Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.

As you would expect with a team that is coming off a season that could best be described as a train wreck combined with a earthquake topped off by a nice little forest fire just to make things tidy, the Falcons have a lot of wide-open starting jobs as training camp begins.

They'll be looking to see if second-round pick Curtis Lofton is ready to take over at middle linebacker, which would allow Keith Brooking to move back outside. They'll be watching disappointing Michael Jenkins to see if he can outplay the unhappy carcass that once was Pro Bowler Joe Horn. And we'll have to see if rookie Sam Baker is ready to step in and start at offensive tackle.

But the battle that will define the Falcons 2008 season will be the quarterback competition. If Chris Redman starts more than eight games this year, it either means that the Falcons are playing much better than expected, or that the offensive line is such a disaster that 0-16 seems possible.
Obviously this is Matt Ryan's team, the question is just how quickly he'll take over the starting job. He has a stronger arm, more mobility and a much bigger contract than Redman, which makes the long-term decision really easy. But in the short-term, new coach Mike Smith will have a tough decision on when to start the No. 1 overall pick.

A lot of that decision will likely depend more on the fate of the offensive line than on Ryan's development. In addition to being a lying slimeball, old coach Bobby Petrino was also idiotic when it came to the Falcons offensive line. He tried to switch the team from a zone blocking team that focused on agility and angles to a road-grading power blocking approach. Of course, he did this while playing with the same linemen who were brought in to zone block. It didn't work, and adding on a boatload of injuries ensured that all three of Atlanta's quarterbacks spent last year running for their lives.

The Falcons drafted Baker to protect Ryan's blind side at left tackle, and guard Justin Blalock was a highly regarded prospect just a couple of years ago, but with right tackle Todd Weiner coming back from injury and Blalock and center Todd McClure coming off of bad seasons, Atlanta will need to pay close attention during the preseason as to the life expectancy of its quarterbacks.

Figure that Redman will likely start the first game of the season, but by week five, with the Falcons looking at a 1-4 record it will be time to turn to Ryan--to try to give fans something to get excited about if nothing else. Hopefully he'll be able to survive behind this line long enough to thrive.