5 position battles to watch at Falcons’ minicamp

Falcons coach Dan Quinn and his staff have done a great deal of experimenting with position changes this offseason.

With the team’s mandatory minicamp set for Tuesday through Thursday, those experiments are nearing an end. The staff will then have six weeks to evaluate those moves before the players report for training camp on July 27.

Here are five position battles to keep an eye on during minicamp:

1. Right cornerback: The Falcons have a pair of strong cornerbacks in Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford. But in today's NFL, where teams play nickel defenses — five defensive backs — more than 60 percent of the time, teams need three good corners.

The Falcons didn’t re-sign Phillip Adams, who took the most nickel snaps (429) last season. They are counting on Jalen Collins, a second-round pick in 2015, taking over the right cornerback spot and moving Alford inside to nickel.

Secondary/senior assistant coach Marquand Manuel has been impressed with Collins’ offseason.

“He’s been sound in his technique,” Manuel said. “He’s in shape. He has the ability to stop at the top of the route. His change of direction is awesome and he’s doing what he was brought here to do: be a long guy that can stay on top and run with big receivers.”

However, Collins has been suspended for the first four games for using performance enhancing drugs. The Falcons must determine if Akeem King, a converted cornerback who played safety at San Jose State, is ready to play.

King saw action in five games last season, but played just 15 defensive snaps.

“He has so many great skills to work with,” defensive passing game coordinator Jerome Henderson said. “Marquand Manuel is doing a great job developing him and bringing him along.”

2. Backup quarterback. The Falcons appear set with Matt Ryan and Matt Schaub. The battle is between Sean Renfree and Matt Simms. While the Falcons may elect not to carry three quarterbacks, they'll at least need a third arm on the practice squad.

“This is (Simms) first real chance at our system and he has to make the most of every opportunity that he gets on the field,” quarterbacks coach Matt LaFleur said. “It’s going to be a competitive situation.”

3. Right guard. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan admitted that it was a big gamble starting Mike Person at center last season. He had never started an NFL game and he'd never played center before. The ensuing snapping disaster was foreseeable.

But with center Alex Mack added in free agency, Person, who played 952 offensive snaps (83.5 percent) last season, can slide over to right guard and compete with veteran Chris Chester, who’s out while recovering from shoulder surgery.

Chester, 33, played all 1,140 offensive snaps last season.

4. Middle linebacker. Paul Worrilow is the incumbent, but the Falcons drafted the speedy Deion Jones from LSU in the second round.

Worrilow has a better understanding of the defense in his second year in this scheme.