1. The no-spin zone: Former Buford running back Anthony Grant, who played at Florida State and Nebraska, has an invite to the Falcons’ locals day, which is set for Friday.
The Falcons value their locals day.
“We are always looking hard, not just at the players on Georgia’s roster, but there are a lot of players from Georgia,” Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said. “We love our hometown guys.”
The team hit it big with right tackle Ryan Schraeder in 2013. After a stellar career at Valdosta State, Schraeder was signed after a locals day workout as a undrafted free agent.
He went on to play in 88 NFL games and made 73 starts from 2013-18. He started in five playoff games, including starting in Super Bowl 51.
Other invitees include:
-Wide receiver/kick returner Dominick Blaylock, who played at Walton High and Georgia Tech/Georgia.
-Running back Reese White, who played at Riverwood High and Coastal Carolina.
-Defensive tackle Zion Logue, who played at Georgia. Logue is 6-foot-5 and 310 pounds.
-Linebacker Andrew White, who played at Texas A&M and Georgia Tech. He’s 6-foot-3 and 228 pounds.
-Linebacker Jamal Hill, who played at Morrow High and Oregon. He’s 6-foot and 226 pounds. He started his career as a safety.
Draft-eligible players from the metro area are allowed to work out for their local team. The workouts will be held at the team facilities in Flowery Branch and will not be open to the public.
The Falcons have used the locals day to help fill the rookie minicamp roster.
Grant is 5-foot-11 and 197 pounds. He rushed 327 times for 1,328 yards and nine touchdown at Florida State (2018) and Nebraska (2022-23). He also returned kickoffs and averaged 21 yards on 14 returns.
Reese White is 5-10, 195 pounds. He played at Coastal Carolina from 2019-23 and rushed 372 times for 1,956 yards and 23 touchdowns. He caught 28 passes for 296 yards and four touchdowns. He also returned four kickoffs.
White played running back and safety at Riverwood for coach Robert Edwards. He rushed for 34 touchdowns and 3,145 yards over his high school career.
Blaylock, who has good hands and is a precise route-runner is 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds. He played at Georgia (2019-22) and at Georgia Tech (2023). He had 56 catches for 885 yards and eight touchdowns over his career.
He had a career-high 21 catches and a career-high 337 yards last season at Tech.
Logue played in 42 games at Georgia. He had 52 tackles over his career and batted down three passes last season.
We’ll add to the list as we get more confirmations.
2. Interesting signing: Cornerback Kevin King, who played five seasons with the Packers, signed to play for the Falcons on Monday.
King, who turns 29 on May 5, is 6-3 and 200 pounds. He was a second-round pick (33rd overall) of the Packers in 2017 draft after playing at Washington.
King has played in 51 NFL games and made 42 starts. He has 197 tackles and seven interceptions.
He has not played in the NFL since the 2021 season.
King had a rough ending to his injury-plagued stay in Green Bay.
He gave up two touchdown passes and was called for a game-sealing pass-interference penalty in the NFC title game against the Bucs at the end of the 2020 season. He re-signed with the Packers on a one-year contract in 2021.
In 2020, teams completed 36 of 57 passes when throwing at King (63.2%) for 488 yards and a touchdown for a 96.2 passer rating, according to Pro Football Reference’s advance stats. He had an unacceptable 12 missed tackles (17.4%) while playing in 11 games and making 11 starts.
In 2021, teams completed 20 of 28 passes for 258 yards on King (71.4%) and had a passer rating of 108.9. He played in 10 games, made six starts.
He had missed 29 of a possible 80 games because of injury.
King elected to sit out the 2022 season to get healthy, but he sustained an Achilles injury that forced him to miss the 2023 season.
3. King reunion: King will be reunited from Falcons secondary coach Jerry Gray, who was with the Packers in 2020 and 2021 before joining the Falcons in 2022. Also, King played at Washington from 2013-16 when new Falcons’ defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake was the defensive backs coach (2014-15) and co-defensive coordinator (2016).
King started his college career at safety and in 2013, he was the first freshman to start for the Huskies. Former Falcons cornerback Desmond Trufant did not open the season as a starter back in 2009. He came on and started the final nine game of the season.
4. Defensive line help: Defensive end James Smith-Williams, formerly of the Commanders, signed a one-year deal with the Falcons on Monday, according to his agent.
Smith-Williams, who is 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds, was drafted by Washington in the seventh round (229th overall) of the 2020 draft out of N.C. State.
He has played in 55 games and made 27 starts over the past four seasons. He has 85 career tackles and seven sacks.
