Last week, I promised that I would go over the Falcons Day 3 draft plans. But of course news and rumors picked up steam that the Falcons were planning on moving up via trade in the draft. I do think the two issues are somewhat related, which I will delve into later. But for now, let’s talk about the Falcons potential third day draft possibilities.

The meat of the Falcons draft lies on the third day of the draft, where rounds four through seven will be selected. The Falcons hold eight of their eleven total picks during this stretch of the draft. The third day of the draft is typically where teams try to build their depth. A few players will emerge as starters, but they are few and far between.

Using previously discussed draft grades, only 14 of the 153 players selected in the final four rounds in 2008 earned C grades or higher (i.e. became solid starters after five seasons). That number is 22 out of 156 players from the 2007 class. In 2008, five of those 14 starters were fourth rounders, while that number was 12 in 2007.

Because the Falcons draft for need, they are going to lean towards targeting players that have a high probability of making the roster. Basically operating under a simple principle that there’s no way you can help the team if you don’t make it. So to determine what areas and positions the Falcons might target on the third day of the draft, you have to take a closer look at the team’s current roster. Here’s a quick breakdown position by position, with the number in parentheses indicating the current number of players at the position that have a strong probability of making the final roster:
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Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweeted earlier that the Falcons were among 11 teams represented at the private workout of Florida State defensive end Tank Carradine today. Reedy reports that Carradine ran a 4.75-second 40 time. Carradine suffered a torn ACL in November after a breakout senior campaign where he recorded 11 sacks, 80 tackles, and 13 tackles for loss.

Carradine met with the Falcons for a private workout on April 2 according to reports. Carradine, who’s first name is actually Cornellius, transferred to Florida State after two seasons at Butler Community College. His career at Butler came on the heels of current Falcon defensive end Jonathan Massaquoi, who spent two years at the Kansas-based community college (2007-08) before transferring to Troy in 2009. In his first season at Butler in 2009, Carradine recorded 90 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, and 10 sacks. He would earn All-American honors as a sophomore with 119 tackles, 29 for loss, 16 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 5 recoveries. His sack total led the nation among junior college players. He transferred to Florida State the following season where he served as a backup to Bjoern Werner and Brandon Jenkins. He had 38 tackles, 8 for loss, and 5.5 sacks. When Jenkins went down with a foot injury before the start of this most recent season, Carradine stepped into his spot at right defensive end. Carradine went down with his injury in the team’s final regular season game against the Florida Gators on November 24.

Recent reports suggest that Carradine is ahead of schedule on his rehab and is widely considered to be one of this draft’s premier pass rushers if not for the untimely event of his injury could have been a Top 15 pick. Carradine measured at 6-4, 273 pounds at today’s workout.

Atlanta’s FOX 5 News reports that Falcons safety William Moore was arrested Thursday in Fulton County on simple battery charges. Details of his arrest have yet to be disclosed. The Falcons issued a brief statement indicated their awareness of the situation and no further comment due to the legal nature of the matter.

Moore signed a brand new five-year deal worth nearly $30 million with the Falcons as a free agent in March. Moore is coming off his first Pro Bowl season, serving as an injury replacement for the NFC squad. Moore is coming off a season where he had a career-high 75 tackles, along with 4 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, and a sack.

The league announced the 2013 regular season schedule tonight. The Falcons will open their season on the road against division rival New Orleans Saints on September 8, the first Sunday in the season. The following week the Falcons will get their home opener against the St. Louis Rams on September 15. The schedule features five primetime matchups (tied for most in the league), beginning with a home game in Week 4 against the New England Patriots on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. They will then follow that up with a Monday Night Football matchup on ESPN the ensuing week with another home game against the New York Jets on October 7. The Falcons bye week will be the following week.

After the Saints, the Falcons next NFC South divisional opponent follows their bye week with a home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After that the Falcons begin an eight game series that will have the team at home for only three games. The Falcons next primetime game will come in Week 12 on October 21 at home on their Thursday Night game on NFL Network. The Falcons will go on the road to Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers in Week 14 on December 8 on Sunday Night Football once more. The final primetime game will be against the team that ended the Falcons 2012 season in the NFC Championship. That game against the San Francisco 49ers will come in Week 16, December 23 on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. The Falcons will close out the regular season with a home game against the Carolina Panthers on December 29.

