A Closer Look At The Atlanta Falcons First Pre-Season Depth Chart

This is an unofficial depth chart, it should be noted. Wouldn't want to get friend of the site Jay Adams in trouble by claiming otherwise.

While we're in the disclaimer stage, you should also note that this depth chart probably has little bearing on who will end up where at what position come the regular season. Reader TheAreopagite said it best when he warned us all not to look too deeply into the chart:

They’re just trying different arrangements to get different looks. Especially at positions with duplicates (WR, DE), someone backing up one spot on the depth chart doesn’t prohibit them from rotating at another spot.

Now that you've been thoroughly...disclaimed? I guess? Let's look at some of the more interesting quirks of this early depth chart, after the jump.

• Adam Froman's fourth on the depth chart. Expected, but it's probably where he'll remain. Hopefully he gets a few chances to prove himself.
• Jacquizz Rodgers and Gartrell Johnson are running third string. Rodgers was initially listed fourth, which raised more than one eyebrow around here. If the Falcons carry four backs, Johnson is the likeliest one to hang on.
• Lucas Cox is running second at fullback. The team is very, very doubtful to carry two. Cox is a well-rounded sort, though, so we'll see if he can impress the coaching staff against Miami.
• Brandyn Harvey and P.J. Gore are running fourth string: Not a great sign for either, but they'll likely get their turns to play a little higher on the depth chart before the pre-season's over. Tim Buckley is running third-string alongside Eric Weems, Drew Davis and Doug Beaumont.
• Michael Palmer is third-string. He may find it difficult to dislodge Justin Peelle, but I wish he would. Palmer has a lot more upside.
• Jose Valdez is backing up left tackle. Valdez is a huge guy with metric tons of potential. It looks like he'll get a real chance to gun for a roster spot, which I hope he can get. I'm more optimistic now than I was a week ago about his chances.
• Andrew Jackson is second-string at left guard. Very impressive, even in a basically meaningless pre-season game and on a very early depth chart. Jackson has reportedly been one of the true standouts of camp.
• Lawrence Sidbury is behind John Abraham. He should finally get some snaps this season. If he impresses in pre-season, he might have a bigger role than you think.
• Corey Peters is starting. Peria Jerry is behind Jonathan Babineaux, which is probably more of a prove it move than anything else. It's likely to be a true rotation, given that Jerry is the superior pass rusher and Peters the vastly superior run stopper.
• Mike Peterson starting outside. I'm hopeful that Stephen Nicholas will knock him off, but if not he's a very useful backup, as we all know. Mo Pete has a little fountain of youth thing going.
  
• Akeem Dent is behind Coy Wire. Based more on experience than anything else, I'd guess. Wire is better as a core special teamer.
• No idea who's going to win between Franks and Owens. They're each behind a different starter, so it's impossible to get a read. Let's see how they play. 
• Rafael Bush is behind William Moore. The Falcons have shown no interest in bringing in veteran safeties, so Bush has the inside track. He's an effective athlete, but watch out for Rafael Priest, who has done some nice things in training camp.

That's what jumped off the page at me. Comment away!