The 2016 Atlanta Falcons Offseason Thread - Brought to you by Bird Brehs

[AVXL]

Matt Bryant named Falcons' kicker after Shayne Graham let go

5:42 PM ET

• 
  
  Vaughn McClureESPN Staff Writer

Matt Bryant, the 41-year-old going into his 16th NFL season, maintained his duties as the Atlanta Falcons' placekicker.

The team made the announcement Friday after the 75-man roster was trimmed to 64 players. Included in those cuts was veteran kicker Shayne Graham, who was signed this preseason to fill in for an injured Bryant and ended up competing for the job.

Bryant, who has been sidelined with muscle tightness, returned to action Thursday night and converted a 27-yard field along with a pair of extra points. Meanwhile, Graham missed a 32-yard field goal.

Last year, Graham finished the season as the Falcons' kicker after Bryant went down with a quad injury.

The other cuts Friday included defensive end Malliciah Goodman, a fourth-round pick in the 2013 draft. Goodman became the fourth member of the '13 draft class not be on the roster, joining fifth-rounder Stansly Maponga, seventh-rounder Sean Renfree, and seventh-rounder Zeke Motta, who suffered a career-ending neck injury.

Also released/waived were the following players: T Bryce Harris, DE Nordly Capi, T Laurence Gibson, DT Cory Johnson, CB Devonta Johnson, S Damian Parms, OL Collin Rahrig, WR Corey Washington, and LB Matt Wells.

The Falcons' roster officially stands at 64, although a source indicated linebacker Tyler Starr, a seventh-round pick in 2014, also will be waived. The team also is expected to reach an injury settlement with fullback Will Ratelle, who injured his ankle in Thursday night's final preseason game.

That would leave the Falcons with nine cuts to make to reach Saturday's 53-man roster limit by 3 p.m. (ET). There will be tough decisions to make at wide receiver, where Nick Williams and rookie J.D. McKissic are fighting likely for one roster spot, and at tight end, where four players could legitimately be kept out of group that includes Jacob Tamme, rookie Austin Hooper, Levine Toilolo, D.J. Tialavea, and Joshua Perkins. Perkins could be the wildcard of the group with the speed he's shown at the position.

Also, the third running back spot behind Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman is worth monitoring with Terron Ward having an impressive final preseason game coming off a high ankle sprain. His competition, undrafted rookie Brandon Wilds, was a preseason standout before suffering a sprained LCL in his knee. The injury might lead to injured reserve consideration for Wilds.

Has there been a GM with a worse 2 yr draft record than Dimitroff from 2012-2013? shyt

 

[AVXL]

Just throwing this out there....

If your Damn Quinn do you pull the trigger on starting
DeVondre Campbell and Deion Jones as your starting LBs?

I actually posted a well thought out response to this, but these damn servers

Basically id be concerned about seeing Beasley/Jones/Campbell on the field at the same time especially if Beasley has to drop into coverage. I think Campbell & Jones will definitely play a lot together, Campbell should be a starter now...Jones & Worrilow are neck & neck but you may wanna get Jones out there now just to get him acclimated

 

[Georgiamuscle]

I actually posted a well thought out response to this, but these damn servers

Basically id be concerned about seeing Beasley/Jones/Campbell on the field at the same time especially if Beasley has to drop into coverage. I think Campbell & Jones will definitely play a lot together, Campbell should be a starter now...Jones & Worrilow are neck & neck but you may wanna get Jones out there now just to get him acclimated

Which says something because Worrilow has been in the league 3 years longer. We really don't have much to lose at LB. Worrilow can barely tackle and he can't cover at all. Jones has made plays in coverage in the preseason although he's not a sure tackler either.

EDIT: Beasley only has to cover in our base 4-3 defense, right?

 

[AVXL]

Which says something because Worrilow has been in the league 3 years longer. We really don't have much to lose at LB. Worrilow can barely tackle and he can't cover at all. Jones has made plays in coverage in the preseason although he's not a sure tackler either.

EDIT: Beasley only has to cover in our base 4-3 defense, right?

Beasley is gonna be SAM in obvious run downs but he will be asked to drop into coverage as well. The Beasley thing will really depend on down & distance. We could see him slide to DE then LB on the very next play. Jones is a so so tackler like you said, but he's also small. He's just fast af

Worrilow is a tackling machine, he's just ineffective at covering anything out of the backfield

 

[Nostalgic]

I know we give dude hell, But lets not act like Vic can't
drop back into coverage.

 

[AVXL]

I know we give dude hell, But lets not act like Vic can't
drop back into coverage.

He can, but his greatest value to the team is to rush the passer. That was the purpose behind moving him to LB was to get him opportunities to rush the passer from another area on the field. Having him holdup in pass coverage is a worst case scenario

 

[The ADD]

He can, but his greatest value to the team is to rush the passer. That was the purpose behind moving him to LB was to get him opportunities to rush the passer from another area on the field. Having him holdup in pass coverage is a worst case scenario

Should have won that game based on that play.

 

[Georgiamuscle]

He can, but his greatest value to the team is to rush the passer. That was the purpose behind moving him to LB was to get him opportunities to rush the passer from another area on the field. Having him holdup in pass coverage is a worst case scenario

On passing downs and nickel/dime formations he's putting his hand in the dirt and is rushing the passer though. He was small and awful against the run at DE last year. They had to move him to SAM in our base 4-3 in order to keep him on the field as much as possible and have a better run stopper at DE. Last year the SAM either blitzed, covered a man or dropped in a zone. Majority of his snaps will be rushing the QB still

 

[AVXL]

Should have won that game based on that play.

If we had competent coaching we would have but

 

[Nostalgic]

McKissic didn't make the 53 man roster.

 

[Georgiamuscle]

McKissic didn't make the 53 man roster.

Brandon Wilds didn't either

 

[The ADD]

McKissic didn't make the 53 man roster.

 

[AVXL]

McKissic didn't make the 53 man roster.

What?!?

This fukkin coaching staff

Dimitroff sittin back like Quinn has the final say so on the 53 man roster, why y'all lookin at me?

 

[Nostalgic]

Season thread.

http://www.thecoli.com/threads/pres...al-2016-atlanta-falcons-season-thread.460250/