Rookie LB Troy Andersen, DL Marlon Davidson among Falcons inactives against Lions

We’re just over an hour away from kickoff for the Falcons - Lions game, and we just got word of our favorite team’s inactives for the evening. Unfortunately, there are some major names on there, including players I was certainly hoping to see in action. Those are the breaks.

Per Kevin Knight by way of the team, rookie linebacker Troy Andersen, veteran linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, defensive tackle Marlon Davidson, safety Jaylinn Hawkins, cornerback Isaiah Oliver, and wide receiver Bryan Edwards won’t play tonight. Arthur Smith has promised that everyone who is healthy will play, so you should expect to see everyone else.

No Andersen and no Kwiatkoski means a heavy dose of Mykal Walker and Rashaan Evans early on, likely with plenty of Dorian Etheridge and undrafted rookie Nate Landman. Andersen is an extremely intriguing long-term prospect for the Falcons, given his outlandish athleticism and history of positional versatility in college, but we won’t get a good first look at him tonight.

Without Oliver in the game, meanwhile, you can expect to see Mike Ford picking up snaps at the nickel, and it will be interesting to see who follows him. Davidson’s snaps will likely be picked up by several others, while Hawkins will be replaced by Erik Harris, Dean Marlowe, and others. Edwards will likely get limited run in preseason given that he’s dealing with an injury that has lingered the past couple of weeks and will be counted on as a starter, but this means plenty of Geronimo Allison and Auden Tate, in all likelihood.

Hopefully all of these guys are fully healthy by Week 2 of preseason, but the more important thing is that they’re all healthy by the season opener.