Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta offense was a disaster last season, and there are plenty of folks to blame: Michael Vick, for spending the year in jail instead of in the Georgia Dome; Bobby Petrino, for being overmatched by the pro game and bailing on his team; Petrino’s line coach, NFL novice Mike Summers, who failed to develop any sort of plan for this unit; and the players themselves, especially since four of the five regulars were with the team in 2006 when the Falcons were the top rushing team in the league. So the team hopes to turn multiple pages with a new administration, to the point that Atlanta doesn’t even know what blocking scheme it intends to implement this season. At least new line coach Paul Boudreau, a 21-year NFL veteran, has plenty of experience cobbling together an offensive line; with the Rams last season he used 14 different starting lineups—due in no small part to a spate of injuries—and the previous year he used nine different lineups. So it should come as no surprise that Boudreau and offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey have yet to determine who’s starting—and once that determination is made, they’ll pick a blocking style that fits their personnel. “It’s our job as coaches to make sure that we are asking those guys up front to do some things they can do,” Mularkey told Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “So we’re still in the beginning stages of finding out who those five guys are. We’re putting them to the test in all different kinds of schemes.”

Boudreau is certainly giving everyone a shot. During the first minicamp the Falcons used the same lineup that finished the 2007 season—from left to right Quinn Ojinnaka, Justin Blalock, Todd McClure, Kynan Forney, and Tyson Clabo. However, that discounts first-round pick Sam Baker, who is expected to move into the starting lineup at left tackle, as well as right tackles Todd Weiner and Renardo Foster, both of whom had their 2007 season ended prematurely by knee injuries. More recently, practice squader Harvey Dahl was getting first-team reps at right guard, primarily because Boudreau loves Dahl’s nasty temperament and wants to pair it with the equally ill-tempered Clabo. That’s nine names you probably haven’t heard of, but that’s what the Falcons have to work with. Atlanta didn’t trade back into the first round to grab Baker so he could sit on the sidelines, so expect him to take over at left tackle and do his learning on the job—most likely with Chris Redman paying for his rookie mistakes rather than fellow first-rounder Matt Ryan. Blalock, the Falcons’ second-round pick last year, will return at left guard—unless he’s needed at right tackle, a position he played in college—and McClure should hold off Alex Stepanovich at center. Seeing as the status quo wasn’t all that great last year, some change on the right side wouldn’t surprise. Based on Mularkey’s past work with the Steelers and new head coach Mike Smith’s philosophy, one would assume the Falcons would be a power rushing team with the focus of the passing game on the wideouts. And for Atlanta to field its best run-blocking unit, Clabo would likely slide inside to right guard and Foster would play right tackle. If Foster isn’t all the way back from his injury, perhaps Boudreau will get his nasty on with Clabo outside and Dahl at guard.

If the unit does indeed focus on the ground game, it bodes well for Michael Turner—playing the Jerome Bettis role in the offense Mularkey brought over from Pittsburgh. However, with Baker protecting the blind side and slow-footed options on the right, Redman (or Ryan) won’t have the same time to look downfield that Steeler quarterbacks did when Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress were posting 1,000-yard seasons in Pittsburgh. Of course, Roddy White put up solid numbers last season despite the Falcons surrendering 47 sacks, so it’s not as if things will be getting substantially worse. Maybe that’s why the Falcons are keeping Joey Harrington around as well, so they

RUN BLOCKING: D+, but could jump a grade once the Falcons settle on a scheme and personnel
PASS BLOCKING: D, with the potential to climb a little if Baker plays like a first-round pick
OVERALL GRADE: D+, but an optimistic D+, if there is such a thing

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