Falcons tackle Ryan Schraeder, a former undrafted player from Valdosta State has remained unfazed as the team keeps adding offensive tackles.
The Falcons, who are shifting to an outside-zone blocking system, drafted tackle Jake Rodgers in the seventh-round of the 2015 draft. They added Tyler Polumbus, a veteran from the Washington Redskins, after he was released.
After having former No. 1 pick Jake Long in for a workout, they signed tackles DeMarcus Love and Pierce Burton.
“I love it,” Schraeder said. “The last two years, I’ve been here competing every day. It’s fun. That’s how you get people better. Not only the starters, but everybody all the way back to the third group.”
Love, 6-foot-4, 315 pounds, was originally selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the sixth-round (168th overall) of the 2011 NFL draft out of Arkansas. Love, 27, was on the 53-man roster for the Vikings in 2011. He has also spent time with Jacksonville, New Orleans and Denver. He has not played in an NFL game.
“I’m just trying to pick everything up and keep up to speed with all of the guys,” Love said. “I was excited to get that call and have this great opportunity.”
Burton 6-6, 305 pounds, was originally signed by the Minnesota Vikings as a rookie free agent in 2014 out of Mississippi, where he started 26 games at right tackle.
“I had a bunch offers from a lot of different places,” Burton said. “I was blessed enough to have that many offers. I always wanted to play with the best and the best is the SEC conference. So, that’s part of the reason why I chose Ole Miss.”
Schraeder, 6-7, 300 pounds, started 10 of 13 games last season. Over the past two seasons, he has played in 26 games with 14 starts.
Schrader, who worked mostly with the first-team at right tackle over the offseason, is a good fit in the new blocking scheme. He’s had a minor strain, but was back with the first-team on Wednesday.
He was the 20th rated tackle of the players who played more than 50 percent of their team’s snaps last season by profootballfocus.com. He played 655 snaps and gave up three sacks, two quarterback hits and 17 pressures. He’s starting to work out some of the rough edges around his game.
“I really like the offense,” Schraeder said. “I feel like it fits everyone on the line. It’s a thing where we have to just gel over the next couple of weeks and try to get as cohesive as we can.”
It’s still a work in progress.
“It’s not going to come overnight,” Schraeder said. “It comes over weeks and hopefully it (comes) sooner rather than later. So far, it’s going well.”
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