Dave from The Falcoholic stopped by and answered five of our questions. Many thanks to Dave for taking time to do this. Make sure you read up on the game this weekend at The Falcoholic.
KC FAN IN CA: Obviously you do not miss D hall but who has replaced him?
Dave: Hall has been replaced by undrafted free agent Brent Grimes, who went from roster afterthought to our best corner. Grimey is freakishly athletic and has shown surprisingly good instincts for a guy who was thrust into the starting lineup with little warning, but he's still prone to mental mistakes. He will definitely be matching up with Dwayne Bowe, who I understand is kind of good or something. That matchup scares me a little, but Grimes is getting better every game.
Hall was just too full of himself and too sure of his own talent. He's being treated like an elite cornerback, but he's at best a #1 corner on a bad team. Thought you guys probably know that by now.
primetime 07: How is Sam Baker looking? Does he figure to progress into a player the Falcons will keep around for the next decade?
Dave: Baker actually looks like a potential anchor on the critical left side of the line, but he got his bell rung last week and he's iffy for this week. It's really too early to say whether he'll last the decade, but the knocks on him about his lack of aggression and short arms haven't stopped him from being very effective. When he was knocked out of the game against the Bucs, there was a noticeable drop in the quality of protection. That's probably a pretty glowing endorsement.
Seth_C :As for a question for the Falcons, is there any whisper around there of what, if anything, will happen to Lawyer Milloy after his DUI?
Dave: There were many whispers about the team suspending him for a game or two to teach him a lesson, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Milloy was on the practice field mid-week and will probably just be on a short leash for the rest of the year. He's being counted on to provide veteran leadership (and the team cut my favorite sleeper, Daren Stone, and continued to let him start) so I was incredibly disappointed to see him showing up in the papers with a DUI. This is probably his last season as a Falcon.
IISaiNtII: Has the team and fanbase moved on from Michael Vick? Are they warming up to Ryan yet, or is it too early to tell?
Dave: There's a percentage of fans out there--and how big they are, I don't know--that are more attached to Michael Vick than the Falcons. They're still rooting against the team because they're not willing to take Vick back, which makes sense to pretty much every rational human being in the entire world. He did completely screw the franchise, which is kind of a no-no where I come from.
As for Ryan, I think the fanbase is really warming up to him. I've already had people defend him when I called him out for terrible throws last week, which at least tells you they're giving him a chance. We've got big expectations for Ryan, but he's handling himself well so far and he's converting people who swore he'd never amount to a damn thing. Even though it's too early to tell if he will.
TheQ: Can we beat you guys...please?
Dave: I gotta say that I don't think it's particularly likely. The Falcons should get close to 100 yards out of Turner and hit Thigpen often, so it's not going to be easy for you guys. I'm going to predict something along the lines of a 28-17 win, just to be generous. Good luck out there!
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