Chris Lindstrom looks like a shoo-in for the RG job

Chris Lindstrom is going to start. So long as he’s healthy and does not spontaneously forget how to play football entirely, the first round rookie is a shoe-in for a spot on the offensive line. He’s drawn rave reviews both pre-draft and post-draft for his athleticism and talent, and the Falcons aren’t doing anything that would suggest they’re going to slow-play his ascension to the starting lineup.

In fact, Lindstrom’s usage through the first two days of training camp suggests that he is the starter at right guard, and Jamon Brown and James Carpenter are simply competing for the left guard job. Falcons’ beat writer William McFadden alluded to this in his takeaways piece from yesterday, though he stopped short of saying it means Lindstrom will start at right guard.

That rookie Chris Lindstrom has been manning the starting right guard spot by himself the past two days while Brown and Carpenter are splitting starting reps at the left guard position is interesting.

I doubt Lindstrom relaxes his stranglehold on the job. The only real question heading into training camp was whether Lindstrom would get his shot at left guard or right guard, and the earlier indications are it’ll be right guard. If that continues to be the case, it’ll be between Jamon Brown and James Carpenter for left guard, with the only suspense with Lindstrom concerning just how good he’ll be in his rookie season.

This treatment, again, is noteworthy because Kaleb McGary is not taking the reins at right tackle just yet. He’s getting work with the second team opposite Matt Gono, but Ty Sambrailo is out there with the starters and might push this battle deep into the summer, even if McGary ought to win it. Lindstrom faces no challengers, and if all goes according to plan, this will be just the beginning of a decade-long run of dominance for the rookie guard.