Going by what we have now this is my guess for the 2012 depth chart

Offense

FB: Mughelli

HB: Turner, Snelling, Rodgers

QB: Ryan, Redman, Davis

LT: Baker, Svitek

LG: Reynolds

C: McClure, Hawley

RG: Konz, Johnson

RT: Blalock, Holmes

WR1: White, Douglas, Rodgers

WR2: Jones, Meier

TE: Gonzalez, Palmer

Defense

LDE: Edwards, Sidbury, Matthews

DT: Babineaux, Peters, Jerry, Walker, Robertson

RDE: Abraham, Beirmann

OLB: Weatherspoon, Harris

MLB: Tatupu, Dent

OLB: Nicholas, Adkins

LCB: Grimes, Franks, Owens

FS: Decoud, Shillinger

SS: Moore, Mitchell

RCB: Samuel, Robinson, Walls

Special

K: Bryant

P: Bosher

LS: Zelenka

I believe that is correct numbers. I decided to include all draft picks except Ewing and Massaquoi but I think there could be a genuine chance for all of them to get a roster spot. I also put Dominique Davis, James Rodgers and Jerrell Harris from the UDFA's as they struck me as players we could use for depth where we were a little thin. I doubt I will be 100% right but we'll see. Also I'd love to hear opinions for or against any decisions I made.

Side Note: I can never remember what sides people play on, so I might be wrong putting someone on the left side when they play right and visa-versa but forgive me, I'm only human.

2012 NFL Cheerleaders Draft

Because

Undrafted Cheerleaders > Undrafted Players

Warning!!! Do not continue reading if you still have a mommy. My name is Kashberry, and that's enough of a warning.

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I started writing a fan post on Matt Ryan in 2011 ,but I realized the Falcons are much bigger than Ryan which made me wonder "Who really are the Falcons?".

The answers to the above question range from Falcons being an overrated team, NFC Playoff contender, average team winning close games and an above average running team with an overrated QB etc. Lets jump in to the post to find "Who really are Mike Smith's Falcons?" and more importantly how the Falcons compared to rest of the league in 2011.

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Brent Grimes
Asante Samuel
Daunte Robinson
Akeem Dent
Sean Weatherspoon
Stephen Nicholas

Looks like our new LB/DB team has an interesting nickname available.

B.A.D.A.S.S.

Sounds about right to me, although I'm a bit biased I guess.

Some meaningless words so I can make this a Fanpost, and yes I'm aware I'm treading on newbie territory here but I really don't feel like posting this somewhere else...yadda...yadda....yaddda.

Nothing unique here.

Just some guys I'll be paying special attention to during camp news and such.

There are some interesting links I found (apology to Bryce Harris).

Dominique Davis, QB, East Carolina:

"He set 15 single-season records for ECU in 2010 and was named Conference USA’s newcomer of the year. He had 28 career rushing touchdowns. He could challenge John Parker Wilson for the No. 3 quarterback spot."(AJC)

"Davis, 6-3, 210 pounds, completed 67.6 percent of his passes (334-of-494) for 3,225 yards with 25 touchdowns as a senior at East Carolina. In 2011, he was a fourth team preseason all-conference selection by Phil Steele and named to the watch lists for the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards. Davis turned in a record-breaking campaign during first season with the Pirates, completing 393 of 609 pass attempts for 3,967 yards with 37 touchdowns in 2010. He began his college career at Boston College where he redshirted during Falcons QB Matt Ryan’s senior season with the Eagles."(Team Page)

(http://www.mockingthedraft.com/2012/4/12/2944636/dual-threat-dominique-davis-qb-east-carolina)

Cody Pearcy, WR, Huntingdon (Ala):

"The speedster was rated as the 38th-best wide receiver by Kiper. He runs in the 40-yard dash in the 4.3-second range and is a kickoff and punt returner." (AJC)

"Pearcy, 5-11, 160 pounds, is Huntingdon’s all-time leader with 147 receptions, 2,632 receiving yards, 25 touchdown catches and a 17.9 yard per reception average. He caught a team-high 46 passes for 766 yards with eight touchdowns during his senior season. In 2010, Pearcy was a first team D-III Senior Classic Preseason All-American and rewrote the Hawks record books logging 51 catches for 1,078 yards with 12 touchdowns."(Team Page)

(http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20120408/SPORTS0407/304080013/Diamond-rough)

Lamark Brown, TE, Minnesota-Mankato:

