It seems to me like the team is very high on Nicholas and expects him to see a whole lot more of the field. Ive also seen in a few places that they would prefer to have Sidbury stay on the line. So that means it is most likely shaping up to be Peterson-Lofton-Nicholas. I would call that an upgrade from last year. Brooking was worthless from the get go. Boley had been benched by the end of the season. Lofton has had another year to become an even bigger badass. With the size of the contract they signed Peterson to, I would expect that the team anticipated him starting, not just being a situational player/backup.

Just curious, but I never hear any talk about Kroy Biermann. I love this guy. He was drafted late in last years draft and was dubbed “too small” for an NFL DE. He played there anyway and had significant positive impact even in limited duty. I did see him get pushed around some though, and still found a way to make it to the QB and disrupt plays. He definitely has speed and a serious motor. Should the falcons consider moving him to linebacker to take advantage of his athleticism and pass rush ability, without having him match up against huge offensive tackles? They have Lawrence Sidbury, Chauncey Davis, Jamaal Anderson(for now) and John Abraham at DE now(along with a couple of other backups). If they can develop Sidbury, use Chauncey to start for now and rely on their new found depth at DT, seems like shifting Kroy from the line could be a reality. Your thoughts?

not sure on his exact height and weight but he does remind me of whats been dubbed a “tweener” so moving him to linebacker does makes sense

Not that it’s amazingly accurate (or even halfway accurate), but Biermann does have some pretty good coverage skills on Madden 09. He usually ends up getting traded to whatever team I’m playing on and being a OLB/DE tweener, especially if I’m running a 3-4.

Just sayin’. I think moving him to OLB and leaving Sidbury at DE would be the best bet, but I also think that him at DE would give value too (especially with Abraham rotating out so much to stay fresh).

Could it be that the falcons used him at DE last year because they had to? I just did a quick google using “Kroy Biermann linebacker”. The results are interesting. He was actually projected as an OLB in the NFL. Maybe we were so shorthanded at DE last year, we had to use him. Likewise, maybe the Dimitroff plan has him moving back to the position where he was originally projected. And what if that plan has him starting at the position? Maybe its a stretch….and maybe not.

I think it fills a big hole for us. Stephen Nicholas I like too, but I think he’s probably best suited in a backup role on passing downs(did I say that out loud??). I have other kooky ideas too, but I’ll keep those to myself for now.

I’m pretty confident we can handle the “wildcat”. That gimmick offense won’t work on us. Plus, Miami does not have and gamechanging playmakers, in my humble prediction, we blow them out week one. They have a suspect D-Line and inexperienced, average corners. Their safties are solid against the run, but against the pass…not so much. Ryan should be able to go up top all day long. There is now way they can stop our offense…we are a well oiled machine!