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I was looking at our depth chart on the teams site and I noticed that we don't have any back up guards or a back up mlb. I know that we can always slide Brooking inside and start DeMo/Reese at WLB, but what are we gonna do for a guard if Lehr/Forney get hurt?

Well we signed Ben Claxton and even though I've never heard of him it seems he will be our backup at both guard positions even thought the depth chart has him as a LG backup.

As or MLB it says Ike is the backup there also. But also I wouldnt rule out Boley moving to the middle if need be.

I'd be pissed if Hartwell went down and they started Ike in the middle. I mean really we have a pro bowl middle line backer in Keith Brooking, we could move Demo to weakside where he belongs and put Reese on the strong side.
And who is the Claxton guy anyway? Anyone know anything about him?

Didn't that Cash kid make the team? I think he is a MLB and we do have Leake on the practice squad. But the most likely solution would be to move Brooking to MLB and have D-mo on the WLB.

Yes Cash made the squad but he's an emergency backup. On the O-Line don't forget that Lehr can play either side of the line. If Forney goes down Lehr will move over and Claxton will start in Lehr's old spot. No real reason to carry two backup guards when Lehr can play both sides. I belive King can also play guard. And additional bonus is Lehr's ability to also play center.

What I find really interesting is Roddy White's #3 spot behind Dez White & Brian Finneran with Romby Bryant the top backup to Michael Jenkins. I gotta think that if Jenkins goes down either Finneran or White will shift to that spot.

Austin King is the top guard. He played more G this summer than C, working most of the early preseason games at #3 RG behind Herndon and Forney. He'll be the top option if McClure, Lehr, or Forney go down.

As for MLB, I'm content with Reese in the middle. He's a better fit there than Brooking ever was. Brooking is bad at hte point of attack, and you need a player that is good at the POA to be an effective middle man, that's why Brooking struggled so in the 3-4.

Reese is a great utility backup, which is one of the things that attracted the Falcons to him. He'd be fine playing the middle for 3 or 4 games. But the great thing about our LB corps is that Brooking has experince playing both WLB and MLB, Reese has experience playing all 3, and Demorrio has experience at both outside spots, and I believe that he could be just as effective as Brooking in the middle. We have versatility there, and the ability to shuffle people around to make it the best fit. Hartwell is the oddball in that he can only play one position.

I'd only start to get nervous if both Hartwell and Brooking could not play ina game, that would mean our lineup would look like this: SLB WIlliams, MLB Reese, WLB Boley.