Believe it or not, the Atlanta Falcons might have a shot at picking linebacker Manti Te’o at No. 30 with their first-round draft pick. The Falcons should pass and not even think twice.

Back in December when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were preparing for the BCS Championship Game against the Alabama Crimson Tide, no one expected Te’o to be in the conversation for the Falcons so late in the first round. This was before the fake girlfriend hoax came to light and a tumultuous two months brought Te’o’s name to the forefront for all the wrong reasons.

Te’o was at the top of the world after his senior season and took home trophies like the Bednarik Award, the Walter Camp and the Maxwell Award to name a few. But after a poor showing in the title game and questions of his character arose, Te’o’s stock began to tank.

Monday at the NFL Scouting Combine, Te’o ran a sluggish 4.82 40-yard dash and watched his draft stock plummet further. ESPN college football analyst warned NFL general managers that picking Te’o early could be costly, and then offered his opinion on where Te’o should be chosen.

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We know the New Orleans Saints aren’t planning to use the franchise tag on left tackle Jermon Bushrod. We also know (thanks to Larry Holder of the Times-Picayune) that Bushrod would love the $9.7 million the franchise tag would bring and wants the foundation that a long-term contract with New Orleans would bring.

But on Tuesday Bushrod plans to set aside the contract talks that haven’t even really begun. As long as the weather allows, Bushrod hopes to pull off a Who Dat version of the Harlem Shake.

I’m looking forward to the video of this.

Atlanta Falcons

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No running back did more to help his draft status at the 2013 Scouting Combine than Arkansas’ Knile Davis.

The buzz is that the Atlanta Falcons might be in the market for a running back in free agency or the NFL draft in April as the conversation about Michael Turner—who ESPN analyst Adam Schefter said the Falcons are likely to release as a cap casualty—heats up.

Head coach Mike Smith wasn’t exactly forthcoming in his comments about cutting Turner.

"Michael is under contract right now,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported from Smith’s press conference at the combine. “We’ll continue to go through that process in terms of how we are going to recalibrate it. Myself, Mr. Blank and Thomas have had numerous discussions. There is a cause-and-effect to every decision that you make at this time of the year. You’re dealing with the salary cap and those decisions will work themselves out over the next couple of weeks."

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During general manager Dave Gettleman’s NFL Scouting Combine press conference he spoke about Carolina’s use of the read-option. This telling quote may foretell of a direction the Panthers may go in during the NFL draft in April.

"Ten of the 12 teams in the playoffs this year had true pocket passers," said Gettleman after he was asked whether the read-option was going to be around for the long haul in Carolina. "At the end of the day, the quarterback has to make plays from the pocket. I think the read-option is an option, exactly what you called it."

“But at the end of the day your quarterback has got to make plays from the pocket, and if he can't you're going to struggle."

What that tells me is Cam Newton is going to be making more plays with his arm in 2013 than he has in his previous two years in the NFL. While he’s more than capable of doing just that, before we rearrange the NFL record book, Carolina needs to add a weapon for him to utilize.

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The fact that the Carolina Panthers paid three running backs $89.211 million to crowd the backfield upset a large number of fans in 2012. It wasn’t because price tag was too high—OK, maybe it was a bit too high—but because the coaching staff spent the first half of the season mismanaging their talents.

With the Panthers still approximately $6 million over the 2013 salary cap, the easy fix seems to be the fact that one of Carolina’s running backs has to go. Who will it be, Jonathan Stewart, Mike Tolbert or DeAngelo Williams?

According to the Charlotte Observer, the Panthers want to keep all three.

The trio will count $13.24 against Carolina’s 2013 cap number with Williams being the biggest chunk at $8.2 million. Carolina thinks it can retain all three at current contract levels, a league source told Joe Person, but the Panthers sure could take some relief if Williams restructured his contract.

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University of Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray performed admirably at the NFL Scouting Combine on Sunday, putting him on the “high-riser” side of the score sheet.

Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated raved about Bray’s accuracy and arm strength and noticed a whopping 24 new pounds of muscle mass on the former Volunteers’ frame.

Even though Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano overstated the fact that Josh Freeman is the quarterback of choice in Tampa, general manager Mark Dominik wants competition at every position, including under center, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Would Bray fit as Freeman’s backup?

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ESPN analyst Adam Schefter didn’t completely answer the question lingering around Flowery Branch this offseason, but shed some serious light Friday on whether running back Michael Turner would be cut to clear cap space.

For the record, I’m against the move. Not so much because I believe Turner is still a top-10 back, but because the money saved in the deal isn’t enough to go out and procure a free-agent running back to replace him. This also screams my opinion that Jacquizz Rodgers and Jason Snelling aren’t the answer for the Falcons by themselves.

There needs to be a third option in the Falcons backfield and it needs to be an option that can lead the trio in touches. Rodgers has never carried the ball more than 11 times in a game, and his 15-touch Week 3 performance in San Diego was his biggest workload. Snelling touched the ball nine times in Week 15 against the New York Giants, which was his largest role of the season.

Both Rodgers and Snelling are the kind of back offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter can make great use of. They both catch the ball well out of the backfield, giving quarterback Matt Ryan an added option on every play.

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Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner will undergo a surgical procedure to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, ESPN analyst Adam Schefter reported Thursday.

Many, including Schefter, slot Milliner as a top-five pick. But NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock had a lower opinion of the Crimson Tide corner on a conference call on Feb. 18.

"Dee Milliner for me is a guy that, if he runs fast, he can become a top 10 guy," said Mayock. "And most people think he already is. I don't. I love him as a player, love him on tape. I think he's more like the 20th pick in the draft, if I had to put a number on him. However, if he runs sub-4.5, I think he's going to be a top-10 pick."

Milliner still plans to participate in every drill at the NFL Scouting Combine except the bench press, so his speed will be on display. But how much will Milliner’s injury push down his draft status?

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