The Falcons released starting right tackle Tyson Clabo on April 4th. In his next mock draft update, ESPN's senior mockster Mel Kiper, Jr changed his prognostication and tagged Oregon's lineman Kyle Long as our first round choice. Here's a question for Essex Community College's most famous hairpsray enthusiast: why would a team release a former Pro Bowler just to create an extra need to fill with the only draft pick where you'd expect to land an instant starter? The Falcons have plenty of other options on the offensive line, and some quite good ones at that. We know from his new contract that Sam Baker is the plan at LT. Justin Blalock is locked in at LG. We took Peter Konz for a reason last year, and personally, I don't think it was to put him at RG. He'll take over for Mud Duck at center. Garrett Reynolds played surprisingly well at RG before he got hurt last season. He was actually the bright spot on an otherwise lackluster line. And that leaves right tackle. We raised some eyebrows by taking Lamar Holmes in the third round last year. Thomas Dimitroff jokingly referred to him as a double-wide. It fits - if you see pictures of him in his red practice uniform (with white numbering) from last summer, he looks like a Coke machine with a head. It's time to get him into action. If he's ready, he takes over at RT. Plan B: Pat Hill can do the same thing with him that Paul Boudreau did with Harvey Dahl. We could put him at right guard instead, and slide Garrett Reynolds over to RT. Reynolds is a natural tackle anyway, so he wouldn't be learning a new position. Plan C: Mike Johnson trained at RT in camp and preseason last year and became the swing tackle (the active backup for both tackle positions) for the regular season. If Holmes needs a little more time, he could take over at either RG or RT with Holmes becoming the swing tackle. Note that the overall depth at tackle is not an issue either, as Reynolds and Johnson would make four total tackles among the seven active linemen. If both Baker and Holmes got hurt during a game, Johnson would take over for Baker at LT, Reynolds would slide over to replace Holmes at RT, and the interior backup (most likely Joe Hawley at this point) would step in at RG. The offensive line is NOT the team's greatest need, and Thomas Dimitroff has said on several occasions that he's a needs-based guy when it comes to the draft.
I thought Holmes was supposed to be a good pass blocker, but a lousy road graded? Graded high at footwork and movement, but low at power? That would make him the backup LT and developmental LT (for when Sam Baker gets injured again) - not a right tackle. All that being said - right tackles are about as valuable as guards, and you can easily get the best one available in the 20's, and an instant starter through the third round.
I gotta give props to the other mocks out there. We have an ever-growing number of draft oriented web sites - Draft King, Draft Ace, Draft Nasty, Draft yada yada yada. A few years ago, an insane proportion of them simply followed the Cult Of Mel. If Darth Helmet Hair predicted that the Falcons would draft LeeRoy Jenkins, then about 40% of the mocks would tag him as our pick. But out of several dozen other mocks out there this year, NOT EVEN ONE has followed Kiper's lead on picking Kyle Long - or any other offensive guard, for that matter - as Atlanta's choice at #30. They're getting better at thinking for themselves. Or at least they're getting better at recognizing when Kiper has been inhaling too many hairspray fumes. Nice job, guys.
