Atlanta Falcons: Three Takeaways from Minicamp

With Atlanta Falcons Minicamp now behind us let’s take a look back at this year’s standout storylines.

Rookies Impress

As we all know, the Atlanta Falcons draft class, on paper, is the most/second most talented of Dan Quinn’s era in Atlanta. That doesn’t translate to on-field success but minicamp should be reassurance enough about what we can expect from the rookies this season.

The 26th pick, Calvin Ridley, looked spry from what I saw and performed well. He had good routes, good awareness but did have a couple of drops on Tuesday. That was a problem with him at Alabama but I expect him to continue his ball skills before the season. Ridley also took some slot receiver reps which could mean he and Sanu switch.

Isaiah Oliver also impressed many, including Ricardo Allen who said “He and I were partners when we were doing a mentoring group, he was my mentee. So, I got to talk to him a lot. He’s very mature, and he’s real(ly) smart. And he’s much faster than I even thought he was; he can run with any wide receiver.”

While it’s no surprise Oliver has made a strong impression, those words from an established veteran should excite many to see Oliver on the field in September.

Ito Smith has gotten a lot of praise from journalists and analysts since draft day but now, thanks to Devonta Freeman, it seems even more likely that Ito will come in and make an impact. There wasn’t much said by anyone about other rookies but from what I saw, Deadrin Senat was getting a lot of work in.

No Need to Worry About Julio Jones

I was a bit nervous about Julio and the future when the Falcons announced Julio would miss minicamp but I’m settled now primarily due to Matt Ryan and Dan Quinn’s comments. While I don’t speak for everyone, I feel that if the players aren’t worried we shouldn’t be.

Matt Ryan said he is hosting a players-only camp in July and that Julio Jones will attend. Full first-team reps in July are much more important than minicamp in June.

Dan Quinn also calmed (should have) everyone’s nerves by saying “there is plenty of brotherhood in Julio.” That should tell all fans that the players and coaches aren’t very bothered by it, so we shouldn’t be either.

Offensive Competitions get More Interesting

Tight end and right guard are obviously the worst positions on an otherwise very strong Falcons offense. There is no doubt in my mind that Austin Hooper will be the starting tight end, Atlanta will still need a strong TE2 for our two TE sets. Many people wrote off Saubert this offseason and so with the signing of Logan Paulsen, people believed the depth chart would go, Hooper, Paulsen, and then Saubert.

Saubert had something to say about that during minicamp and has impressed a lot of people and I think will make a run towards being a solid TE2.

Right guard is also a poor position on the offense and the Falcons also worked to improve it by signing Brandon Fusco. Many people expected Fusco to be the immediate start but I highlighted the guard position, on my twitter, as the most underrated competition during the preseason.

Next: Matt Ryan Overpaid?

Wes Schweitzer was decent last year and certainly could use some improvement but his potential is high. Schweitzer took first-team reps in minicamp instead of Fusco so the right guard could still be a very intriguing competition.