Atlanta Falcons NFL News - Falcons Football Blog

The Atlanta Falcons picked OT Lamar Holmes in the 3rd round

admin — Wed, 02 May 2012 05:15:38 +0000

The Atlanta Falcons selected OT Lamar Holmes out of Southern Mississippi with the 91st overall pick (3rd round) of the 2012 NFL Draft. Holmes is 6’5″, 320 pounds but he’s pretty soft body frame wise. He is a good run blocker, but it’s going to take some time before he becomes a good pass protector. Holmes played in 14 games (all starts) at LT for Southern Mississippi last year. He played in 27 games (20 starts) in his two years at Southern Miss. Holmes will be a backup initially, but he could be a starter down the road if he improves with coaching. This pick was a big time reach for the Falcons so early in the draft.

The Atlanta Falcons pick C/G Peter Konz in the 2nd round of the 2012 NFL Draft

admin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:17:39 +0000

The Atlanta Falcons selected G/G Peter Konz out of Wisconsin with the #55 overall pick (2nd round) of the 2012 NFL Draft. Konz is 6’5″, 315 pounds and he’s a physical player. He is a good run blocker and he plays hard on every play. He will likely start at one of the guard spots in 2012 and then take over for Todd McClure at center in 2013. Konz played in 11 games (all starts) for Wisconsin last year. He played in 32 games (31 starts) in his three years with the Badgers. This was a good pick for the Falcons as they needed help along the O-Line for this year and a starting center of the near future and Peter Konz will help them with both of those issues.

The Atlanta Falcons acquire CB Asante Samuel

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:04:06 +0000

The Falcons have acquired 31-year old CB Asante Samuel from the Eagles for a late round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. It is believed that the pick will be the Falcons’ sixth rounder, which is #192 overall. Samuel restructured his contract into a 3-year, #18.5 million dollar deal. Samuel played in 14 games for the Eagles last year and he had 34 tackles, 3 interceptions (one returned for a TD), 10 passes defensed, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery. Samuel has now played in 131 games in his first 9 years in the NFL and he has 368 tackles, 45 interceptions (5 returned for TDs), 139 passes defensed, 10 tackles for a loss, 6 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries. This was a great move for the Falcons as they will have a deep and talented corps at CB with Samuel joining Brent Grimes and Dunta Robinson.

Steve Bartkowski was a pretty solid QB for the Atlanta Falcons

admin — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:00:52 +0000

QB Steve Bartkowski loved to throw the bomb, so his completion % was never really that high. But, boy were the Falcons fun to watch with Bartkowski under center. His best year for the Falcons came in 1980 when he led them to a 12-4 record. Bartkowski completed 257 of 463 passes (55.5%) for 3,544 yards with 31 TD passes and 16 INTs (88.2 QB Rating). He also carried the ball 25 times for 35 yards (1.4 ypc) with 2 TD carries in 1980 and he made the Pro Bowl that year. Bartkowski played in 123 games (121 starts) in his 11 years with the Falcons and he completed 1,871 of 3,330 passes (56.2%) for 23,470 yards with 154 TD passes and 141 INTs (76.0 QB Rating). He also carried the ball 172 times for 236 yards (1.4 ypc) with 11 TD runs in his career with the Falcons. Bartkowski was 55-66 (45.5%) as the Falcons’ starting QB during the regular season and he made it to two Pro Bowls in his 11 years with the team. Bartkowski is the Falcons’ all-time leader in both passing yards (23,470) and passing TDs with 154 of them.

The Atlanta Falcons don’t have many draft picks to work with next weekend

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 22:36:29 +0000

The Falcons gave up a lot of picks to net WR Julio Jones in last year’s NFL Draft. So they are going to have to make do with the picks they do have left in this draft. Here is a look at who I saw the Falcons getting in my mock 2012 NFL Draft found on bloglockers.com:

2. (55) Jayron Hosley, CB, Virginia Tech

3. (84) Senio Kelemete, OG, Washington

5. (157) Marvin McNutt, WR, Iowa

6. (192) Brandon Bolden, RB, Mississippi

7. (229) Jermaine Kearse, WR, Washington

7. (249) Jacquies Smith, DE, Missouri

The Atlanta Falcons have spent most of the off-season retaining their own players

admin — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:27:00 +0000

The Falcons have re-signed 12 of their own free agents so far this off-season, while only adding three free agents on the open market. Here is a look at what they have done so far:

Offensively: The only starting player the Falcons have re-signed on this side of he ball is center Todd McClure, but he’s a good one. #3 WR Harry Douglas, #2 QB Chris Redman, #3 RB Jason Snelling, TE Michael Palmer and RB Antone Smith have also been re-signed by the Falcons offensively. The Falcons have signed OG Vince Manuwai and he could challenge for a starting job in training camp. The Falcons also signed RB Dimitri Nance and he’s a power runner.

Defensively: The Falcons have re-signed DE John Abraham and they slapped starting cornerback Brent Grimes with the franchise tag. Those were the two biggest moves on D so far this off-season. They have also re-signed key players in safety Thomas DeCoud, DE Kroy Biermann and DT Vance Walker. The Falcons lost inside linebacker Curtis Lofton (to the Saints) and they have signed LB Lofa Tatupu to help replace him.

Special Teams: The Falcons re-signed long snapper Joe Zelenka.

GRADE FOR THE OFF-SEASON SO FAR: C

The Atlanta Falcons re-sign center Todd McClure

admin — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:45:49 +0000

The Falcons have re-signed 35-year old center Todd McClure to a 1-year deal. McClure played in 13 games (all starts) for the Falcons last year. He has now played in 182 games (179 starts) in his first 13 years with the Falcons. It was smart to bring back McClure as he still has something left in the gas tank.

The Atlanta Falcons re-sign long snapper Joe Zelenka

admin — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 18:20:50 +0000

The Falcons have re-signed 36-year old long snapper Joe Zelenka. He played in 16 games (0 starts) for the Falcons last year. He has now played in 37 games (0 starts) in his first three years with the Falcons. Zelenka has been a solid part of the Falcons’ special teams units the last couple of years, so it was smart to bring him back for 2012.

The Atlanta Falcons re-sign DE John Abraham

admin — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 21:07:42 +0000

The Falcons have re-signed 33-year old DE John Abraham to a 3-year deal. Abraham played in 15 games for the Falcons last year and he had 39 tackles, 9.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 4 tackles for a loss and 2 passes defensed. He has now played in 86 games in his first six years with the Falcons and he has 198 tackles, 58.5 sacks, 24 tackles for a loss, 19 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception and 13 passes defensed. This was a great move for the Falcons as Abraham is a force still due to his pass rushing.

The Atlanta Falcons re-sign WR Harry Douglas

admin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 01:57:31 +0000

The Falcons have re-signed 27-year old WR Harry Douglas. Douglas played in all 16 games for the Falcons last year and he caught 39 passes for 498 yards (12.8 avg) with 1 TD grab. He has now played in 48 games in his first three years with the Falcons and he has caught 84 passes for 1,112 yards (13.2 avg) with 3 TD grabs. He also has 15 carries for 67 yards (4.5 ypc) with 1 TD run so far in his career. This was a good move for the Falcons as Douglas stepped up a little bit this year.