10 total sessions over 3 weeks, non-contact. Not too big a deal, but these are also the first sessions where the players on the offense are allowed to go up against players on the defense. More importantly for the Falcons, it's a chance to see who plays where, which matters given the defensive coaching staff is almost completely new and the buzzword of the year for the offense is "positionless". The big story: DB/RB/WR/PR/KR Avery Williams tore his ACL in the second week of OTAs and is out for the season. His role as a RB was likely to be minimal, with him probably lining up mainly as a WR for the offense. But the huge impact is that he's one of the best punt return men in the league, so the team is already scrambling to get other players reps and see who might take that punt return role in his absence. As expected, Matthew Bergeron is working at left guard. In a sort of tradition, he has been taking his reps with the second unit though. Matt Hennessy is the incumbent, of sorts, as he was the "official" backup for Elijah Wilkinson last year. Now that Wilkinson has moved on, Hennessy is theoretically the main guy that Bergeron will need to beat out to take the starting role. To me, it's a joke to pretend there's even a competition. Bergeron is already the starter. Jovaughn Gwyn continues to work at center, which is the position the Falcons put on the card when they drafted him. Most likely, Drew Dalman will continue as the starter with Hennessy as the active interior backup. Gwyn will be battling to make the roster rather than opening the season on the practice squad. Ryan Neuzil is also in the mix. I was hoping to see Jalen Mayfield moving back to tackle this offseason. Head coach Arthur Smith has granted my wish. Mayfield has been taking snaps at right tackle with the second unit. As a rookie, the Falcons lost their top two players at left guard, and Mayfield got pushed into the starting role as a third round rookie and not having taken all of his offseason snaps at that new position (he was a tackle in college). He got hurt in preseason last year and spent the season on IR. Now that Bergeron is on board along with many other interior prospects, I'm happy to see Mayfield going back to tackle. It's where he should be, and it's also his best track towards making the roster and getting playing time. He should be considered a candidate for the swing tackle role. Another shift that I was expecting to see might also be coming true. To me, last year's third round pick DeAngelo Malone is more of a 3-4 OLB than a 4-3 DE. The Falcons used a four man front in nickel and dime packages last year, which put the rookie edge rusher Malone up on the line for most of his snaps. New defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen has been using Malone as the fourth linebacker in the base 3-4. And for any AC-DC fans out there, yes, that means he is the Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, he is the Jack... I'm a bit surprised the media reports aren't going crazy putting every single throw from Desmond Ridder under a microscope, but I'm glad that's not happening. In the very first practice, he sailed a few throws. That was when he talked about focusing on his footwork and balance for the session on the second day - though Calais Campbell probably put it better when he said Ridder was simply too excited to hit the practice field and just needed to settle down. So the good news is that yes, he settled down the very next day and has continued to improve. The catch, naturally, is that this is all non-contact so he and the other QBs aren't under any real pressure. It's easy to stay poised in the pocket when no one is allowed to hit anyone. But now is the time for him to get in a few thousand reps with the proper balance and proper mechanics so that the muscle memory will be there once the games start. Other noteworthy items... Kyle Pitts and TaQuon Graham are still working their way back from injury, as is running back Caleb Huntley. I'm still anticipating that Huntley will be on PUP status at the start of training camp and might still be PUP to open the season. The injury to Avery Williams will make Huntley a nice depth addition whenever he's able to return. Arthur Smith also explained that the team is working Eddie Goldman in gradually the same way they would a player returning from injury. Goldman is not a 100% lock to make the roster, but I think he does make it if he sticks with the program and doesn't hang up the cleats once again. I suspect that his presence (along with the team's latest signing, Carlos Davis) will bump last year's undrafted rookie Timmy Horne to the practice squad to open the season. That's where Horne would have been last year without the preseason injuries (and Goldman's sudden retirement) on the defensive line. The obvious risk this year is that another team might sign Horne away, as practice squad players are free agents. The team has made a pair of signings on the defensive line recently. But the under-the-radar player to watch in that group is probably one of the earlier free agent moves. Joe Gaziano was originally an undrafted free agent signed by the Chargers in 2020. He had 21 game appearances in his three seasons with the Chargers, mostly in 2021. Last season he appeared in only 5 games as a backup, but he notched his first NFL sack, a QB hit, a tackle for loss, and 8 total tackles (6 solo, 2 assist). To me, this is solid production for a backup interior line prospect. He shows promise. Also, he set the record for career sacks at Northwestern. The new Falcons coaching staff has something to work with here.
I suppose it goes without saying that these OTA's are crucial as far as gelling and team chemistry is concerned, DC and assistants included. Maybe more so for the Falcons than any other team i can think of at the moment. Lots of jockeying for positions and experimental plug-n-play at various positions to see what fits. Good report.
Thanks! Yes, particularly on defense the team has been getting to know each other and the new coaches. New DC Ryan Nielsen is high energy and ultra-competitive. It's infectious. But there's also a new Assistant Head Coach - Defense in Jerry Gray, who is already molding the secondary. He's pushing the players to ask questions of the coaching staff and to communicate with each other on the field as much as possible. It also helps that several of the new players are stepping into leadership roles as veterans in their position groups. And it's natural for them to be the instant leaders even though they're "new guys" because nearly everybody on defense is new. Grady Jarrett is the only true grizzled veteran still around, and he's quite happy to have the help.
