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Atlanta Falcons
I know that the picture is mean, but it signifies the season for the Atlanta Falcons.
It shows that their fans bring signs to the game that mock their team instead of supporting it. (That is a Falcons fan, I just couldn't crop it so you could see the whole thing)
First, they got rid of Matt Shaub to stop the rumors that Shaub would take over the starting position if Michael Vick didn't work out.
Little did they know, Vick was involved in an underground dog fighting ring, which is illegal, (who knew?) and he is now serving a prison sentence.
So they were stuck with Joey Harrington (kinda sucks doesn't it). Halfway through the season, they picked up Byron Leftwich, which didn't work out either.
They never had a good wide receiver and their defense was horrible. So, they ended up making a draft pick very early.
Possible Directions
Wide receiver was a big problem for Falcons last season. Sure, Harrington and Leftwich aren't exactly star quarterbacks, but they need somebody to throw to. They could take a receiver in the 2nd or 3rd round.
Without Alge Crumpler, TE is no longer a strong point for the Falcons. They need somebody to fill that need deeper in the draft.
Their offensive line was a point of concern. Warrick Dunn had absolutely no holes the entire season. Grabbing Jake Long would help fix that problem if he is still available.
To finish off the problems in the trenches, their defensive line was little better than the offensive brethren. Chris Long would be a strong pick if he is still available at that time.
Glenn Dorsey would also help fix the line as the anchor.
To help stabilize the quarterback position, they could make Matt Ryan the selection. He shows a lot of promise and could possibly fall to them.
Darren McFadden is an extremely good player, but he fills no needs for the Falcons and adding a player to what has been their strongest position for the past few years wouldn't be smart, and they won't make that mistake.
Well, that's all for now, look out for the Raiders article on Tuesday.
I'm Joe W.
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6 months ago
The effort here is nice, and the intention is good, but the execution is piss poor. How about a little research? We didn't pick up Leftwich halfway through the season. We added him in September. We also had a pretty dadgum effective WR, especially when you consider the mess (as in no offensive line meaning no running game and no protection for our quarterbacks) of an offense we had. Or maybe you consider 80 catches and 1200 yards to be the sign of a receiver who isn't any good. Chris Long plays defensive end, a position we just used a first rounder on to get Jamaal Anderson, one year after trading a first round pick for John Abraham, also a defensive end. We've got plenty of money tied up there, we aren't taking a DE in the first round. TE isn't a very pressing need either, we've got several on the roster, including a second year player who they are pretty high on. Seriously, I take back what I said. The effort was poor. Just a little research before writing an article like this isn't asking too much, is it?
from 6 months ago
i messed up on the wr part, i admit it, it is going to be reworded so that it fits what they really need. They need a receiver that can take some of the pressure off of roddy white because if he keeps up the production, teams are going to catch on and somebody needs to be able to make them keep their eye other places. John Abraham had 10 sacks last season, nobody else had more than 3 sacks, they need another force. chris long would help and it would give them more ability to rotate d-linemen the way that the bears did in 06, it's a nice luxury to not have players getting extremely tired because of over-working. At the TE position, they have 188 yards receiving, from everybody, and only 1 of the TE's have an official number, that doesn't show that much strength. They shouldn't spend an early pick, but maybe 3rd round would be good to help a player progress into a good player in the future. But I think, like John said, Matt Ryan or Jake Long would be the best.
6 months ago
I agree with Ben on the analysis.....this team needs a lot, but what they really need is hope. And that usually comes in the form of a franchise QB or another type of impact player.
I'm thinking Jake Long, Matt Ryan or Keith Rivers. I think all three of those fill needs and could be Hawaii-worthy talents.
My rule of thumb - and its the same with a lot of experienced GMs as well - is that when you are drafting that high, you need to take the unique player. A talent that comes around once every few years, because you are going to get involved in a long-term, expensive relationship with them.
6 months ago
Joe, we are NOT going to take Chris Long. We have used our last two first round draft picks basically on defensive ends. We already have large sums of money tied up in defensive ends, we are NOT drafting another one. We took one in the first round last year, we aren't going to give up on him now. I guess the Texans should have gone ahead and drafted Mario Williams replacement as well, right?
As for tight end, we are going to be a power running team, we need our tight end to be a blocker more than pass catcher, and we've got some tight ends that can block. Plus, we are pretty high on second year guy Martrez Milner. Like I said, do some research first, it's not that hard. If you're going to take the time to write these articles, take the time to inform yourself so you can look like you have at least half a clue as to what you're talking about.
