Marlon Davidson could be eased in to 2020 season for Falcons

The little injuries and ailments are starting to pile up as we get close to the season, which means the Falcons will likely throttle back on things for players like Matt Hennessy and Dante Fowler Jr., who are banged up a bit. The best case is that those players are healthy for the Week 1 matchup against the Seahawks, but unfortunately it’s still likely that not everyone will be 100%.

That includes rookie Marlon Davidson, a player I’m very much looking forward to seeing on Sundays. Davidson has been dealing with a knee strain for a while now that has robbed him of a number of practices, which in turn is going to impact his readiness for the start of the season, per Dan Quinn.

The long-term impacts of the injury should basically be nil, and it’s quite possible Davidson will suit up and be active Week 1. It’s clear that DQ doesn’t expect him to be a major factor out of the gate as he works his way back from the injury, however, which opens the door for John Cominsky in particular to get more work at defensive tackle on passing downs. Tyeler Davison will likely be a consistent presence against the run regardless of how healthy Davidson is, but I like the rookie’s chances of causing problems as a pass rusher even in his first year. That kind of outsized impact may just need to wait 2-4 weeks while the Falcons get him to a place they’re comfortable with.

The upshot here is that Davidson will get his shot to be a force this season, and I still believe he’ll take it. In the meantime, it’ll mean more snaps for Cominsky in particular and Deadrin Senat/whoever makes the roster instead of Deadrin Senat instead, and we’ll hope they hold their own while we wait for the intriguing rookie to get to the point where he can play the heavy snap load I’m sure the Falcons want him to.