FALCONS DRAFT PICKS FREE AGENTS and OTHER ACQUISITIONS DT Peria Jerry TE Tony Gonzalez (13Th Year) Pick: First Round, Pick No
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE 2009 ATLANTA FALCONS TRAINING CAMP GUIDE FALCONS DRAFT PICKS FREE AGENTS AND OTHER ACQUISITIONS DT Peria Jerry TE Tony Gonzalez (13th year) Pick: First round, pick No. 24 (24th overall) out of Mississippi The skinny: With Gonzalez (pictured below), the Falcons bring in arguably the greatest tight end of The skinny: Jerry (pictured right) is the kind of high-motor, ath- all time to play alongside QB Matt Ryan, WR Roddy White and the rest of the offensive unit. Gonzalez letic interior lineman that Mike Smith covets. Jerry should provides instant leadership, as well as the ability to stretch the defense, and will be a reliable outlet become the starter right away and will help anchor a defensive for Ryan. The veteran, who has never been on a team that has won a playoff game, hopes to get line that already has sack artist John Abraham. Last year, Jerry that chance this season. ranked second in the nation with 18 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. His combination of size (6-1, 299), strength and RB Verron Haynes (7th year) speed should help the Falcons for years to come. The skinny: Haynes was out of football last season after spending his entire career up to that point with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The former North Springs High School and Georgia Bulldog star will bring S William Moore a veteran presence to the running back position and will serve as a quality backup. Expect Haynes to Pick: Second round, pick No. 23 (55th overall) out of Missouri see time on special teams and in some third-down situations. The skinny: Moore has prototypical safety size (6-1, 220) and is a brutal force roaming the secondary. Having played LB Edmond Miles (3rd year) receiver in high school, Moore has great hands for a defend- The skinny: Miles comes over to the Falcons from the New York Giants. He did not receive much er. In fact, he converted four of his 11 career intercep- playing time last season, but in his rookie season with the Miami Dolphins, Miles made a name for tions into touchdowns while in college. With the depar- ture of Lawyer Milloy, Moore has a chance to earn a himself on special teams by leading the team in special-teams tackles. starting spot right away. LB Mike Peterson (11th year) CB Christopher Owens The skinny: Peterson follows former Jacksonville defensive coordinator Mike Smith and posi- tion coach Brian Van Gorder to the Falcons, and will immediately be plugged in as a starting Pick: Third round, pick No. 26 (90th overall) out of San Jose State The skinny: Owens is a versatile cornerback who was a true shutdown corner in college. outside linebacker. Peterson is well rounded and brings veteran leadership and savvy to a young In fact, Owens only allowed one touchdown reception in his final 37 collegiate games. At Falcons linebacking corps. 5-10, 195, Owens was equally effective in shutting down both speedy and physical receivers. He will compete for time in a young Falcons secondary. C Brett Romberg (6th year) The skinny: Romberg has split his previous years in the league between St. Louis and Jacksonville, DE Lawrence Sidbury and will bring what seems to be a trend in this free-agency class: depth and a veteran presence. Pick: Fourth round, pick No. 25 (125th overall) out of Richmond Romberg will see time as a backup for both the center and guard positions. The skinny: Big (6-2, 265), fast and ultra-athletic, Sidbury (pictured below) could be the steal of the draft in the fourth round. He was a premier pass rusher in college, getting 11.5 sacks OL Will Svitek (4th year) his senior season, including a record four in the FCS title game against Montana. Playing with The skinny: The former Kansas City Chief is set to back up both offensive tackle positions. Svitek is a veteran like John Abraham should really accelerate his learning curve. a nice addition to an offensive line that has improved its depth after losing Todd Weiner to retirement. CB William Middleton UNDRAFTED FREE AGENT Pick: Fifth round, pick No. 2 (138th overall) out of Furman SIGNINGS – Offensively, the Falcons The skinny: Though he doesn’t have great size (5-10, 190), picked up many talented undrafted Middleton’s strength and speed should make up for it. free agents. Perhaps the biggest Middleton was named MVP for Furman last season with 95 name, quarterback John tackles (nine for loss), five sacks, four interceptions and Parker Wilson (Alabama), will nine pass breakups. bring moxie and intelligence to the field in his quest to earn OT Garrett Reynolds a backup role to Matt Ryan. Pick: Fifth round, pick No. 20 (156th overall) out of Guards Ryan Stanchek (West North Carolina Virginia) and Jose Valdez (Arkansas) will The skinny: Reynolds has ideal size (6-8, 309) for the tack- bring size and experience to the Falcons le position and provides toughness and consistency on the offensive line; both blocked for big-time right side of the line. He started for three seasons at UNC and will add even more depth to the Falcons offense. runners in college. Receiver Darren Mougey has an interesting blend of size (6-6, 230) and skill, as he played both receiver and quarterback at San LB Spencer Adkins Diego State. Walton High School alum Aaron Kelly (6-5, Pick: Sixth round, pick No. 3 (176th overall) out of Miami 203) is Clemson’s all-time touchdowns reception leader (20) The skinny: Adkins (5-11, 246) had his best season for the and received All-ACC honors during his time there. Another 'Canes last year, accounting for four sacks and six tackles for a receiver, Bradon Godfrey from Utah, led his team in recep- loss. Adkins enters the mix on a young defense and will have the chance to earn playing time in the linebacker rotation and on tions, receiving yards and touchdowns. … Because of a special teams. defense-heavy draft, the Falcons only signed two undrafted free agents on that side of the ball. Linebacker Rashad Bobino DT Vance Walker thrice won All-Big 12 honors playing at Texas. Bobino started Pick: Seventh round, pick No. 1 (210th overall) out of Georgia Tech 45 of 52 games at Texas, compiling 235 tackles and 25 tack- The skinny: Last year, Walker (6-2, 304) was the anchor of a star- les for a loss. Maurice Lucas (Colorado) played defensive studded Georgia Tech defensive line. While his teammates garnered tackle in college, but has good size for an NFL defensive end more headlines, Walker was quietly named to the All-ACC First Team (6-4, 260) and is the kind of high-character player that General and totaled 33 tackles, three sacks and 8.5 tackles for a loss. Manager Thomas Dimitroff and Head Coach Mike Smith love. THE 2009 ATLANTA FALCONS TRAINING CAMP GUIDE for us Week 1. Harry Douglas, Thomas DeCoud, Chevis Jackson and Kroy Biermann all con- tributed to our team’s success last year, and we expect even more from those guys as we enter A WORD WITH the 2009 season. Matt was the NFL’s Rookie of the Year and had a fantastic season. He has become the unquestioned leader of our football team. Sam has worked hard this offseason to get back to full strength after battling through some injuries last year, and he is a key compo- THE GM nent to our running and passing game. Curtis is growing into more and more of a leader, and we anticipate him being our middle linebacker for a long time. Harry has proven that he is an After being named the Falcons GM in January 2008, Thomas Dimitroff stepped in and immediately changed the direction of electric player when he gets the ball in his hands, and he has added about 20 pounds this off- the franchise by bringing in stars such as Matt Ryan and Michael season and we look forward to him becoming even more of a weapon on offense. DeCoud Turner in his first offseason. Heading into his second season with the Falcons, the 2008 Sporting News NFL Executive saw action on special teams last year, and we are anticipating him competing for a starting of the Year took some time out with Score Atlanta’s I.J. role on our defense this year. Chevis did a solid job for us as our nickel defensive back, while Rosenberg to talk about his philosophy on the draft as Kroy provided us with a pass rush opposite John Abraham. well as the team's prospects for '09. What do you think Tony Gonzalez and the other free-agent signings bring to this team? You’ve been the Falcons GM for over a year and a half now.What have you learned so far? Dimitroff: Tony will add a dynamic to our offense that we didn’t have last year. Our draft basi- Thomas Dimitroff: The biggest thing I have learned over the last year and a half is how to cally started on Thursday, not Saturday this year. One of the goals that Coach Smith and I had separate work life and personal life. Last year when I took vacation with my family, I spent a lot of time trying to watch film, learn the salary cap and evaluate players. This year, I have a was to have two full draft classes so we were not going to give up a pick from this year’s draft, better handle on those things and have become better at my time management.