Falcons Signing L.J. Smith By End Of Weekend?

by Dave Choate on Mar 15, 2009 8:00 AM EDT in Falcons News

A big hat tip to iloveroddywhite, who linked to this ESPN.com piece by Pat Yasinskas about L.J. Smith being a virtual lock to sign with the Falcons.

Smith has generated considerable debate around these parts, but if the price is right he'll be worth it as competition to start with Justin Peelle and any draft picks we potentially add. He can be a solid pass-catching tight end in this league and has had at least one quality season for the Eagles, but he fell out of favor and hasn't found success with a map in the last two years. Out of all the players we've signed this off-season--short list, I know--he's the likeliest to boom or bust. His simply being a middle-of-the-road player is probably the last likely outcome.

If he signs today, we'll update this with contract terms and further analysis on his role with the team. If not, feel free to discuss again what this move could mean to the team.

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Since I've probably been his biggest critic here

I’ll admit that I’m starting to talk myself into this. But it would be on 2 conditions:

#1: the money (well discussed here)

#2: the usage – that last line in the Yasinkas story is the real key for me. If he gets 50 balls thrown his way at (~60%) that’s 30 catches. That’s totally fine with me. If we’re running the same style offense with just a few more targets for the TE, everything will be alright. BUT, if Mularkey is thinking he just got another great weapon, and tries to force him the ball to get him 50+ catches, it’s gonna stall the offense. Because he is definitely NOT a great weapon.

Even if he does become a problem, he’ll probably get hurt during the season anyway.

So how’s that for a ringing endorsement?

by orang3b on Mar 15, 2009 8:55 AM EDT reply actions

Pat Yasinskas is right, he is basically a Falcon. The only thing left to discuss is his jersey number.

"The only time the Mets win is in the offseason"

by Falconzfan284 on Mar 15, 2009 11:57 AM EDT reply actions

LJ

A good move, he will be a small upgrade and our coaches have proven they can coach up (oline last year). But my view of the move is that he is a stop gap while this draft goes heavy, heavy defense which is needed, I think that TD is setting the table perfectly for the future. He knows he can’t fix everything at once and has to go defense this year.

Whopper

by Whopper Dawg on Mar 15, 2009 12:17 PM EDT reply actions

replace

(oline last year) with (pretty much entire team)

by acie4mvp on Mar 15, 2009 10:50 PM EDT up reply actions

TD knows what he's doing, TD knows what he's doing, TD knows what he's doing...

I know it’s true, just gotta keep reminding myself when I hear names like “LJ Smith.”

by joshmassey on Mar 15, 2009 2:15 PM EDT reply actions

Wow joyous times!

Boy have I waited the entire offseason for a signing like this! Let’s hope its 1 or 2 year deal, so we can dump him when Ryan get blindsided from one of his missed blocks.

"Just want the Falcons to win a bowl before I'm gone!"

by Edgecrusher211 on Mar 15, 2009 5:38 PM EDT reply actions