Another year, another arrest... If you hadn't heard, Michael Boley was arrested on charges of simple battery over the weekend. It's certainly not any kind of crisis for the team, but it's a bit unsettling to have to hear those kinds of stories yet again.
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WXIA did a Falcon draft recap show. There really wasn't a whole lot to it. They interviewed Matt Ryan, walked through a few film clips on the top three draft picks with Coach Smith, and had a very short interview with Dimitroff. The rest of it was fan reactions to the picks, some of the current Falcons out bowling for the Make-A-Wish foundation, and the WXIA sports staff butchering the names of the rest of the Falcon draft choices. If you missed it, you really didn't miss a thing. Dimitroff said that the free agent D-linemen (Kindal Moorehead, Rashad Moore) weren't "splash" signings, but these were guys who work hard and are solid players that were overlooked by the rest of the league.
Combine that with the complete lack of nose tackle signings, and it looks like Rashad Moore really might be the guy the coaches have in mind for our opening day NT.
FYI - the last time I checked, Frank Morgan (Tulane) and Nate Robinson (Akron) were still available.
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NFL Network had the AJC's beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter on a Falcons Team Cam segment. If you check the media section of the Falcon web site, they have it archived so that you can catch it on-line if you missed it on TV.
Ledbetter sort of popped up out of nowhere and was suddenly covering the Falcons last year. I'm not so sure I'm comfortable yet with his general knowledge of the team, and this spot from Total Access did nothing to change that. Part of it might be that he simply doesn't have a commanding stage presence on camera. He just doesn't come across as a guy that really knows his stuff.
That's no big deal. It's just a matter of practice being on camera. He's a newspaper guy, so he's not used to being on TV and doesn't project confidence. But what really bothered me was that when he was asked about Baker being an opening day starter, he said he thought Baker would start soon because the left tackle who lined up previously for the Falcons was Pat McCoy.
Ummmm, say what?? When Gandy went on IR last year, Renardo Foster became the starting LT. Then Foster got hurt and Todd Weiner switched from the right side to the left side. (Petrino really should have made that move in training camp. Weiner played RT for years not because he's an inferior lineman but because we had a left-handed quarterback.) Then Weiner got hurt too, making backup RT Quinn Ojinnaka the starting left tackle for the rest of the season.
Pat McCoy was signed the week Petrino left. He was inactive for all three games that he was with the Falcons, with even Terrence Pennington getting activated ahead of McCoy. So before Baker was drafted, every other tackle on the team except perhaps Harvey Dahl was ahead of McCoy on the depth chart.
McCoy NEVER "lined up" for the Falcons at left tackle or at any other position. He was never on the field for a single snap and hasn't yet appeared in his first career game. So either Ledbetter has some amazing inside info on Mularkey's plans, or he was simply way out in deep space on that one.
I'm sure he's a great guy, and I wouldn't mind sitting down and talking about the team with him sometime, but I'd bet that he simply spaced out. Maybe it was just TV jitters, but I'd hope for better from our beat reporters.
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Some things to watch if you attend the minicamp sessions next weekend:
Most of what we'll see will be basics that involve full units, such as drills for all the wide receivers or items where ALL the linebackers are doing the drill together. But we might get to see a few segments where a full unit of the offensive line works together as a group or where a QB runs a play with group of receivers against a group of DBs.
If you do get to see those drills, take notes on who is on the field together and at what positions. That will be the closest we get to any real insights on what Smith and Mularkey might have in mind.
On the O-line, the coaches are cross-training the players at multiple positions. In the pre-draft minicamp, Justin Blalock switched over to right tackle and Quinn Ojinnaka took over at left guard. That fueled some speculation that Smith might move Blalock to RT permanently. (The alleged reason is that the coaches fear he may not be athletic enough for the guard spot. I don't buy it. If that's the case, right tackle wouldn't be the spot to put the guy.)
So on the O-line, expect to see more of the same. Key questions will be who else gets time at left tackle besides Sam Baker, how many and which positions Tyson Clabo plays, and how many different players get time at right tackle. (I'm also wondering if we'll get to see anyone unusual snap the ball, like maybe Forney, Clabo, or Batiste.)
On the D-line, Trey Lewis will still be unavailable. With him out, Rashad Moore is the featured nose tackle. The top question is what DTs will be working together when he is NOT involved. (I suspect Tim Anderson will be the main person that alternates with Moore.) Watch how well everyone does at that spot. If they look really bad, that ups the chances of bringing in another nose tackle by June.
With the linebackers, who works together as a unit might tip off whether Smith will consider starting Lofton and moving Brooking to the weak side. Watch to see which one of Lofton or Nicholas works with Boley and Brooking. That would be a big hint.
With the receivers, just watch and enjoy. With Harry Douglas in camp, Horn and Finneran are both potentially on the chopping block. Jenkins and Jennings might lose their playing time to the rookie (think Roddy, Robinson, and Douglas in a 3 WR set). Everybody should be going all out in every drill. They ought to put on a heck of a show.
The bigger question will be what combination of DBs line up against them. If you see five on five drills where a QB throws to a TE and three WRs covered by five DBs, take note of what five DBs are on the field together. The nickel defender role is up for grabs. These drills won't tell us who gets the job, but they might tip off who the candidates are.
And of course we all want to see how well Baker, Lofton, Jackson, Brown, Douglas, and that kid from Boston College (whose name escapes me...) and the rest do in their first practices as Falcons.
