The Falcons roster will be a work in progress, no matter how well they draft

Take a look at the Falcons roster, if you have the stomach for such a thing at this stage, and you'll notice that the Falcons are still very much a work in progress.

It's possible they'll head into the 2016 season with multiple starters that I would consider stopgap solutions, either because they're aging veterans without a ton of long-term upside, young players the team doesn't appear to consider prominent pieces of their future, or simply players who are on one year deals. That would handily sum up Jacob Tamme, Brooks Reed, Mike Person, Paul Worrilow, whoever is starting at safety, and arguably both their returner gig and kicker. Ideally, the Falcons would replace or at least groom their replacements this year, but with five draft picks and not a lot of money left in free agency, they simply won't have the chance to. That's not even mentioning the team's depth, which is quite strong at running back, along the defensive line, and in the secondary, and middling to weak everywhere else.

You will never have long-term solutions at every position on the roster, of course, but my point is simply that the Falcons won't be completely happy with the resources they've been able to sink into the roster until at least 2017. Those of us steeling for another mediocre year are capable of recognizing the team's legitimate upgrades (Mack, Shelby, hopefully Sanu) while remembering that linebacker in particular is still such a potentially massive hole that it could drag the entire defense down with it, and the Falcons at this point cannot hope to solve that with one or two picks alone for 2016. I'm still a believer in Dan Quinn and a brighter future for this team, but unless there are some surprises in the offing, it's worth remembering that brighter future may not arrive in 2016.

What are your early expectations for 2016?