Falcons have an ‘all-comers’ competition to replace Kaleb McGary on right side
FLOWERY BRANCH — It’s nice to have options in life.
After juggling their roster, the Falcons now have at least seven people to consider as the replacement for Kaleb McGary at starting right tackle before they open the season against the Bucs at 1 p.m. Sept. 7 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
McGary (left leg) and his backup, Storm Norton (ankle), were placed on injured reserve. McGary is out for the season, while Norton may return.
In addition to Elijah Wilkinson, the Falcons have tackles Jack Nelson and Michael Jerrell on the roster. They signed tackles Carter Warren, Ryan Hayes and Brandon Parker to the practice squad.
The wild card is starting left guard Matthew Bergeron, who played left tackle in college at Syracuse. Jake Matthews is the starting left tackle.
The Falcons must figure out how to replace McGary’s strength, which is his run-blocking. Per NFL Savant, a league-high 14.4% of the total plays run by the Falcons (237) in 2024 were rushes to the right side. They gained an average of 4.9 yards on those plays.
Wilkinson, who worked with the first-team in practice on Thursday, will get the first shot.
“That’s the way it looks to me,” Wilkinson said. “I’ve played right tackle before. I’ve pretty much played all four spots (on the offensive line) except center. I think I’m pretty comfortable.”
The Falcons sent a conditional seventh-round pick to Seattle for Jerrell. Warren was with the Jets, and Hayes was with the Dolphins.
“We got a chance yesterday, obviously, to add Mike Jerrell,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said Thursday before practice. “We had a chance to add two new practice-squad players on our roster, guys that we identified that we liked. Those guys will be out there competing.”
Morris noted that he would lean toward the players who were with the Falcons in training camp, Wilkinson, Nelson and Parker. Wilkinson replaced McGary in the lineup when he went down in practice Aug. 20 and was carted off the field.
“So, those guys will be competing to be able to go out there and play right tackle for us,” Morris said. “We have those guys out there getting ready to go. Giving those guys the best opportunity to find out what matches are the best, to move forward, to find a way to go get a win versus Tampa.”
Wilkinson, 30, who is 6-foot-6 and 310 pounds, has played in 79 NFL games and made 45 starts. He started nine games at left guard for the Falcons in 2022. He also has played with the Broncos, Bears and Cardinals following his college career at Massachusetts.
“He’s played a lot of football,” Falcons offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford said. “When Elijah first got here, he was mostly tackle. Most of the stuff that we were seeing when he was at Chicago and was coming over as a tackle. We took him and Germain Ifedi. We had a need at guard at the time.”
Theoretically, the Falcons could plug in Wilkinson at left guard and slide Bergeron outside to right tackle. Morris noted that Wilkinson also played some at left and right guard during training camp.
Nelson, who was drafted in the seventh round this year out of Wisconsin, started all three of the exhibition games and played 151 offensive snaps.
Parker, 29, is 6-8 and 320 pounds. He’s played in 59 NFL games and made 33 starts. He hasn’t started a game since 2023, when he was with the Raiders.
Jerrell, Warren and Hayes were at practice Thursday, getting acclimated to the drills.
“We definitely added some significant pieces in that area, in that room,” Morris said. “It gives us a little bit more depth.”
Jerrell is an intriguing prospect who played at Findlay, an NCAA Division II school, and he was drafted in the sixth round in 2024.
“You definitely go claim guys that you like. You definitely have a chance to trade for guys that you like,” Morris said. “You definitely get guys on your practice squad that you know you’ve always had love for.”
Warren was a fourth-round draft pick (120th overall) by the Jets in 2023.
Warren, 26, is 6-5 and 311 pounds and played in college at Pittsburgh. He has played in 14 NFL games and made six starts.
He played 403 offensive snaps as a rookie in 2023 and 141 last season. He had a 44.6 grade (on a 1-100 scale) by Pro Football Focus, which ranked him 128th of 140 NFL offensive tackles for the 2024 season.
Hayes, 25, is 6-6 and 303 pounds. He played at Michigan and was drafted in the seventh round (238th overall) by the Dolphins in 2023. He has played in one NFL game.
Morris said the Falcons have discussed moving Bergeron.
“Bergeron is definitely one of those options,” Morris said. “He’s definitely a guy who could still go out there at any point. He’s certainly one of the guys who can do anything for us. We have high regard for Bergeron. He’s one of the guys I feel like is very unique in his ability to do different things.”
Bergeron has been the left guard since he was taken in the second round (38th overall) in the 2023 draft. He’s started 34 consecutive games.
“He’s very unique in his ability to play tackle and guard,” Morris said.
That would be a major shift for Bergeron.
“But you don’t want to make yourself weaker by trying to strengthen one side of the field,” Morris said. “You want to make yourself strong across the board.”
About the Author
Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.