6 months ago
I think we should keep teh DE we have the D line could be better but we need some offense i think if we take Jake Long would be our best bet first round because we have a good amount of picks in the first 3 rounds and i think we could fill in some questions at QB and TE and even WR, Also i regret them getting rid of the Crump and Hall those were stupid moves on my part they were key players and it will be hard to find players like them but i think that we could find players better fit for the team with some youth
6 months ago
Both moves had to be made. Crumpler is getting older and is more of a receiver than blocker. In our offense we need the tight end to be more of a blocker than a pass catcher. His balky knees are just that, balky, and it was money we could free up. Besides, this was a MAJOR rebuilding job, he was one that just had to go. His dollar figure and injuries made it make perfect sense. As for Hall, anyone who ridicules the Falcons for trading Hall doesn't understand the first thing about the NFL. Let's see, we can hang on to him, let him sit out 10 games, maybe play the last six, and then have him bolt via free agency, leaving us with NOTHING in return, OR we can trade him for one of the first 40 picks in the draft. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, that's a really, really tough one to figure out. Yeah, ridiculously stupid on the Falcons part to get something in exchange for him as opposed to dealing with him being a distraction and disturbance next season before walking via free agency anyways.
6 months ago
Anyone who wears "Free Mike Vick" is a 'tard and doesn't belong on the new team. What do they want, a waived conviction? A mistrial? A pardon? Morons! Their mind ain't on the playbook. The Falcons probably won't be able to trade down, so choosing an interior lineman who will start and stay as opposed to a skill player who might need a year of practice is the best solution. Control the line and your playmakers will at least have a chance.
6 months ago
Hey Ben, give the kid a break - you sound like a child molester. Don't be such a schmuck. Is that too much to ask? We need the TE to be more of a blocker than a pass catcher indeed. Yeah, like we need a TE who can't catch. Brilliant.
from 6 months ago
Thank you, finally, a good Anonymous
6 months ago
The team is high on Milner, though I'm not exactly sure why after what I saw in Athens. He's got potential, no doubt, but he's got to learn how to catch, you're right. I don't believe I said that we need a tight end who "can't catch", so your comment really has no place. However, in our offense, the tight end isn't viewed as a position where we are expecting to find a playmaker, but rather one who's going to block and help our running game. There are no two ways around it.
I'm sorry that by pointing out egregious comments and blatant examples of someone not bothering to inform themselves before trying to pretend they know what they're talking about makes me look like a child molester. I don't really see the correlation, but whatever you say man.
from 6 months ago
You have now contradicted yourself by saying that you have a young tight end that you are "high on" then saying that your not sure why your team is high on them in a different comment. However, as I said before, they need QB and OL the most. The other things can wait till later rounds or be acquired through trade or free agency
6 months ago
BTW, this article was not as researched as others I have done, I was trying to crank out an article and missed some key points. I saw that only Abraham had a good amount of sacks and overlooked last years pick of Jamaal Anderson. But I do think that they need another good receiver (Joe Horn is not the answer so I don't want to hear it).
from 6 months ago
First off you would know if you did research, that WR's ask for alot of money in their contract... and with robinson and white i think we have decent (not great) WR also they should stick with somthing of need the most for example QB and OL or DL DB and now we need another lock down CB since we got rid of Hall, think about it he was one of the best CB in the NFL he hit 70 tackles 1 ff and 5 int in his worse season he only really got introuble this last season b.c of boby patrino... you got to give him credit where credit is owed... because seriously now the raiders have him and they are going to win games with turnovers... and in a time like this we could use him
6 months ago
Joe Horn may not even be on the team next year. Again, if you aren't going to take the time to research things or to make sure the things you say are right, or make sense, why bother with the article? Just to put one up for the hell of it?
White is a solid number one receiver, so there is no reason to draft one early on, especially considering how much we struggled up front on both sides of the ball. We're also really high, and I think rightfully so, on Laurent Robinson. Wide receiver is NOT a position of need. We need OL, DL, MLB, CB, S and QB much, much, much, much more.
from 6 months ago
You can never be sure about a young player until he actually develops. I think that they should have gotten somebody in free agency, but they do have more pressing needs. WR will be a position of concern but probably won't get addressed this off-season because they don't have a proven guy. You ever heard of a bust, you might get good production out of Robinson, but don't count on it. The chances aren't higher than a 60% chance of a good career from him, which is in the positive, but you have plenty of room for failure.
Also, I like to be able to get one in at least every other day, so that is why i got that one out without completely looking at it, also, I had to work after school for the next 2 days and I would have had a lot of time to slip.
