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Could We See Post-Bye Week Changes To The Offensive Line?

What's going to happen to the offensive line once the bye passes by?

Scott Cunningham

The Falcons began 2013 with an offensive line that looked like this:

LT Sam Baker
LG Justin Blalock
C Peter Konz
RG Garrett Reynolds
RT Lamar Holmes

They exited the Week 5 loss against the Jets with a line that looks like this:

LT Lamar Holmes
LG Justin Blalock
C Peter Konz
RG Garrett Reynolds
RT Jeremy Trueblood

Suffice to say, it's not pretty, as James ably covered earlier this week. Turning to Pro Football Focus, you begin to understand where the problems lie. For the season, Justin Blalock has a stellar (+8.1) grade, while Garrett Reynolds is at (+5.1) despite a pretty lousy week against the Jets. Meanwhile, Sam Baker is an unbelievable (-13.8), Lamar Holmes is improving but still is at (-13.6), Peter Konz is at (-7.9) and Trueblood clocks in at (-2.8). You don't have to be a big believer in the way PFF charts these grades to know that they're on to something, because the issues at tackle and center are evident.

So the question is, will the Falcons shuffle things around? If Baker's healthy, the Falcons will likely give him his job back, but it should be interesting given that Holmes has quietly played very solidly at left tackle the last couple of weeks. Blalock and Reynolds should be locked in where they are, and the team is likely to continue to give Konz plenty of run even though he's been mostly terrible thus far.

The likeliest changes would be at tackle. If Baker gets back his left tackle job, I imagine Holmes would switch back to the right side in place of Trueblood, who has been abysmal in pass protection. If Holmes stays in because Baker isn't coming back, the Falcons will have to at least mull what Ryan Schraeder might look like out there. I'd be surprised if there were any changes to the interior of the line, frankly.

One thing that's unlikely? Sam Baker at right tackle. Would be interesting to see it happen, but I doubt it will.

Your thoughts on the line going forward?

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