Five of the Falcons six divisional games will follow their Week 6 bye week. Four of the team’s first six games will be played at home in the Georgia Dome. The Falcons schedule also features two significant breaks. The first of which follows their Monday Night game against the Jets, due to the bye week, the Falcons next game won’t come until 13 days later. Following their Week 12 Thursday Nighter against the Saints, they will have the typical nine-day layoff until they go on the road against the Buffalo Bills. That game will be played in the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada.

Click here to see the rest of the Falcons 2013 schedule.

2013 Atlanta Falcons Schedule

Preseason
Week	Date	Opponent	Time	Result	Score	Stats
1	Aug. 8	Cincinnati	8:00
2	Aug. 15	at Baltimore	7:30
3	Aug. 24	at Tennessee	8:00
4	Aug. 29	Jacksonville	7:30
Regular Season
Week	Date	Opponent	Time	Result	Score	Stats
1	Sep. 8	at New Orleans	1:00
2	Sep. 15	St. Louis	1:00
3	Sep. 22	at Miami	4:05
4	Sep. 29	New England	8:30
5	Oct. 7	N.Y. Jets	8:40
6	Oct. 13	bye
7	Oct. 20	Tampa Bay	1:00
8	Oct. 27	at Arizona	4:25
9	Nov. 3	at Carolina	1:00
10	Nov. 10	Seattle	1:00
11	Nov. 17	at Tampa Bay	1:00
12	Nov. 21	New Orleans	8:20
13	Dec. 1	at Buffalo	4:05
14	Dec. 8	at Green Bay	8:30
15	Dec. 15	Washington	1:00
16	Dec. 23	at San Francisco	8:40
17	Dec. 29	Carolina	1:00

Stats are provided by NFL.com‘s Gamebooks, which are in PDF format. You can find a PDF reader here.

Click here to see the results of the Falcons 2012 Season.

The Falcons are picking thirtieth in the 2013 draft, and rumors continue to gain momentum that the team is looking to move up and get an earlier pick. D. Orlando Ledbetter of the AJC recently discussed the possibility of the Falcons moving up in the first round based off a year-old study of Falcons drafts under GM Thomas Dimitroff. Yesterday, SI.com’s Peter King and then today, CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora, cite sources that suggest the Falcons desires to trade up are real.

The Falcons last went through a blockbuster trade-up in the first round in 2011, where they moved up 21 spots to select wide receiver Julio Jones. The team sent their first round pick (27th overall), second and fourth round picks in the 2011 draft along with first and fourth round picks in the 2012 draft to Cleveland in exchange for the sixth overall selection. In 2012, the Falcons did not trade up in the draft, however they did move back seven spots in the third round via a trade with Baltimore.

La Canfora reports that the Falcons are eyeing either Oregon defensive end Dion Jordan or Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner, according to his sources. Both have been projected to be potential Top 5 picks in the majority of mock drafts.

Today during an hour-long press conference, Dimitroff indicated that the team was open to maneuvering in the draft, whether that mean moving up or down.

The league announced some of the preseason dates for the upcoming 2013 season today. The Falcons four preseason opponents have been set. They will open their preseason schedule on Thursday, August 8 at home against the Cincinnati Bengals which will air on ESPN. For their second preseason game to be played between August 15 and 19, they will travel to Baltimore to take on the Ravens. In Week 3 of the preseason (August 22-26) they will face the Tennessee Titans on the road. They close the preseason on August 29 at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The more tentative dates for the second and third preseason games will be set at a later date.

The league is expected to unveil the regular season schedule on April 16.

Keeping track of all the free agent activity, interest, signings, and cuts for the Atlanta Falcons. You can view all the Falcons free agents by clicking here.