"He has great size at 6-foot-3 and 226 pounds. He transferred from Kansas State. He was the 50th-ranked wide receiver by ESPN draft analyst Kiper."(AJC)

"Brown, 6-3, 220 pounds, caught 31 passes for 405 yards with five touchdowns during his senior season at Minnesota-Mankato. He also added 31 carries for 98 yards with four touchdowns. Prior to arriving at Minnesota-Mankato, he was a three-year player at Kansas State." (Team Page)

(http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/130509363.html)

(http://cheeseheadtv.com/blog/green-bay-packersrailbird-central-podcast-interview-with-lamark-brown?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PackerTransplants+%28Packer+Fan+Podcasts%29)

Bryce Harris, OT, Fresno State:

"He was a four-time academic All-WAC pick. He was projected to go in the fifth or sixth round by Pro Football Weekly. Started at left tackle for three seasons after starting his career as a defensive lineman." (AJC)

"Harris, 6-6, 300 pounds, was selected to the All-WAC first team by the league coaches and named to Phil Steele’s All-WAC first team after starting in all 13 games at left tackle at Fresno State. He played for Falcons offensive line coach Pat Hill, who served as the Bulldogs head coach prior to arriving in Atlanta. Harris helped guide RB Robbie Rouse to a WAC-best 1,549 rushing yards, which was the third highest rushing total in single season in school history. He also blocked for QB Derek Carr, who became just the fifth Bulldog to throw for over 3,000 yards in a season." (Team Page)

(http://cache.profootballweekly.com/prospects/player/bryce-harris-70/)

Josh Harris, LS, Auburn:

"The Carrollton High product was considered the best long snapper in the draft. He consistently gets his snaps back in .70 seconds or less."(AJC)

"Josh Harris, 6-1, 224 pounds, served as Auburn’s long snapper on field goals, punts and PATs for the last three seasons, including 2010 when the Tigers won the BCS National Championship. The Carrollton, GA native was a SEC Academic Honor Roll selection in 2008 and 2009." (Team Page)

(http://www.warblogle.com/2012/04/26/football/josh-harris-discusses-his-chances-in-the-nfl-draft/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+warblogle+%28WarBlogle.com%29)

Hello Falcoholics, if you are like me than you are very disappointed with what T.D. and the Falcons FO did at this years NFL Draft. As much as I am trying to convince myself that these picks were good, I have come to the realization that I just can't. This was no ordinary 2nd round this year and ALOT of 'Blue Chip Talent" fell to within our reach. What makes it worse is that those guys who fell were what we needed. Guys like Mike Adams(OT), Jonathan Martin(OT), Cordy Glenn(G) and Coby Fleener(TE). The stars were aligned for the Falcons to have one of the best, if not THE best draft they have ever had. All we had to do was one thing.. We had to trade something to the Rams for their 3 second picks (which were all in the first 15 picks of the entire second round). I mean the situation could literally have not been any better for the Falcons. The number one TE was right there and exceptional O-line talent was right there for the taking. Granted the Rams were asking for something huge in return. I say we should have pulled the trigger. Who cares if we would have had to give the farm away, this was no ordinary 2nd round and everything we needed WAS RIGHT THERE. T.D. talks about 'versatility', well Cordy Glenn, who was the top Guard(Certainly top 3) in this years draft can play 4 DIFFERENT POSITIONS! A player can't get anymore versatile than that. Oh, and did I forget to mention that he is something our O-line "Needs" . Another player, Coby Fleener(who most people projected to be a 1st rounder) fell to within our reach and we could have had an already good TE mentored by the greatest TE of all time. If only the Falcons had played their cards right we could have had those "sexy" picks AND fix that O-line at the same time. It's just ridiculous what good of a position we were in but we just let it all get away. And as a major Falcons fans I just can't stress enough THE HUGE OPPORTUNITY we let get away. Life is tough being a Falcons fan, what's new.

Good evening Falcon fans. My name is Charlotte Bobcat, and I'm sure it's not hard to tell that I am a Bobcat's fan. I am also a Panthers fan. :) Either way, I'm a fan of these teams because I've been a North Carolina resident my entire life. I was born and raised in Gastonia, NC and happen to be a friend of your 3rd round draft pick, Lamar Holmes.

