The Falcons defense isn’t great. It isn’t good. Lets face it, its going to take a couple years before this team will be completely rebuilt. There are some pretty good players on the defense, but it takes 11 men to make a defense great. They are short by about 9. Lawyer Milloy is a very talented strong safety, but he’s getting up there in age. He can’t play football forever. The Falcons will need to start looking other places for their production. I’m very interested in seeing the development of Curtis Loften out of Oklahoma. Oklahoma has a great football program, so hopefully his time there will have prepared him for the NFL game. Maybe Loften can be the next playmaker for this team.
There isn’t a lot of talent at the receiving positions. Roddy White had a decent year last season and he will be the number one guy this year for the team. Joe Horn is a very talented wide receiver, but his career is winding down. I don’t see him being much of a factor this year if at all. The Falcons are going to have to work on getting more targets for their young quarterback. He can’t be great if he doesn’t have anyone to throw it to. They did draft Harry Douglas out of Louisville, but the hopes that he can be a top playmaker for this team right away are very low. They also lost Alge Crumpler at tight end. He was a very vital part to this team during the Michael Vick era, but this is a new era now. His precence will be missed for a little while, but eventually it will pass. He is a great tight end, but the Falcons need to focus on other positions right now. A Tight End will come in the future.
The most exciting thing for me this season will be to finally see Michael “The Burner” Turner as an NFL starter. He is no longer with the San Diego Chargers and no longer in the shadow of Ladainian Tomlinson. This man can produce. He can just straight out play football. Turner is going to bring a lot to this team’s offense and there is no doubt about it. He’s going to have a tremendous year and the Falcons are even going to tailor their offense around him. Although, the speedster Jerious Norwood will steal some carries from “The Burner,” Turner is going to see a lot of action in this revamped offense and with a rookie quarterback likely to take the helm.
So what exactly is going to happen with the quarterback position? Will the Falcons really allow a rookie quarterback to take the helm right at the start of the season? I don’t think so, but its not outside the realm of possibility. Matt Ryan has all the talent in the world to play the quarterback position in this league, but he’s going to need some time to break in. Although I don’t think we will see the standard 6 week wait to implement him, I do think its going to take a couple weeks before he is ready to play. Until then, Chris Redman will get the nod to start. He can hold down the fort until Ryan is ready to play. Should Redman get injured during this time, it would seem that Joey Harrington will be the likely candidate to step in, but I don’t think the Falcons should do that. Harrington is not the Quarterback for this team or any other team in the league. Should Redman get hurt, then its time to just go ahead and bring in Matt Ryan. The Falcons have decisions to make. I can’t wait till week 1.
The Falcons will not have a great season, but it will be a step in the right direction. Matt Ryan will get his chance to shine. Michael Turner will prove how good he is as a starter in the league. The Falcons are looking to get past the shadow left by Michael Vick and I believe that they will do that this year. They will lose at least 10 games, but hey a 6 win season is a good step in the right direction. Matt Ryan, take the ball, its yours now.
Keywords: Atlanta Falcons, Chris Redman, Joe Horn, Joey Harrington, Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, Michael Vick, NFC, NFL, Roddy White
