Atlanta Falcons

NFL Previews - Atlanta Falcons

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Atlanta Falcons 2007 Preview

(My Sportsbook) - So...can anyone think of any storylines coming out of Atlanta Falcons camp?

Obviously, the circus regarding Michael Vick is topic number one both in Atlanta and around NFL nation, but the fact remains that Vick's former team will have to take the football field without him 16 times this season.

The Falcons will do so with a new head coach, Bobby Petrino, attempting to divert the focus from the dogfighting ring and the federal jail cell and onto the football field, where the 53 players he does have at his disposal will be trying to deliver Atlanta's first winning season and playoff berth since 2004.

Petrino, who has minimal NFL experience but was regarded for his offensive ingenuity while head coach at Louisville, will first have the gargantuan task of making a successful quarterback out of Joey Harrington, who found himself cast in the starter's spotlight when Vick ran himself out of the league.

He'll also have to figure out a way to shape a maddeningly inconsistent defense into one that can bail out an offense that figures to bear the stamp of a work-in-progress.

The best thing Petrino can do in year one is win immediately and win often. Otherwise, there will be little else to discuss when it comes to the Atlanta Falcons than that other major storyline.

Below we take a capsule look at the 2007 edition of the Atlanta Falcons, with a personnel evaluation and prognosis included therein:

2006 RECORD: 7-9 (3rd, NFC South)

LAST PLAYOFF APPEARANCE: 2004, lost to Philadelphia, 27-10, in NFC Championship

COACH (RECORD): Bobby Petrino (first season with Falcons, first overall)

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Hue Jackson

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Mike Zimmer

OFFENSIVE STAR: Warrick Dunn, RB (1140 rushing yards, 22 receptions, 5 TD)

DEFENSIVE STAR: DeAngelo Hall, CB (58 tackles, 4 INT)

OFFENSIVE TEAM RANKS: 1st rushing, 32nd passing, 25th scoring

DEFENSIVE TEAM RANKS: 9th rushing, 29th passing, t15th scoring

FIVE KEY GAMES: at Minnesota (9/9), Carolina (9/23), N.Y. Giants (10/15), New Orleans (12/10), at Tampa Bay (12/16)

KEY ADDITIONS: QB Joey Harrington (from Dolphins), QB Chris Redman (from Titans), QB Casey Bramlet (from Redskins), RB Arlen Harris (from Lions), FB Ovie Mughelli (from Ravens), WR Joe Horn (from Saints), WR Laurent Robinson (3rd Round, Illinois State), G Justin Blalock (2nd Round, Texas), DE Jamaal Anderson (1st Round, Arkansas), DT Anthony Bryant (from Lions), LB Marcus Wilkins (from Bengals), CB Chris Houston (2nd Round, Arkansas), CB Lewis Sanders (from Texans), K Billy Cundiff (from Saints)

KEY DEPARTURES: QB Michael Vick (expected to miss season/suspension), QB Matt Schaub (to Texans), QB D.J. Shockley (out for season/injured), FB Justin Griffith (to Raiders), WR Ashley Lelie (to 49ers), WR Brian Finneran (injured/out for season), TE Eric Beverly (retired), G Matt Lehr (to Buccaneers), DE Patrick Kerney (to Seahawks), LB Edgerton Hartwell (to Bengals), LB Ike Reese (released), CB Jason Webster (to Bills), CB Kevin Mathis (released), S Lance Schulters (not tendered), K Morten Andersen (not tendered)

QB: With Vick out of the picture, the white-hot spotlight now focuses on Harrington (2236 passing yards, 12 TD, 15 INT with Miami), the former No. 3 overall Draft pick who was a bust in Detroit and didn't do much to rehabilitate his career in Miami last season. This is Harrington's last chance to be viewed as an NFL starter, so he'd better take advantage. With Matt Schaub (traded to Houston) and D.J. Shockley (out for the year with a knee injury) now out of the picture, the rest of the depth chart will likely be filled out by Chris Redman and Casey Bramlet. Redman hasn't thrown an NFL pass since 2003, when he was a member of the Ravens. Bramlet has been cut by the Bengals and Redskins since entering the league in 2004, but comes off a productive winter in NFL Europa.

RB: The deconstruction of the former "DVD" rushing trio took roughly one calendar year, with Vick's fall from grace coming a year after the Falcons parted ways with T.J. Duckett (now with the Lions). The only figure left from that group is its oldest member, running back Warrick Dunn, who is 32 and coming off back surgery. Dunn will remain the starter nominally, but Petrino will find ways to get speedy second-year-pro Jerious Norwood (633 rushing yards, 2 TD, 12 receptions) on the field as well. Norwood averaged 6.4 yards per carry last season, though it will be interesting to see what effect the absence of Vick has on his production. Ex-Lion and Ram Arlen Harris (158 rushing yards, 1 TD, 18 receptions with Detroit) looked like the team's only option as the No. 3 running back as the end of the preseason neared. The Falcons broke the bank to acquire ex-Ravens fullback Ovie Mughelli (21 receptions, 2 TD with Baltimore), which means things don't look promising for seventh-round draft choice Jason Snelling (Virginia).

