With all the internet site talk about Atlanta "needing" Lamar, it's easy to forget that Ridder ran a 4.52 in the 40 and had 2100 rushing yards with 28 touchdowns in his college career. Also noteworthy... His supporting cast this year should be an upgrade over last year. The big one is that Kyle Pitts wasn't available when Ridder was playing last season. Now he should have both Pitts and Drake London on the field. Kyle Pitts and Jonnu Smith are major upgrades over Mycole Pruitt and Anthony Firkser at TE. London now has a season of experience. Mack Hollins should be a big upgrade over KhaDarel Hodge as the second "tall" at WR, while Scotty Miller is faster than Olamide Zaccheaus for the slot role.
Offensive lineman Elijah Wilkinson has signed with the Cardinals. He started 9 games at left guard for Atlanta last season, missing time with a knee injury. All the same, I would now rate him ahead of Isaiah Oliver as the team's top player loss this offseason, as it's up for grabs who will take over at LG. There are a LOT of in-house candidates that the team might consider. Matt Hennessy would seem to be the incumbent among them now that Wilkinson and Chuma Edoga have both signed elsewhere. Jalen Mayfield, Germain Ifedi, Justin Shaffer, Kyle Hinton, Joshua Miles, Jonotthan Harrison, Ryan Neuzil and Tyler Vrabel might all be in the mix as well. The other top candidate is The Player To Be Named Later.
I just saw the contract details - Elijah Wilkinson signed a minimal one year contract. That suggests to me that the Falcons had no intention of resigning him. That's a bit disturbing, as it says the team's plan at left guard is something not clear to fans. It doesn't seem like Terry Fontenot's style to PLAN on taking a guard at #8. Maybe the plan is Hennessy leading the open competition along with Ifedi, Mayfield, Shaffer and perhaps some of the more recent additions. Hopefully they all continue to develop. None of them have been world-beaters to this point.
Word is getting out that the Falcons have traded for cornerback Jeff Okudah. They have also re-signed WR KhaDarel Hodge.
lol, I see you knew that. Started reading here first and then seen your post in the 'news & notes' thread.
I gotta admit I'm also stoked about getting KhaDarel Hodge back. His stats from last year won't convince anyone that he's important, as he was mainly a core special teams player who only appeared on offense for 199 total snaps. But he's a great blocker for a WR, and he did make his limited snaps count - 202 yards receiving, so more yards than plays. He caught 65% of his targets, and his receptions averaged 15.5 yards. Not bad for a guy who was basically the #5 WR on a run-heavy team. Essentially, he does the downfield blocking for the outside run game and will participate on any special teams unit. And he has worked his ass off to become a better receiver and a good route runner. That part was clear to me last season - I thought he was actually a better WR than Olamide Zaccheaus, who started ahead of him after initial starter Bryan Edwards was released. (Hodge was DEFINITELY better than Edwards.) He's the kind of guy you want in your locker room. Now he has a season of experience in Atlanta's offense and a little time to have built some chemistry with Desmond Ridder. Getting him back for the offense AND landing Okudah for the defense? Today was a very good day.
Grady Jarrett expects Falcons to be a “really strong defensive team” The Falcons finished 27th in total defense and 23rd in points allowed last season. Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett expects to be better — much better — under new defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen. “I envision this team being a really strong defensive team,” Jarrett said, via Ashton Edmunds of the team website. “At the core, I think we’re going to be really strong upfront on the offense and defensive line, so I think that’s really going to drive us forward.” The Falcons signed defensive tackle David Onyemata, who followed Nielsen from New Orleans. Onyemata has totaled 23 sacks, 244 tackles, 28 tackles for loss and 63 quarterback hits in six NFL seasons. They also added defensive lineman Calais Campbell, who has 800 tackles, 237 quarterback hits, 99 sacks and 16 forced fumbles in his 15-year career. “To have a guy like David Onyemata come in is going to be great,” Jarrett said. “To have a leader like Calais Campbell come in is going to be crazy. It’s almost like reminiscing of when we had Dwight Freeney come in my second year. When you get a legend of the game to come in, because Calais is that, it just raises the bar for everybody.” PFT
He's a Swiss army knife player and thats cool, imo. 39.5 sacks with the steelers, but slowed down with the Titans, but hey, that defense is looking great in the ATL.
Update on the Okudah trade... the Lions are also going to be paying $1.5 million of his salary this season. His cap figure for Atlanta is only going to be $3.6 million. The pick that Atlanta traded for him turns out to be one of the two picks they got from the Jaguars as part of the Calvin Ridley trade. So Ridley's final contract year becomes Okudah's final contract year, but much, much cheaper. Can Okudah play well AND stay healthy? Not sure, but Atlanta already has A.J. Terrell, Casey Hayward and Mike Hughes plus a trio of rising prospects. It's not like they're depending on Okudah to step in and save the team.
