adrian Claiborne, Jonathan Babineaux, Tyson Jackson, Ra’shede Hageman and Grady Jarrett all return in addition to the newcomer Derrick Shelby. Quinn has mentioned that Jarrett (entering his second year out of Clemson) could be the starter at the nose and Hageman possibly playing the end position. Pressuring the quarterback is something the Falcons have been unable to do since the John Abraham days, and has undoubtedly undermined wins in the last few seasons. The outside linebackers Vic Beasley, Courtney Upshaw, Brooks Reed and rookie De’Vandre Campbell look to also create pressure on the quarterback off the line. Dan Quinn’s forte is coaching the defensive line, so it will be interesting to see what versatility the front seven will have and if they can get after the opposing quarterback to take the pressure off the rest of the defense.

WHO ELSE IS GOING TO CATCH THE BALL?

It’s impossible to discuss the wideout position on this club without emphasizing how important Julio Jones is to the offense. Simply put - he helps get the ball down the field better than anyone else on the roster. But defensive coordinators everywhere know this and prepare for it, so the Falcons need a reliable #2 and #3 under the age of 30 that can take the defensive focus off Julio. I loved Roddy White as much as any Falcons fan, but for whatever internal reasons it wasn’t working last season with Shanahan and his scheme so the Birds needed to move on and find someone else. In free agency, the Falcons signed Mohammed Sanu from the Bengals for a much larger contract than his statistics may have warranted, but the general feeling on Sanu was that there simply wasn’t enough downs to share the football evenly with the Bengals offensive weapons and he is capable of solidifying the WR2 position. Also lacking in production, the slot has been a question mark for the Falcons since Harry Douglas’ departure. Last year a rookie, Justin Hardy is set up to take over the position effectively if he can pick up the offense in year two. Out of ECU, Hardy was the NCAA leader in receptions - so there’s no doubt he can catch the ball, the Falcons just need him to learn the offense and be in the right spot to catch the ball.

ROOKIES AND SECOND YEARS

Now more than ever in the Dimitroff regime, the first and second year players are under more scrutiny to perform at a high level sooner than most teams expect out of first and second year players. But because of the numerous busts and failures in recent draft classes, the pressure to create starters and depth on the roster is greater now more than ever before under Dimitroff. In Devonta Freeman’s second year he stormed the stage for fantasy owners everywhere and proved worthy of a 3rd round pick if he can produce similar results this season. By all accounts, Hardy and Tevin Coleman didn’t have productive years but this year is their time to put up or shut up with the opportunities to get more carries and catches, respectively. Grady Jarrett is expected to be the run-stopping force at the nose that the Falcons need up the middle, and this coming year will be his time to shine. While Vic Beasley struggled in the first two thirds of the season, in the last third of the season he started to develop and even helped seal the victory against the Panthers with a strip sack on Cam Newton at the end of the season - the Falcons' defense desperately needs him to pick up where he left off. Jalen Collins, in my opinion, is already a bust - not only was he awful at covering routes over the middle and often burned over the top, but he is suspended for the first four games of the season after failing a drug test for performance enhancing drugs. Keanu Neal was the first round pick that many experts believed the Falcons drafted way too early, and he is going to take over the Strong Safety position that Willy-Mo was never healthy enough to keep. De’Vandre Coleman and Deion Jones were both very interesting draft choices and have all the signs of being a Dan Quinn decision as opposed to a Dimitroff decision, which makes me believe they are better prospects to hold starting jobs on the Falcons defense for years to come.