Atlanta head coach Arthur Smith had conceded that last year's approach of not playing the starters backfired and that this year the team will do more to get ready for week one of the regular season. But never mind the few "marquee" players that are on the roster such as Kyle Pitts or Grady Jarrett. Like every team, the Falcons also have a lot of roster decisions to make. The media has gone on about specific position battles like QB, center and right tackle, but there are many more competitions all over the roster. And with that in mind, here are some of the players that I particularly want to see in this evening's exhibition game vs. Detroit: OT Rick Leonard will likely be the second unit left tackle in tonight's game. To put it bluntly, he's not in the top nine list of names that most media sources have making the roster. But neither of the RT candidates (Kaleb McGary and free agent Germain Ifedi) have any experience playing the left side. Good showings by Leonard in preseason might win him the swing tackle role - keeping him not just on the roster but also active on game days. WR Damiere Byrd has been my projection for the "starter" in the slot receiver role, ahead of tendered RFA Olamide Zaccheaus. But the competition isn't over yet, and Arthur Smith has said before that Zaccheaus was one of his favorite players to coach. Now that we're facing real defenses, let's see what Byrd brings to the table and if Zaccheaus has taken a step forward in his route running and general receiving skills. Up to this point the media hasn't even mentioned it as a battle, but it's one of the more important competitions to be settled. RB Caleb Huntley was one of my dark horse choices to make the practice squad last season. The undrafted rookie from Ball State certainly needed development time, but he was a willing blocker and had decent receiving skills for a big guy. Now it's time to see how he has progressed. While I certainly want to see him pound the ball on those inside runs, I also want to see him block in pass protection and I'd love to see what he can do catching a short pass out in the flat. I don't see him getting playing time in 2022, but strong performances might win him a spot on the roster rather than the practice squad. DL Ta'Quon Graham was a mid-round pick in last year's draft. He was inactive for four games in the first half of the season, but at the end of the year he was starting. He has mostly been overlooked by the local media during the offseason. But he's one of the rising players on defense, and with the team now down three defensive linemen, he's in a strong position to nail down the starting DE role across from Grady Jarrett. LB Mykal Walker has stepped up when needed, but last season Dean Pees had Deion Jones and Foye Oluokun each taking 90% of the defensive snaps at the ILB positions. Now the team has signed Rashaan Evans to replace Oluokun and Nick Kwiatkoski to compete for the other role. It's up to Walker to show he's ready to become a full time starter and make Deion Jones expendable. CB Darren Hall comes into his second season as a versatile reserve. As a rookie he played quite a few snaps covering the slot receiver, a role he never played in college. Now he feels more confident with a year in the system under his belt and says he's ready to just cut loose and play. A.J. Terrell and Casey Hayward are the clear starters, and Isaiah Oliver is the presumed nickel if healthy. But Hall can lock himself in as the top rotational reserve.
Follow up... here's what I saw for each of them: OT Rick Leonard was mostly solid, though he had one disturbing play where he essentially pancaked himself when a defender cut back inside on him, leading to a QB hit on Desmond Ridder. I'm guessing he's done enough to get a practice squad berth if he doesn't make the 53, but whether he makes the roster may come down to whether the coaches are comfortable with Germain Ifedi as the swing tackle and whether they keep nine linemen or ten. WR Damiere Byrd had one reception for 20 yards. He was also the intended target on Ridder's off-balance interception. WR Olamide Zaccheaus only played seven snaps and was not targeted. This will be something to watch in more detail in the remaining preseason games, as the media up to this point have frequently called Zaccheaus a lock to make the roster (because his contract is guaranteed). But the team has clearly demonstrated that they're willing to eat cap space this year, so no, a tendered RFA is NOT guaranteed a roster spot on this team. The slot battle might turn into Byrd vs KhaDarel Hodge this week. RB Caleb Huntley didn't have the greatest stats, but he showed solid progress. The misleading thing about his stats is that on three of his eight runs, defenders were in the backfield. One resulted in a two yard loss, and he bulldozed his way back to the line of scrimmage on the other two. One odd thing that I noticed was that in a third down situation, the coaches took out Huntley and put in Qadree Ollison. They had done the same thing earlier in the game, taking out Avery Williams to put in Ollison in a pass protection situation. DL Ta'Quon Graham didn't play as much as I had expected. He mainly joined the second unit. He did have one of the defensive plays of the game with a strip-sack that was nullified by a questionable penalty on a teammate. Putting him with the second unit might have been intended to get him playing time in pass rush situations. The tricky situation is that Dean Pees used essentially a 4-2-5 alignment for the nickel package, with the two OLBs (edge rushers) up on the line and only two interior linemen. If he uses that package in the regular season, it's pretty obvious that the two linemen will be Grady Jarrett and whoever plays the nose / 0-tech / 1-tech. If he played with the first unit, Graham would have been the player taken out for the nickel package. So playing him with the second unit gave him the chance to display his pass rush skills, and he delivered. He played 14 snaps (13 that counted) and had a QB hit in addition to the nullified sack, plus an assist on a tackle. I still think I'd like to see the team sign two more experienced linemen - one for the nose and one under tackle. But Graham is showing he's going to be a valuable part of the rotation if not an outright starter. LB Mykal Walker drew praise from DC Dean Pees for his command of the defense. He started (along with Rashaan Evans), played the first series and called it a night. There did seem to be some errors in execution in the front seven on the first defensive series, though it's hard to say whether the linemen were simply manhandled by Detroit's OL or if Walker or one of the safeties may have missed an assignment. So... for now he's the starter, but his night was too short to know if he helped or hurt his case for replacing Deion Jones once Jones is medically cleared. CB Darren Hall showed versatility and had an impressive pass breakup. By contrast, I was not impressed at all with what I saw from Cornell Armstrong (who paired with Hall as a second unit CB) or Mike Ford (who has been the primary nickel back in Isaiah Oliver's absence). I'd say Hall took a strong step forward towards becoming the first backup CB in rotation (and potential dime back), while the other CB who announced his arrival in a huge way was former CFL defensive back Dee Alford. If it ends up being a five man unit, Alford is charging hard to take that fifth roster spot away from Ford. Armstrong (former Dolphins and Texans backup) signed with Atlanta's practice squad last year and might now be in a battle just to make it back to the practice squad this season.