Falcons release Quinton Bell, Amani Bledsoe, Jovante Moffatt The Falcons made their signing of Bud Dupree official on Friday afternoon by officially announcing the move. But the club has also moved on from three players, with the offseason program soon to get underway. Atlanta has released outside linebacker Quinton Bell, defensive lineman Amani Bledsoe, and safety Jovante Moffatt, the club announced. Bell appeared in four games for the Falcons last season, playing 61 defensive snaps and 60 special teams snaps. He entered the league as a Raiders seventh-round pick in 2019 and previously appeared in five games for the Buccaneers in 2020. Moffatt played three games for Atlanta in 2022, playing 55 special teams snaps. And Bledsoe was on the Falcons’ practice squad for much of last season, signing a futures deal with the team in January. PFT
Though none of the three players released today were of any real significance, I should throw a bone and give due credit to Jovante Moffatt. The Browns had released him at the end of preseason. He landed on Atlanta's practice squad in mid-September. He did well enough that the team had confidence in him as a backup. He got his first callup from the practice squad the game before the trade deadline, and the team was willing to ship veteran backup Dean Marlowe to the Bills for a seventh rounder. That pick ended up being the one that Atlanta traded to New England for tight end Jonnu Smith. So in an indirect way, Moffatt made a contribution towards building the new roster. Quinton Bell had an amusing Falcons connection even before he joined the organization. Former GM Thomas Dimitroff was notorious for trading up in mid / late rounds to take prospects that for whatever reason he thought were important. In 2019 it was defensive end John Cominsky, who never made it in Atlanta but is now doing well in Detroit. Dimitroff traded the Raiders a seventh round pick to move up just two spots in the fourth round to make absolutely sure he got Cominsky. The Raiders used that gift seventh rounder to select Bell. He didn't make the Raiders roster and was even released from their practice squad in midseason. He signed with Tampa's practice squad and spent the rest of 2019 and 2020 in Tampa, mainly on their practice squad. He then spent 2021 and 2022 on Atlanta's practice squad. Four years, three organizations. Nine total game appearances. Two solo tackles and one assist. I would say it might be time to hang it up, but practice squad guys now make over $200k if they stick on the squad the entire season - and they stand to make significantly more ($41k per game in 2022) if they do get a call-up like Bell did last year. So... hang in there, Quinton. I suspect most Falcons fans never even knew Amani Bledsoe was in the organization. He wasn't with the team in training camp or preseason. For that matter, he wasn't in training camp with ANY team. He had been with Tennessee's practice squad in 2021 but wasn't picked up after he was released. But he did manage to test positive for PEDs and was suspended for the first six weeks of 2022, so nobody signed him to their 90-man offseason roster. He was out of the league completely until Houston signed Jaleel Johnson off of Atlanta's practice squad at the end of October. The Falcons then worked out Bledsoe and signed him to the practice squad as Johnson's replacement. He must have done fairly well while on the practice squad. The Texans released Jaleel Johnson a few weeks later and the Falcons brought him back for the practice squad. And at the end of the season they resigned Bledsoe to a futures deal but let Johnson slip away in free agency. But now that they've added so many linemen and edge guys in free agency, everyone else moves farther down the totem pole to the point that Bledsoe has no realistic chance of making it here this season. It's a professional courtesy to let his agent try to land him elsewhere.
Anthony Richardson will be in Atlanta Tuesday. Not really news, but hell, I had nothing else going on.
Welcome aboard, Ethan Greenidge! The former Saints offensive tackle (2019 undrafted free agent from Villanova) was in Flowery Branch last week and has reportedly signed today. One year contract, terms unknown as yet. He appeared in 15 games in 2020, missed all of 2021 on IR with an arm injury, was resigned for 2022 (instead of an RFA tender) but hurt his knee and missed all of 2022 on IR. He also missed his Combine and pro day at Villanova due to a shoulder injury. So three significant injuries in four years, but all to different body parts. The Saints didn't bother to resign him for this season. Falcons GM Terry Fontenot was in the New Orleans front office when Greenidge was signed and was playing, so it makes perfect sense that Atlanta would be the team to give him a shot for 2023. Prospects Jalen Mayfield and Justin Shaffer also missed most of 2022 for Atlanta with injuries, so Greenidge will fit right in...
You mean; Welcome to the red and black tent on the sidelines, then IR is waiting? Just kidding, hope he can keep all his parts together and be a solid depth piece.
I'm not even sure he'll last long enough to get to the point where there's a tent on the sidelines. He'll probably tear something putting on the pads in the locker room. I have much higher hopes for his fellow prospects Kyle Hinton, Joshua Miles, Justin Shaffer, Tyler Vrabel and Ryan Neuzil.
