Falcons unveil depth chart for preseason Week 1

All the talk is nearly over, because we’re about to hit the first preseason game, and hit it hard. The big question is how much stock we should put in how much playing time specific Falcons get, and who will start.

There are some interesting notes to take away from these initial lineups. Here’s screenshots of the depth chart for Thursday, and we’ll have some notes below.

The first big takeaway is that presumptive swing tackle favorite Andreas Knappe is way down on this early depth chart, with Daniel Brunskill and Kevin Graf up first once Jake Matthews and Ryan Schraeder come off the field. Graf has the most experience out of the tackle group and Brunskill had a nice college career, so I’m not shocked or displeased by this. It just isn’t quite what I expected.

On the defensive side of the ball, Jack Lynn will get more run than expected as Vic Beasley’s direct backup at linebacker (???), C.J. Goodwin will be one of the first corners on the field after Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford leave (if they ever get there), and Sharrod Neasman is getting first crack behind Ricardo Allen.

Remember, in all of these cases, that the Falcons are going to give their deep backups plenty of time, so this does not necessarily indicate strong preferences for any particular players. We’ll see if those who have better-than-expected depth chart listings can do the kind of work they’ll need to in order to keep them.