Atlanta Falcons: Projected Starters For First Preseason Game

The Falcons first preseason game is this Saturday against the Detroit Lions.

And although winners of position battles aren't decided until at least the third preseason game.

It's never to early to project.

First, let's start with the offense (since almost every starting position is pretty much locked in).

QB—Matt Ryan

HB—Michael Turner, Jerious Norwood

WR—Roddy White, Michael Jenkins, Marty Booker*

TE—Tony Gonzalez

LT—Sam Baker

LG—Justin Blalock

C—Todd McClure

RG—Harvey Dahl

RT—Tyson Clabo

I think the only offensive position battle is for the slot receiver spot.

Marty Booker, Brian Finneran, and Robert Ferguson are the three competing and at this time Booker is the better receiver out of the three.

But, I don't think even Booker will be the starting slot receiver.  I'm pretty sure that the Falcons will sign a receiver after roster cuts.

Also, look out for the left guard spot.

Justin Blalock is a decent starter but Quinn Ojinnaka has the ability to over give him a pretty good push for the starting position.

Now on to the more complicated defensive projected line-up.

LDE—Jamaal Anderson*

DT—Peria Jerry*, Jonathon Babineaux

RDE—John Abraham

WLB—Mike Peterson

SLB—Stephen Nicolas*

ILB—Curtis Lofton

LCB—Chris Houston, Brent Grimes, Chevis Jackson

FS—Thomas Decoud*

SS—Eric Coleman*

I know, there are a lot of asterisks.

At left defensive end, a lot fans want Chauncey Davis to assume the starting role, but I'm not ready to give up on Jamaal Anderson.

He has a ton of potential and I always think of Kyle Vanden Bosch or Jared Allen.

Both are two of the best defensive ends in the game and both had rocky starts to their careers.

On to defensive tackle, this position battle may not be very competitive because Trey Lewis has already been out with an injury and Peria Jerry had been getting plenty of reps with the first team defense in his absence.

The strong side linebacker spot is Stephen Nicolas to lose.

Chris Houston is already penciled in as a starter, but the question is will he be starting at left or right?

Left cornerback lines up against the better receiver for the opposition.

Brent Grimes has an early lead on the other cornerbacks and his biggest competition will be Chevis Jackson.

Jackson is also trying to hold off veteran corner Von Hutchins and rookie Chris Owens.

The preseason is where the cornerback spot will be decided because Chevis Jackson performs better in games than he does in training camp.

Another position pretty much locked in is the safety.

William Moore will be out for four to six weeks so Thomas Decoud will be starter at free safety.

But if he bombs during the preseason then watch out for Jamal Fudge, who laid out Jason Snelling during special teams drills.

The only confusion is Eric Coleman can play both safety spots and if Jamal Fudge becomes the starter (God forbid!).

Then where will they play because Jamal Fudge can also play both safety spots.

Well, let's finish this off with special teams.

PK—Jason Elam

P—Michael Koenen

KR—Jerious Norwood

PR—Brent Grimes*

Before I start, Congratulations to Michael Koenen once again for becoming the first punter ever to be franchised.

Grimes returned a punt for a touchdown Monday at training camp but I'm not in favor of him being a full time punt returner.

This is mostly because of fatigue after playing three downs or more at cornerback.

I'd rather the Falcons sign Dante Hall and give him a chance or even give the rookie William Middleton a chance.

But this is why the league has preseason games.

Let's just watch and see how it all shapes out.