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The one week countdown until training camp has officially started. Football is on the horizon, folks! We’ve been looking at camp battles and guys on the roster bubble, so read on for today’s Falcoholinks to start your Monday.
Rushing to conclusions
Should the Falcons’ offense measure up to what we all know it is capable of, the ground game will be one of the big reasons. 2018 did not give us an adequate picture of Atlanta’s rushing attack, as Devonta Freeman was out for the majority of the season. With Freeman healthy and the departure of Tevin Coleman, the game on the ground will look wildly different from recent years, but the Falcoholic’s Kevin Knight believes the changes will spell more consistency.
Camp battles, continued
As training camp approaches, we continue examining some of the the more intriguing positional battles that will take place. One of the headliners? Foye Oluokun and Duke Riley. Oluokun essentially relegated Duke Riley to the bench last season, and he enters training camp as the presumed favorite to start in Atlanta’s linebacking corps.
Riley has been pretty dreadful in his first two years, and should he fail to assert himself and show that he’s grown on a football field, it’s possible that Oluokun supplants him permanently.
We’ll also be keeping an eye on who rises to the top at the guard position, and if Blidi Wreh-Wilson is able to hang on to a roster spot.
Rebuilding the line
Dan Quinn did not mince words when he provided his assessment of Atlanta’s offensive line. His statements about that unit’s lackluster play were one of the first signs that the team was going to invest heavily to rebuild it, leading to the acquisitions of guards James Carpenter and Jamon Brown, and the two first-round selections of Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary.
As we head into camp, what can we expect from Atlanta’s newly retooled O-line?
The Grady situation
The Falcons have until 4:00 pm EST today to lock Grady Jarrett into a long-term extension. We haven’t heard much in the way of movement toward an agreement, so there’s a strong chance that a deal eludes both sides by the deadline. So what does it mean if Jarrett and the Falcons are unable to reach an agreement? Dave Choate has you covered with the details.