Chris Lindstrom can be “as good as he wants to be,” per Alex Mack

Chris Lindstrom’s rookie year wasn’t what he wanted to be, and it’s not what fans hoped for. Injury robbed him of all but five games, and while he looked damn good, he didn’t get to take the league by storm the way his talent suggests he could have.

That’ll hopefully change in 2020, but we still don’t quite have the full measure of the man. To get a real sense of just how good Lindstrom might be, we have to listen to the evaluators, the coaches, and the players who know him best. Fortunately, those people all seem to think he’s going to be special.

Enter Alex Mack.

Mack’s one of the most decorated and talented centers in the NFL over the past couple of decades, so his opinion carries a lot of weight here. That five game stint was a firsthand look for Mack at just how talented he is, so I’m not inclined to consider these just empty words. Lindstrom’s very solid 66.6 Pro Football Focus grade last year in that limited action, his age, and his fit with this Falcons team portend better days ahead, too.

Lindstrom enters 2020 with no competition for the right guard job, and if he’s good as he’s billed to be, the Falcons will likely be just fine on the interior of their offensive line no matter who starts at left guard. That just leaves the question of whether Kaleb McGary will grow into a top-flight option at the right tackle position, and we’ll leave that one for another day.