Falcons: Team Captains....

[FullMetalFalcon23]

I think your position is fair and we are allowed to feel how we want. It's just that every year there are players projected to go higher and they go lower and vice versa. That is because most of the pre draft hype and projections are done by folks who aren't attached to an FO. They may evaluate a persons stand alone talent and they might be a great talent. But when you are inside a Franchise looking at your roster and the direction you want to go in does that person fit.

You also have issues with The likes of Adams where perhaps he was on our radar until the drugs thing. And I can see why we don't want him. Not because I think he is a bad person for touchin a lil Mary Jane, heck I burn the herb when I can. But not when my job is on the line or people are relying on me. We are in a 4 year whole at LT thanks to Yosemite Sam, dude has completely flopped. This is the highest LT we have drafted since him. Because he is expected to be a replacement. Not depth not a stop gap. This guy is supposed to be the person who is the future at LT for us for the remainder of Ryan's tenure here and possibly to break in a new Rookie Qb too. You need someone you can trust to be around and not let the team down as he is in a critical position. I can understand why you want a blue collar type guy at LT. A protector needs to be unselfish.

Now Adams may grow into that type of guy but we needed that type of guy now. Holmes is that type of player. I think Pat Hill could have had Adams if we wanted him. If he was ever on our radar in actual truth. Holmes might have been diagnosed as our guy early on. With the fact that we had no 1st and guys like Adams were not supposed to get to us I think our FO had to be more astute in their back of the draft analysis. They need to make sure that at least 3 starters or significant players come from this class. I think we got 4.

I agree with you Konz and Ewing are 1 and 2 in that respect. I think Holmes is likely our Corey, not that appealing straight off the board, but within a year or 2 we'll be understanding why the FO took him. He is a strange type of guy, he had his place in college coming out of high school, but he went to the JuCo first to get some peace and perspective it seems. He is advising his younger brother to do similar. The 4th is Massaquoi. I think he is a project to an extent, but remember how folks said Pierre Paul was a fluke in college, I think he has a similar stock, thankfully he is with someone who will find a way to maximise that potential at the professional level. Through training, development and the part he is asked to play in the scheme.

I wouldn't be so confident if we were dealing with vangorder and PB here. I'd think we would be lucky to get Konz and Ewing developed if they were. And Massaquoi would be lost in depth for a few years. thankfully due to the presence of hill and Nolan and Danna, we gave guys who have a history of developing obvious and obscure talent at the NFL level. I think Holmes and Massaquoi are clay to be moulded, but they are already ready to be that way due to their nature and personality. The coaches don't have to work on grinding the stupid out of them 1st.

I wish I could be out there to see camp/preseason. I may just pay the direct debit to get as much info as I can on NFL network. I hope you will be able to enjoy the build up to the season pap, and be pleased with the new product the Falcons put on the field.