WR/TE: One of Petrino's most important jobs will be harnessing the skills of Atlanta's wide receivers, who apart from possession man Brian Finneran (out for his second straight year with a knee injury), never clicked with Vick. Fourth-year man Michael Jenkins (39 receptions, 7 TD) actually showed signs of breaking through last year, scoring seven touchdowns, but fewer than 40 catches and 500 receiving yards are unacceptable for a No. 1 receiver. Enter veteran Joe Horn (37 receptions, 4 TD with New Orleans), who was unceremoniously run out of New Orleans after an injury-plagued 2006. Horn is 35 but should have something left in the tank. Third-year-pro Roddy White (30 receptions) must develop into a reliable deep threat, which the former first- round pick showed signs of doing when he logged nearly 17 yards per catch last season. The fourth and fifth receiving jobs should go to holdover Adam Jennings and third-round draft choice Laurent Robinson. Jennings participated in 15 games as a rookie last year, but did not log a catch. Tight end Alge Crumpler (56 receptions, 8 TD) remains Atlanta's top pass-catcher, though he appears to have lost a step in the past couple of years. Dwayne Blakley (6 receptions) will continue to be used in two-tight end sets, and it will likely be another year before fourth-round pick Martrez Milner (Georgia) will be counted on for a contribution.

OL: Four of Atlanta's five starters return along the offensive line, which might not be great news for a team that had trouble consistently protecting Vick in recent years. The two tackles - Wayne Gandy on the left side and Todd Weiner on the right - are average. Center Todd McClure and right guard Kynan Forney are better, which helps account for the club's productivity in the run game, but the smallish players are not seen as an ideal fit for Petrino's offense. The newbie up front is second-round draft choice Justin Blalock, who needs to live up to his potential immediately. On the backup forces, guards Tyson Clabo and P.J. Alexander have both been starters, while tackle Quinn Ojinnaka played in 11 games as a rookie a year ago. One of those three could be in trouble, however, if Petrino decides to keep both Kurt Quarterman and Renardo Foster, a couple of Louisville products with whom the head coach is familiar.

DL: Three seasoned veterans - end John Abraham (18 tackles, 4 sacks) and tackles Grady Jackson (33 tackles) and Rod Coleman (25 tackles, 6 sacks) - make up the heart of this unit, but can any of the three be counted on over the course of a 16-game season? Abraham has constantly been hurt during his career, and was limited to seven starts last season. Coleman ruptured his right quadriceps in April and might not be 100 percent to begin the year. And Jackson, who is 34 and has warred with the front office over his contract, is a player in decline. The Falcons' most reliable defensive lineman of years past, end Patrick Kerney, signed a free agent deal with the Seahawks in the offseason, prompting the club to use its first-round draft choice on Arkansas pass rusher Jamaal Anderson. Anderson will be looked to for an immediate impact. Joining Jackson and Coleman in the defensive tackle rotation will be Jonathan Babineaux (28 tackles, 1 sack) and Darrell Shropshire (8 tackles, 1 sack), both of whom started games last year. The backup ends are less experienced, though Chauncey Davis (36 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT) can be productive in a situational role and Paul Carrington (37 tackles, 3 sacks) and Josh Mallard (11 tackles, 4 sacks) are capable.

LB: Atlanta's linebacking corps has been average at best over the last few seasons, but little has been done to upgrade that area. Ten-year vet Keith Brooking (136 tackles, 2 sacks) will be asked to play in the middle in 2007, with Demorrio Williams (90 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT) set for action on Brooking's preferred spot on the weak side. The starting backer with the biggest upside is strong side man Michael Boley (85 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 INT), who is primed for a breakout season after starting 14 games a year ago. Holdovers Jordan Beck (12 tackles) and John Leake (9 tackles) will do most of their damage on special teams, as will fourth-round draft choice Stephen Nicholas. Marcus Wilkins (15 tackles with Cincinnati), who appeared in 16 games with the Bengals last year, is on the roster bubble.

DB: The Falcons need cornerback DeAngelo Hall's play on the field to live up to his formidable mouth, which was moving way too much for a guy that was beaten as much as Hall was a year ago. The team is hoping that second-round draft pick Chris Houston can take some of the pressure off of Hall by being a playmaker on the other side, but if Houston is slow to progress, journeyman Lewis Sanders (42 tackles with Houston) will be placed opposite the Pro Bowler. The safety corps consists of Lawyer Milloy (98 tackles, 2 sacks) on the strong side and Chris Crocker (50 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT) the free, but if one of those veterans goes down, the team is in trouble. Second-year man Jimmy Williams (24 tackles) has been slow to progress and has had off-the- field issues, while sixth-round pick Daren Stone is a project. Other secondary reserves should include Auburn product and sixth-round pick David Irons (brother of Bengals running back Kenny) and longtime return specialist Allen Rossum (34 tackles).

SPECIAL TEAMS: The great experiment placing Michael Koenen (3-9 FG, 42.1 punting avg.) in charge of both placements and punts last season failed, and the team was forced to sign the ancient Morten Andersen in an act of desperation last September. Andersen is gone (at least for now), and the new kicker is ex-Cowboy and Saint Billy Cundiff (0-1 FG with New Orleans). Koenen will remain on punts. Boone Stutz is back handling long-snapping chores, and Rossum (7.8 punt return avg., 23.5 kickoff return avg.) will again get first crack at kickoff and punt return duties.

PROGNOSIS: This could be a really bad team. Like him or not, Vick gave the Falcons an offensive identity that they won't have without him, and you certainly can't expect a journeyman quarterback operating under a brand-new system to be the answer to the team's prayers. There isn't a heck of a lot to recommend the defense either, since the talent is sketchy and the depth is worse. And all of that comes before you talk about the Vick situation, which is bound to cast a pall over the Falcons' entire season and be a constant distraction for the players and coaching staff. Five or six wins look realistic, but don't be shocked if things go much worse than that in Petrino's first year on the job.

August 27, 2007, at 12:01 PM ET

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