The offseason experimentation is over for Falcons coach Dan Quinn and his staff.
Now, the Falcons, who report for training camp Wednesday and take the field for practice Thursday, must start to get ready for the 2016 season.
The Falcons have not made the playoffs the past three seasons, and if they are going to return, they have some personnel issues that must be addressed and upgraded.
Here are five position battles to watch in training camp:
1. Middle linebacker. Paul Worrilow has racked up 137, 155 and 98 tackles over the past three seasons. He's been a steady and dependable performer for the Falcons.
Worrilow has had eight double-digit tackle games, hitting the 19 mark, twice. He has a nose for the ball and can sniff out the run.
But the Falcons, with an aim to get faster, drafted the speedy Deion Jones from LSU in the second round of the NFL draft.
Jones finished the offseason working with the first-team defense.
Worrilow, a gritty player who made the team as an undrafted player from Delaware, is going to be tough to beat out. However, Jones has picked up the defense and was drawing praise from the veterans.
“Deion has been really, really impressive,” Falcons defensive tackle Tyson Jackson said. “He’s explosive. To learn the defense. I’m impressed that a guy could come in as a rookie, learn the defense that quickly, adapt to it and be able to communicate it to all levels of the defense. He’s doing a really good job with it so far.”
2. Right cornerback: The Falcons plan to play their nickel package more than 60 percent of the time and need three cornerbacks. They will enter camp with two established cornerbacks in Pro Bowler Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford.
The projected third cornerback — Jalen Collins — must serve a four-game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs and will play a backup role during training camp.
The Falcons didn’t re-sign Phillip Adams, who took the most nickel snaps (429) last season. They want to move Alford inside and play Collins outside.
The Falcons must determine if Akeem King, a converted cornerback who played safety at San Jose State, is ready to play. He saw action in five games last season, but played only 15 defensive snaps.
Also, DeMarcus Van Dyke had a strong offseason showing and is a viable candidate. C.J. Goodwin, a former wide receiver, is a long shot, but plays the ball well.
Van Dyke, who’s 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, was drafted in the third round (81st overall) by Oakland in 2011. He’s made stops with Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Minnesota. He’s played in 25 games and made four starts.
3. 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.
4. Right guard. With center Alex Mack added in free agency, Person, who played 952 offensive snaps (83.5 percent) last season, can slide to right guard and compete with veteran Chris Chester, who's recovered from offseason shoulder surgery. Chester, 33, played all 1,140 offensive snaps last season.
5. Strong safety. Rookie Keanu Neal, the 17th player taken in the draft, is expected to win the strong safety spot and replace William Moore, who was released.
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