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Monday, May 7, 2007
Minicamp key for White, Williams
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Falcons kick off a three-day minicamp Friday, which is not open to the public.
All 11 draft picks, college free agents and veterans are expected to attend, although it is still uncertain if nose tackle Grady Jackson will be present. Jackson, who is suing the team, has missed all offseason workouts, including a voluntary pre-draft minicamp.
This will be an important minicamp for a lot of players, most notably the rookies. Two players worth following, though, are wide receiver Roddy White and free safety Jimmy Williams.
After two years, it’s time for the gifted White to show if he’s going to emerge as a reliable NFL receiver. Because of dropped passes, he has been unable to hold on to a starting job. The addition of Joe Horn seemingly has moved him to the No. 3 spot, behind Horn and Michael Jenkins.
The Falcons also drafted Laurent Robinson out of Illinois State in the third round. The move could have been made as insurance in case veteran Brian Finneran isn’t fully healed from torn knee ligaments that kept him from playing all last season. Even so, Robinson could be a threat to move into the top-three rotation if White doesn’t overcome the inconsistency that has limited him from prospering.
As for Williams, he returns to the position he grew up playing. Williams was moved from safety to cornerback during spring drills during his sophomore year at Virginia Tech and remained there until the recent drafting of Arkansas cornerback Chris Houston, a move the Falcons said facilitated moving Williams to free safety.
Williams will be competing with incumbent Chris Crocker but if Williams can re-adapt, which he said should not be a problem, he likely will be the starter. He has the size and physical temperament to succeed at free safety but he has to learn to be the quarterback of the defense.
Williams said he might regain some of the 10 pounds he lost to get down to 205 to play corner but he doesn’t expect, at this point, to rapidly get back to 215.
Another player of interest is rookie outside linebacker Stephen Nicholas, who will be filling in for injured outside linebacker Demorrio Williams (torn pectoral muscles). Nicholas could be needed to start at weakside outside ‘backer during the early part of the regular season and his rapid adaptation to Atlanta’s scheme is very important.
