The NFL forces teams to make choices. The league has a salary cap and operates in a star-driven society, an uneasy combination that generally leads a team to commit half of its annual payroll to a small handful of players. (Analogy: Their 10 percent is our “1 percent.”)
Which leads us to the Falcons’ choices.
They have had a remarkable offseason. They have added two free agents, Steven Jackson and Osi Umenyiora, to a roster that already was in the Super Bowl discussion. But the team will go into next season with significant questions in two areas that a football team never wants uncertainty: offensive line and defensive line.
Football still largely is about blocking and tackling, even if that seldom translates with the video-game generation of fans. The teams that can best throw punches and take punches usually are the ones that win games in December and January. That hasn’t changed, even if three-receiver sets on offense and nickel defenses are now relative base formations.
So let’s look at where the Falcons after the draft and free agency (barring any additional signings).
Offense: The potential issues are not at quarterback (Matt Ryan), wide receiver (Roddy White, Julio Jones), tight end (Tony Gonzalez) or running back (Jackson). They're up front, where there projects to be at least three new starters: center Peter Konz (10 starts at right guard as a rookie), right guard Garrett Reynolds (part-time starter in the past two years, missed half of last season after back surgery) and right tackle Lamar Holmes (who played one game off the bench as a rookie in 2012).
Defense: The top two draft picks were spent on cornerbacks (Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford, who should join a solid secondary with Asante Samuel, William Moore and Thomas DeCoud. The linebacker situation: not great (other than Sean Weatherspoon), but that problem can been minimized by with strong first and third layers of the defense. Up front, other than Umenyiora and tackle Jonathan Babineaux, the team is depending on a number of recent draft picks who've either underperformed or been plagued by injuries, including former No. 1 pick Peria Jerry.
General manager Thomas Dimitroff acknowledges the uncertainty with the transition to unproven youth.
But he and coach Mike Smith believed it was time to take that risk. We’ll find out soon enough if it works and blows up in their faces.
“We were one of the oldest teams last year,” Dimitroff said Saturday. “We knew we had to make an effort to add some youth and develop the youth, not just bring them and let them sit on the back bench.”
Addressing specifically the offensive line, Dimitroff said, “It’s time. Smitty and I were just talking about that in the draft (room). We have to continue to develop (players) and have the confidence in them to play for (Ryan), the running backs and create the formidable wall we envisioned.”
Players can be divided into two categories: Those who teams know are good and those who teams hope are good.
The Falcons are heavy on hope on the lines.
Konz, Reynolds and Holmes on offense. Jerry, Corey Peters, Cliff Matthews, Jonathan Massaquoi and a couple of more picks in this draft on defense.
In his first five drafts, Dimitroff drafted seven offensive linemen and eight defensive linemen. The return has been less than great. Offensive tackle Sam Baker, a first-rounder, struggled with injuries and largely was viewed as a bust for four seasons. He rebounded with a solid year in 2012 — good enough in the team’s view that they gave him a new $41.1 million contract that included $18.25 million guaranteed.
Reynolds, Mike Johnson, Joe Hawley and Andrew Jackson have made little to no impact. Konz appears ready to take over as the starting center for the retired Todd McClure. But the readiness of Holmes at right tackle, vacated by the sudden release of Tyson Clabo, seems less certain.
In this draft, Dimitroff drafted two ends — Malliciah Goodman (Clemson) in the fourth round and Stansley Maponga (TCU) in the fifth. Their hope is that both pan out better than some previous misses, including Jerry and Lawrence Sidbury. Kroy Biermann looked as if he would be a major find with five sacks in 2009, but he hasn’t matched that total since.
Maybe this works. The Falcons’ offense will be as good or better than any team in the league. But at some point, and usually the most important point, games are won and lost up front.
We’ll find out soon enough if this team is good enough where it counts most.
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