I met Lamar back in 2001, when I began dating his sister. At that time, he was just a chubby kid trying to find his way. Though I was about 6 years older than him, he was still bigger than me and I always knew he would develop into a monster. At that point, he had to be about 6'0 and 240+ pounds, in middle school. He wasn't a particularly good athlete at that point as he had trouble coordinating his steps. "Raw" would be a great word to describe him. But what can you really expect from a youngster? His father Anthony (who was about 6'6 250+ pounds himself) stayed in Lamar and his brother Devon's ear about doing the right thing and doing it the right way all the time. And so did his mother Harriete. Because of that, from early on, a humble approach was instilled in Lamar. I was given the task of tutoring Lamar one time by his mother for a class he was having trouble in. I honestly felt kind of weird about tutoring anyone, and when he was dropped off at my house, I was really just planning on letting him play my PS2 the entire time and to just tell his mom we were studying. When he got there, instead of heading straight for the joysticks, he was all business and showed me a will to learn and a will to succeed. A desire to really learn everything that he was missing. He was focused. Sure, we played Madden (now he'll be on Madden, it's so surreal) later on that day, but not before he made sure he had an understanding of the things he was having problems on. Coming from the area we do, you don't find too many kids with that attitude.

There have been a ton of "potential" players that have come out of my area (Gaston County, former Seahawks WR Koren Robinson was one), but none have really put it together. Let me tell you, the fact that Lamar has even been able to come this far is a sign to those of us that know him that he is in fact "putting it together". He didn't go the usual route of getting through college. He attended a community college in MI, got his mind right, transferred to Southern Miss, and the rest is already history.

I really don't know what I'm trying to say here. I usually can translate my feelings much better than this but I've discovered it's hard writing when the situation hits so close to home. I can't tell you that Lamar is going to come out and dominate. I can't tell you that his footwork is great. I can't tell you that he'll be focused on every single play (all that you're worried about, I've read the post).

But what I can tell you is that this man has NEVER been in a bit of trouble. I can tell you that this man respects his parents to the fullest extent and would never do anything do disappoint them. I can tell you that this man is FOCUSED on nothing but success and has a family in place that will do everything they can to see him succeed and not bring him down. I can tell you that as a friend of Lamar, I see the same thing in him that your general manager seen to make him a 3rd round pick as opposed to the later rounds he was projected that (I was hoping the Panthers would take him, we had him in for a workout before the draft). This kid will be good. He has the will to learn, the personality to be an excellent teammate, and if you didn't know, he is a monster and has better combine stats than a lot of the top picks. His father recently had a stroke and that's kind of worn on him a bit, but at the same time, he's using it as motivation to do even better to make sure he and everyone around him is well taken care of.

I honestly think a lot of you guys will be pleasantly surprised by what Lamar has to offer. But I'm just letting you guys know that it wouldn't surprise me if Lamar turns into a Pro Bowl caliber player because all he has are football and family. You won't catch him at the club making it rain, or involved in scandals like Pac Man or anyone. All you have is a player ready to play ball and be all he can be. And as a fan, I don't know how much more you can ask for than a man giving 100% all the time. That's Lamar Holmes. Always humble, always trying to be better. And even as a Panther fan, I can safely say that Atlanta is my second favorite team now. Good luck Falcons!!!

P.S.

Little brother Tony Holmes will be in the league soon and be a monster as well!

According to Pat Yasinkas at ESPN, Asante will only be a 2.875 million cap hit in 2012. Considering his hit for the Eagles for 2012 was going to be somewhere around 8 to 10 million, this is impressive on every conceivable level.

Even better? The Eagles are still on the hook for 1 million of Samuel's cap hit for 2012. Anything bad for the Eagles is just gravy in my book.

Say what you will about The Comrade, but his ability to snag players at great prices sets this franchise up very well for the long-term.

Coach Koetter has said he is implementing a more verticle offense. Atlanta's staff said they want to be more "explosive". We have excellent WR's, a very good QB, pass catching TE's, FB's, and RB's. Our team is set up for it. I give you the definition from wikipedia; short, horizontal passing routes in lieu of running plays to "stretch out" defenses, opening up potential for long runs or long passes. What does that mean for our team? Well it means our beloved QB needs to really develop his timing with our WR's, TE's, FB's, and RB's because he will be using all of them to gain yards. More importantly it means that opposing defenses will be taken back by our new system and even if we are mediocre at it at first, the lack of good game planning by the defenses, should give us the edge we need to take some of the games. The NFL's a changin' and we are not special. I think we would benefit heavily from the screens, and use of the pass to open up the run. The ground and pound served us well but it is out the door. I think we all know that it is happening, but the hard truth is we won't know until the season starts.

via media.al.com

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