Petrino's Gone So Grady Jackson Is Back

Grady Jackson isn't a great player, but he is a great example.

Jackson was exhibit A of Bobby Petrino's stupidity. With the team lacking in defensive tackles, Petrino decided to cut Jackson in the middle of the 2007 season. Atlanta's run defense suffered without Jackson, but hey, Petrino needed to prove he was the boss. It ended up working out pretty well for Jackson--he latched on with the Jaguars and got to go to the playoffs, while Petrino was proving that he's one of the worst NFL coaches we'll ever see.

And apparently, playing for the Jaguars was a good way to help Jackson get a job with the 2008 Falcons. New coach Mike Smith, the Jags defensive coordinator last year, apparently didn't have the same problems with Jackson that Petrino did, which explains why he signed Jackson yesterday.

With Trey Lewis likely out for the year, defensive tackle is still one of the weakest positions on the Falcons, and with Montavious Stanley and Jonathan Babineaux slated to start the Falcons were likely to have the lightest pair of defensive tackles in the league. Jackson hasn't seen the light side of 350 pounds in years and is only good for 25-35 plays a game, but he'll likely start since he gives the team an immovable run-stuffer that the team has lacked.

It's good to see the new regime isn't repeating the mistakes of the old crew--they'll sign guys who can help no matter what the background was. It may not make for a whole lot of wins in 2008, but at least it's a sign that the team isn't run by an idiot.