Projecting the Falcons' 2016 starters

The Atlanta Falcons don't have a lot of uncertainty when it comes to their starting lineup in 2016, but there is some. Part of the fun in May is trying to figure out who the starters will be at contested positions like middle linebacker and right guard.

The NFL's flagship site has their projections for every team, and there's a couple of interesting choices here.

Here's the full list of projected starters, per NFL.com

Falcons Projected Starters

	Offense	Defense
	QB: Matt Ryan	DE: Vic Beasley
	RB: Devonta Freeman	DT: Ra'Shede Hageman
	WR1: Julio Jones	DT: Grady Jarrett
	WR2: Mohamed Sanu	DE: Derrick Shelby
	WR3: Justin Hardy	OLB: Philip Wheeler
	TE: Jacob Tamme	MLB: Deion Jones
	LT: Jake Matthews	OLB: Brooks Reid
	LG: Andy Levitre	CB1: Desmond Trufan
	C: Alex Mack	CB2: Robert Alford
	RG: Chris Chester	S: Keanu Neal
	RT: Ryan Schraeder	S: Ricardo Allen

The most interesting selections are at linebacker, as you might figure, because there's not a ton of intrigue elsewhere on the roster. Wheeler seems like the most likely choice to start the season as the starter on the weak side, while Brooks Reed (not Reid) is probably going to have a decent shot on the other side if Courtney Upshaw is playing a fair amount of defensive end. Deion Jones versus Paul Worrilow is already starting to feel like a settled battle, simply because Jones offers the speed and physicality the Falcons covet under Dan Quinn, but in reality that's likely to be a battle that stretches out through the summer.

This is more of less what I anticipate will happen for teh Falcons, though, if everyone stays healthy. How about you?