5. Dugger’s deal: New England signed safety Kyle Dugger, who played at Whitewater High and Lenoir-Rhyne, was signed to a new a four-year, $58 million deal.
When Dugger arrived at Whitewater as a freshman, he stood 5-foot-6 and looked nothing like a future NFL prospect.
By the time he was a senior, Dugger stood 6-1 and went on to play Division II football at Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory, North Carolina.
He dazzled at the Senior Bowl and was drafted in the second round (37th overall) in the 2020 draft. He has played in 61 NFL games and made 52 starts.
Credit: ccompton@ajc.com
Credit: ccompton@ajc.com
6. Brown’s deal: The Panthers signed defensive tackle Derrick Brown, the former AJC Super 11 player from Lanier High, to a four-year, $96 million deal.
7. Offseason dates: The NFL released the dates for the Falcons’ voluntary offseason workout programs Friday.
The offseason program started Tuesday.
The Falcons can have two minicamps because they have a new coach in Raheem Morris.
The voluntary minicamp is April 22-24, right before the NFL draft, which is set for April 25-27.
The team’s OTAs dates: May 13-14, May 16, May 20-21, May 23, June 3-4 and June 6.
The mandatory minicamp is set for June 10-12.
The dates are subject to change at the discretion of the Falcons.
8. Position by position series: The AJC’s 2024 position-by-position series is set to start on Wednesday. Here’s a look back at last season’s series:
AJC’S 2023 POSITION-BY-POSITION DRAFT SERIES
WIDE RECEIVERS – Past few drafts have spoiled NFL teams looking for wide receivers | Top 10 WRs
RUNNING BACKS – Running backs Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs may have to wait to hear their names called | Top 10 RBs
TIGHT ENDS – Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer heads a dee TE class | Top 10 TEs
QUARTERBACKS – Bryce Young’s small stature no longer an issue in the NFL | Top 10 QBs
OFFENSIVE LINE – Skoronski’s short arm length being scrutinized for left tackle | Top 5 C,G, &OTs
DEFENSIVE LINE – Is Jalen Carter the real deal or a potential bust? | Top 5 DTs, DEs
LINEBACKERS – Dutchtown’s Will Anderson expected to go in the top 5 of NFL draft | Top LBs
CORNERBACKS – Former Georgia standout Kelee Ringo one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL draft | Top CBs
SAFETIES – Alabama’s Brian Branch, Jordan Battle are top safeties in the NFL draft | Top FS/SS
SPECIAL TEAMS – Michigan’s Jake Moody hopes to kick way to NFL draft | Top STs
9. Offseason depth chart: Here’s the revised offseason depth chart after the signings of defensive back Kevin King and defensive end James Smith-Williams.
OFFENSE
QB – Kirk Cousins, Taylor Heinicke
RB – Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier, Avery Williams, Carlos Washington Jr.
FB – Tucker Fisk, Robert Burns
WR – Drake London, Josh Ali, Austin Mack
Slot WR – Rondale Moore, Ray-Ray McCloud
TE – Kyle Pitts, Charlie Woerner, John FitzPatrick
LT – Jake Matthews, Tyler Vrabel, Barry Wesley
LG – Matthew Bergeron, John Leglue
C – Drew Dalman, Ryan Neuzil, Jovaughn Gwyn
RG – Chris Lindstrom, Kyle Hinton
RT – Kaleb McGary, Storm Norton, Ryan Swoboda
WR – Darnell Mooney, KhaDarel Hodge, Chris Blair
DEFENSE 3-4 alignment
DE – Zach Harrison, Kentavius Street, Demone Harris, James Smith-Williams
NT – David Onyemata, LaCale London, Tommy Togiai, Eddie Goldman
DT – Grady Jarrett, Kentavius Street, Ta’Quon Graham, Willington Previlon
LOLB – Arnold Ebiketie, Ade Ogundeji
LILB – Kaden Elliss, Donavan Mutin, Milo Eifler
RILB – Troy Andersen, Nate Landman
ROLB – Lorenzo Carter, DeAngelo Malone
CB – A.J. Terrell, Antonio Hamilton
Nickel CB – Mike Hughes, Dee Alford
FS – Jessie Bates III, Micah Abernathy, Tre Tarpley III
SS – DeMarcco Hellams, Richie Grant, Lukas Denis
CB – Clark Phillips III, Natrone Brooks, Kevin King
SPECIAL TEAMS
K – Younghoe Koo
P/H – Bradley Pinion
LS – Liam McCullough
PR – Ray-Ray McCloud or Avery Williams
KOR – Ray-Ray McCloud or Avery Williams
The Bow Tie Chronicles
About the Author
