Ask The Falcoholic!

Looking forward to seeing you over at The Falcoholic.

They talk a good game about having him play outside on both sides, but he’s going to start for Mike Peterson. It’s kind of a no brainer, in my opinion.

Peterson’s old and totally ineffective against the run at this stage in his career, where Spoon is extremely athletic and should help out there immediately. On the other side, starter Stephen Nicholas is reasonably young and very well-rounded.

And he’s looked great in practice. Very capable, very fluid, very confident.

I think it definitely didn’t help his leg injuries heal, and the coaching staff repeatedly threw him in when he wasn’t ready. Look at this numbers and you’ll see that when he was in, he was effective, but keeping him injury-free is a priority. The loss of weight should help.

Having to rely on the less effective Jason Snelling definitely hurt Matt Ryan. He forced way too many throws in 2009.

1) I expect an NFC Wild Card berth. As a Falcons fan, I hate to even predict that high, but this is an undeniably talented team. I think they’ll give the Saints a run for their money.

2) Injuries will go a long way toward determining that. We have some excellent starters but not a lot of depth anywhere but the defensive line. I do expect our defense to be a pleasant surprise, and I think the last two drafts have been targeted at improving our strength there. One player to watch is cornerback Chris Owens, who I think will really come out swinging in 2010.

3) I think those issues will be a thing of the past this season. A lot of time has been spent focusing on getting him more comfortable in the pocket and ensuring he has some control over the flow of the game, which I think naturally translates into better pocket presence at home and on the road. I like his chances of busting out this year.

And good luck to yours!

Corner Chris Owens, I believe, will start opposite Dunta Robinson. He’s one to watch. Kroy Biermann piled up six sacks in limited playing time last year, and I have no reason to believe he’ll come in under that. Harry Douglas is poised to break out at receiver after missing all of last year—he’s very, very fast.

Emmitt Thomas is great with the players, but he’s really only a good secondary coach if there’s assembled talent. He does well at maximizing the coverage skills of guys, but if they’re not there to begin with…like in Atlanta…then he’s merely okay.

Jamaal Anderson is actually going to get significant snaps at defensive tackle and left defensive end. I’d like for us to give up on him, but the coaching staff sees something I don’t.

Definitely wide receiver. Michael Jenkins is known for his blocking, but a lot of advanced metrics show he’s not even very good at that. He’s at best a decent #2, and having a terrific player there opposite Roddy White and complementing Tony Gonzalez would be HUGE.

He’s hurt now, though, and you may not see him for our game. Very hard to say if he’s worth the price. I will say I’m leery of throwing wads of cash on a guy who looks to be declining, but maybe a change of scenery is actually going to help him.

In other words, I have no idea!

Expect to see Chris Owens, Brent Grimes, and Brian Williams getting the bulk of the playing time.

Owens, as I’ve mentioned, looks to me like a very capable starting cornerback. Grimes is prone to mental lapses but is an absolute ballhawk. He had six picks last season and has what looks to me like a 10 foot vertical.

Williams is old and kinda crappy, but the coaching staff loves him. I’m crossing my fingers that he’ll sort of fade down the depth chart, but I’m not counting on it.

Realistically at this point, I think the Falcons would rather take on picks than players. I suppose Glenn Dorsey’s still a possibility, but the team has really shored up their defensive tackle. I’ll have to think about this one more.

It’s probably going to be Sean Weatherspoon. The dude is freakishly talented, but he just never stops talking. Ever. Not for a second. If you want a laugh sometime, look him up on Twitter.

You guys needed picks to generate young talent, and we needed a stabilizing tight end to help nurture Matt Ryan along. I’d say it worked out pretty well.

Correct me if I’m dumb, but I’m not aware that your secondary has improved by leaps and bounds. I’d expect Matt Ryan to have some fun exploiting weaknesses back there, though I’m interested to see what Eric Berry can do against us. Your offense ought to be able to take advantage of the fact that we’re still introducing players in the middle. Charles should have a nice day.

thanks for taking the time to do this. Always appreciate other team perspectives on their own team, as well as ours.

1) Honestly, the o-line suffered some injuries last year. We had issues with Sam Baker, Harvey Dahl and Tyson Clabo, so almost 3/5ths of our starting line was down at some point this season. Add that into our offensive coordinator’s tendency to run entirely predictable running plays, and injuries to Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood, and you’ve got a recipe for problems. We, uh…we had some problems.

2) 1 and 2. I can’t see that changing. Harry Douglas and maybe even rookie Kerry Meier will start to bite in to those totals, but Michael Turner’s not a pass-catching threat and White and Gonzo are two of the best in the NFL at their respective positions. They’ll continue to dominate the catches.

….But it’s probably not going to happen.

…50-60 tackles, a sack, a pick or two and a couple forced fumbles. Very solid, but nothing spectacular. In the years ahead, he could be a real playmaker.

Not to mention a tough coach and a reviving fanbase. I think they’d bounce back nicely if push came to shove.

and ended the season with 3 straight wins to give us our first ever back to back winning seasons in franchise history. I think we have a pretty tough group of guys who aren’t going to get overwhelmed mentally, even if we don’t start out the way we want to.

Many of us miss having the most exciting player in the league, the city’s most popular athlete, and the face of the NFL. We certainly don’t miss having a constant distraction, a terrible role model, and an embarrassment for the state and franchise.

So it’s hard to say. We’re very happy with our current quarterback.

Our #2 receiver, Michael Jenkins, is out 4-6 weeks with a shoulder injury. Meier has been lights out in camp thus far, catching everything thrown to him and looking very sharp in running routes. He doesn’t have top-end speed, so crisp routes are critical for him.

I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t get a few snaps opposite Roddy White early on.

He looks like a steal so far.

The universe might explode.

Everyone’s usually worn out from Saturday football anyway.

1) Saints
2) Falcons (Wild Card)
3) Bucs
4) Panthers

This division is just tough as hell. You could make a reasonable argument for the Panthers or Bucs moving up further than that, but I expect Josh Freeman with some weapons will push the Bucs up past the rebuilding Panthers. Neither team will contend for the playoffs this year.

Thanks for the kind words. If I had to predict how the AFC West would shake out, it’d go something like this:

1) Chargers
2) Chiefs
3) Broncos
4) Raiders

The Chargers are, on paper at least, still very good. Ryan Matthews is going to be a stud in the NFL. The Chiefs and Broncos I could see going either way…I think Josh McDaniels might be running the Broncos into the ground in some ways, and you’re a team on the rise. Not sure it’ll be this year that you really make a run, but it’s a good start.

And hell, the Raiders are the Raiders. They’ll be better this year, but not contenders.