The Atlanta Falcons are in St. Louis tonight to take on the Rams in week two of the NFL's preseason. Friday night is going to be a pivotal game to begin answering many questions that the Falcons have about depth chart issues and final 53-man roster considerations.Here are three scenarios to keep your eye on.
Who is going to end up being the third wide receiver?
When Harry Douglas went down with a season-ending ACL tear, the Falcons had immediate openings for a punt returner (see later comments) and a third wide receiver. The team signed veteran free agents Robert Ferguson and Marty Booker soon after the Douglas injury and they are now competing with Brian Finneran and Eric Weems for that No. 3 spot.
Weems was targeted more (four times) than any other Falcons receiver against the Lions last week and only Roddy White had more receptions. Prior to the Ferguson and Booker signings, head coach Mike Smith said that Weems would be the No. 3 wide receiver if the season started that day. But with the new talent in camp, Weems may be falling from favor. When asked if there might be two different guys handling the job that one guy [Harry Douglas] did before, Smith said, "That very well could be the case in terms of the third receiver maybe having to be someone different than the punt returner." That statement seems to lean towards Booker, Ferguson of Finneran winning the receiver job.
Who will be the punt returner?
Eric Weems seems to have a strangle hold on those duties right now, but the final decision hasn't been made. Weems was back to return four punts against the Lions, but only ended up returning one, a very nice 34-yard effort. The other three punts resulted in a fair catch. Chandler Williams is the other guy competing against Weems in the punt return scheme. Williams returned one punt for 19 yards and had one fair catch, as well. Both are seeing equal time in drills in training camp, but don't be surprised to see a few other guys make appearances. Coach Smith has already said that Brian Finneran is capable of returning punts and we still haven't seen Brent Grimes, who is listed as the punt returner on the Falcons depth chart, in action.
Watch as quite a few rookies get extended playing time against the first team for St. Louis.
Injuries are going to give two rookies in the Falcons secondary an increased amount of playing time against the Rams. With Chris Houston and William Moore out for Friday night's game, coach Smith said that, "It's a good opportunity for Owens and Middleton to compete and get into the game earlier against the top players that St. Louis has on their roster." William Middleton, the fifth round selection from Furman and Chris Owens, the third round selection from San Jose State, have both had ups and downs in camp but could use this chance to throw their hat in the ring as the fifth defense back in the nickel package.
Other rookies who are expected to see more time on the field are fourth round selection from Richmond, Lawrence Sidbury, and seventh round pick Vance Walker
from Georgia Tech. Neither player looks to dethrone any of the potential starters on the defensive line, but the Falcons will use a rotation this season on that defensive line that will require many players to cross-train and will be the most often rotated position on the field. Watch Sidbury, who's a pass-rush specialist, and Walker, who coach Smith has said has been one of the better players in camp to see how they perform against better talent.