Coming

DE Osi Umenyiora, ex-Giants (Story) (signed 3/27, 2 yrs./$8.5 million)
RB Steven Jackson, ex-Rams (Story) (signed 3/14, 3 yrs./$12 million)

Going

OT Tyson Clabo (Story)
QB Luke McCown (signed 4/1 by Saints; 1 yr.)
CB Brent Grimes (Story) (signed 3/30 by Dolphins; 1 yr./$5.5 million)
CB Chris Owens (Story) (signed 3/22 by Browns; 1 yr.)
DT Vance Walker (Story) (signed 3/18 by Raiders; 1 yr.)
OT Will Svitek (Story) (signed 3/17 by Patriots)
OC Todd McClure (Story) (retirement)
DE Lawrence Sidbury (Story) (signed 3/12 by Colts, 1 yr.)
DE John Abraham
CB Dunta Robinson (signed 3/8 by Chiefs; 3 yrs./$13.8 million)
RB Michael Turner

Staying

OT Sam Baker (Story) (UFA, re-sign 3/12; 6 yrs./$41.1 million)
TE Tony Gonzalez (Story) (UFA, agreed to return 3/12; 2 yrs./$14 million)
OG Garrett Reynolds (Story) (UFA, re-signed 3/9; 2 yrs./$2.6 million)
S William Moore (Story) (UFA, re-signed 3/9; 5 yrs./$29.5 million)
RB Antone Smith (Story) (RFA, re-signed 3/5; 2 yrs./$1.425 million)

Rumored Interest

DE Elvis Dumervil, Broncos (Source: Denver Post) (signed 3/26 by Ravens, 5 yrs.)
DE Dwight Freeney, Colts (Source: Pro Football Talk)
RB Rashard Mendenhall, Steelers (Source: Albert Breer, NFL.com) (signed 3/13 by Cardinals; 1 yr.)
DT Richard Seymour, Raiders (Source: Jason La Canfora, CBS Sports)
QB Drew Stanton, Colts (Source: Jason La Canfora, CBS Sports) (signed 3/13 by Cardinals; 3 yrs.)

Agent Chad Speck of Allegiant Athletic Agency tweeted this morning that the Falcons had informed him that they would be releasing his client, offensive tackle Tyson Clabo. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the move will be designated a post-June 1 release to clear more cap space.

Clabo had three years left on his contract, and was set to count $6.05 million against this year’s salary cap. He received a $4 million signing bonus as part of the five-year deal he signed back in the summer of 2011, as well as a $3 million option bonus that was paid last year. The remaining prorated part of his signing bonus counts $800,000 per season, while the option bonus was prorated over four years at $750,000 per season. Due to the post-June 1 designation, only one-year’s worth of bonus will be accelerated to this year’s cap as dead money, meaning the Falcons will only have to carry $1.55 million and save $4.5 million against the 2013 cap. The remainder of the accelerated unpaid bonus ($3.1 million) will count as dead money towards the 2014 cap next year.

With Clabo departing, 2012 third round pick Lamar Holmes and 2010 third round pick Mike Johnson become the most likely candidates to serve as his successor. Johnson took over for an injured Will Svitek last year as the team’s swing tackle and top reserve at the position. Holmes got limited reps after missing part of the off-season with a foot injury.

Clabo first entered the league in 2004 as an undrafted free agent with the Denver Broncos out of Wake Forest. He spent time on the practice squads of the Broncos, New York Giants, and San Diego Chargers as a rookie. When cut by the Broncos at the outset of the 2005 season, he was added to the Falcons practice squad before making the team outright in 2006. That year, he started 10 games predominantly at right guard as an injury replacement for Kynan Forney. The following season in 2007, he started 11 games at right tackle as an injury replacement for Todd Weiner. He would land the full-time starting right tackle gig in 2008 with the arrival of Mike Smith, as Weiner moved to fill in at left tackle. Since 2008, Clabo has not missed a game at the position in five seasons. Dating back to 2007, he has made 91 consecutive starts at the position. In 2010, his performance led to him being voted to the Pro Bowl as an injury replacement.

Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reports that the Falcons have signed linebacker Brian Banks to a contract.

Banks was a highly-touted linebacker coming out of Long Beach Poly High School in 2002, having been offered a scholarship to Southern California from former coach Pete Carroll. But he was wrongly accused and convicted of rape and kidnapping and spent 62 months in jail. Afterwards while on probation, he was forced to register as a sex offender, impacting his ability to get work. But in 2012, after the alleged victim recanted, he was exonerated and Banks was finally free.

He quickly proceeded to get workouts from NFL teams, including first with the Seattle Seahawks now coached by Carroll. He also received tryouts from the San Diego Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs before finding a home with the Las Vegas Locos in the United Football League last September. In two games with the Locos, Banks recorded a tackle on special teams. The UFL folded this past October after four games played.

Banks, now 27, stands 6-1 and 240 pounds, and likely will compete for a practice squad position via a role on special teams.