6 months ago
If you can't do it right, don't do it at all. I understand the lack of time and all that, but if you don't have the time to produce an article that depicts truths and reality, don't do one.
When you say they don't have a proven guy, do explain, please. 80 catches and 1,000 yards with a putrid quarterback play, no running game and a pathetic offensive line affording quarterbacks no time to find him seems pretty proven to me. Not only that, Jenkins is not a bad option as a number two receiver. Could we do better? Sure, but we could also do worse. White, Jenkins and Robinson isn't exactly Moss, Stallworth and Welker, but it's not bad either.
The tight end comment was NOT a contradiction. I, personally, am not high on Milner, yet. However, the front office is, and last I checked, they, not me, are the ones who will be doing the drafting. So seeing that they are high on him, and seeing they signed at least two other tight ends this offseason, tight end does not appear to be a position of need whatsoever, not in their eyes anyway.
from 6 months ago
I think that TE is a position of need if the players that they are so high on turn out to be busts. So I would call it a position in need of veteran to at least help the young players. You always want a veteran on the team in case of some sort of breakdown so that they can pick up the slack. That is why the Bears are keeping Clark instead of just letting Olsen take over the reigns right now. If he doesn't work out, we have Clark who has proven that he can at least keep the ship afloat. The Falcons need that, or they could be looking at hard times at TE, which is a position you need. Look at the Pats with Watson, Giants with Shockey and Boss. TE is an important position, and they need to have stability.
6 months ago
The player they are high on hasn't turned out be a bust yet. You don't draft for fear that the guy you have will be a bust. Until they ARE a bust, it's not a position of need. I guess the Bills should draft a quarterback for fear that Edwards will be a bust, right? I suppose the Lions should go ahead and draft another WR because Calvin Johnson might be a bust (oh, wait, they've gone that route before).
They have veterans on the team.
TE is an important position, and we have guys our front office is confident in on the roster. Might they add one in the draft? Perhaps, it's a luxury they have with 11 picks. However, it is not a need, certainly not a pressing need, and certainly not one that trumps the needs all across both lines, at middle linebacker, at corner and at safety. Furthermore, we don't plan to employ the tight end in the passing game as much as New England and New York did, we're going to be a power running team, a team which needs the tight end to be more of a blocker than pass catcher.
from 6 months ago
i only said to have a back-up plan in case of a bust. The Bills would be smart to have a veteran back-up in case he turns out to be one and done. Rex Grossman and Cedric Benson busted big time and we had no back-up, we all saw how that turned out. (By the time you do actually get somebody, all the good veterans are gone) You get the guy playing time, and make sure that he is fully ready to be a starter before you give him sole possession of the starting spot. Then keep the veteran for about a year after as a precaution is the best route when being high on a player, especially when he isn't a first or second round pick.
6 months ago
That's the risk you take. If you draft "in case" players every year, how do you improve your team? Football is a team game, there are lots of positions involved. You draft a guy, you hope it works. You don't draft someone of the very same position the next year "in case" he doesn't pan out. Then you're ignoring other needs. As for getting a veteran tight end, like I said, we have one. However, what does getting a veteran tight end have to do with the draft? How is the need for a veteran tight end a draft need? The Falcons don't need to draft a tight end, period.
6 months ago
i said that they should sign a proven veteran that can be there in case he is a bust. if he turns out to be bad, then they have a back-up plan so they won't be forced to more bad seasons while waiting for somebody else
from 6 months ago
who is the veteran tight end?
from 6 months ago
Maybe you should read your own article again. You said they needed to DRAFT a tight end. I believe the title of your article is "Draft Needs", not "veteran free agent needs".
Jason Rader and Ben Hartsock have joined the team. Again, the tight end position in our offense will be primarily a blocker.
from 6 months ago
maybe you should read my comments again. I say that they should sign a TE in free agency, after admitting to not completely looking into the tight ends on the team, i said that signing a veteran tight end would be best. and maybe you should do some research. jason rader is only in his second season and ben hartsock hasn't started 16 games in his career, so he isn't exactly a proven player. minor martrez and george cooper aren't experienced either. it looks like somebody else is having trouble doing their research. but maybe nfl.com is wrong, and both those players have proven themselves to be capable to play an entire season.
6 months ago
Go back and read your article dude. IN YOUR ARTICLE, the one titled "draft needs" you said they needed a tight end, via the draft.
You didn't say a veteran who had started X amount of games, did you? You said veteran, and in a league where the average career is THREE years, a guy who's been around for four counts as a veteran, bud.
Who is Minor Martrez?
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