The Falcons released their injury report today for this Sunday’s upcoming contest against the New Orleans Saints. A number of Falcons players were on this week’s injury report, including linebacker Sean Weatherspoon (ankle), wide receiver Kevin Cone (groin), and safety Charles Mitchell (calf), all of whom were declared out for the game. All three players missed the entire week of practice.

Also appearing on the report were a number of questionable players including: defensive tackles Jonathan Babineaux (hamstring) and Peria Jerry (knee), and cornerbacks Robert McClain (hip) and Chris Owens (heel). McClain and Owens were added to the injury report today after being limited in today’s practice. Both Babineaux and Jerry were limited throughout the week’s three days of practice.

Defensive end John Abraham (elbow), tackle Sam Baker (ankle), wideout Harry Douglas (ankle), cornerback Asante Samuel (hip), and running back Jason Snelling (illness) all also appeared on the report, but are listed as probable. Abraham was able to fully participate in all three days of practice. Both Baker and Samuel were limited on Thursday while fully participating on Thursday and Friday. Douglas was limited until fully participating in today’s practice. Snelling missed Wednesday practice, but was full go on Thursday and today.

With Weatherspoon out, Mike Peterson will likely enter the starting lineup in the base defense, with Akeem Dent taking over Spoon’s duties in the nickel. Both Cone and Mitchell will be missed on special teams. Babineaux and Jerry’s injuries leave the team relatively thin at defensive tackle, as Corey Peters is still recovering from a foot injury that kept him out of the first six games of the season. It could mean Vance Walker and Travian Robertson get increased reps on Sunday. McClain and Owens are the team’s top two backups at cornerback, being key components of the team’s nickel and dime packages. That could potentially be tested given the Saints proclivity to use three, four, and five wideouts on the majority of their plays.

The Falcons announced their weekly injury report earlier today, upon which wide receiver Harry Douglas was declared out for this weekend’s upcoming contest against the Philadelphia Eagles. Douglas missed the entire week of practice after injuring his left knee and ankle during the team’s Week 6 win over the Oakland Raiders. D.J. Davis has thus far received the majority of snaps as the team’s fourth wide receiver so far this season, but the team may also get Kevin Cone into the mix.

The team also announced that defensive tackle Corey Peters was activated from the NFI to the 53-man active roster today, making him eligible to play this Sunday against the Eagles. Peters returned to practice on Monday, after missing the previous four months due to a foot injury. To make room for Peters on the roster, the team cut cornerback Terrence Johnson.

Also on the Falcons’ injury report was guard Garrett Reynolds (back) as questionable, and defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux (groin), tight end Michael Palmer (shoulder), and running back Antone Smith (hamstring) as probable. Palmer and Smith are expected to make their returns to the lineup. Palmer was injured early in the Falcons Week 3 win over the San Diego Chargers, and Smith has been in and out of the lineup over the past month with his hamstring injury. Babineaux has been nursing his groin injury since the Chargers game. Reynolds’ back injury has caused him to be limited in the past two weeks of practices going back prior to the Raider game. Babineaux and Palmer both were limited during Wednesday and Thursday practices, but fully participated in practice today. Smith was a full participant today as well, but was limited on Thursday and missed Wednesday’s practice. Reynolds was limited in all three days of practice this week.

The Falcons ruled middle linebacker Akeem Dent out for Thursday night’s preseason matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals due to a concussion he suffered during last week’s game against the Baltimore Ravens. In his stead, Mike Peterson is expected to start at middle linebacker. Peterson was signed by the Falcons just before the start of training camp, after a season-ending injury to Lofa Tatupu. Along with Dent, defensive end Louis Nzegwu (leg) has already been ruled out for the Bengals game.

Harry Douglas, who missed the Ravens game with a rib injury, is expected to play against the Bengals. Several players that missed the Ravens game remain unknown as far as their status for this week’s game. Mike Calvin (leg) and Corey Peters (foot) remain unable to practice as of Tuesday and are expected to miss the game. Vance Walker (foot) returned to practice on Tuesday and could be available against the Bengals.  Erik Folk, Richard Medlin, Chris Owens (hamstring), Jason Snelling (leg), and Lamar Holmes also did not play against the Ravens, and their statuses for this week’s Bengals game is unknown.

The Falcons will have arguably the most amount of competition for roles on special teams in seemingly a long while this summer. The team is two-deep at all three specialist spots, and both return spots are completely open to competition.

It is likely that the incumbents at all three specialist spots will retain their jobs with Matt Bryant at kicker, Matt Bosher at punter, and Joe Zelenka at long snapper. All three players have given the team little issue to worry about. Bryant is the savvy veteran that has been highly productive and consistent in Atlanta. He’s made 28 of 30 kicks at home, with his two misses being a blocked 55-yarder against Buffalo in 2009 and a missed 41-yarder against the Saints last year. But Bryant isn’t getting any younger, and one of the issues that often comes with age as a kicker is leg strength. So far, Bryant hasn’t shown any significant drop-off from long range, but it’s not a coincidence that the player they brought in to push him is known for his leg strength. Undrafted rookie Erik Folk will push Bryant, and while he’s a longshot to win the job he’ll be given an opportunity to impress the staff if he can showcase a powerful and accurate leg in camp.

At punter, Matt Bosher got off to a very slow start last year. In fact, there was little debate to who was the league’s worst punter over the first 6-8 weeks of the season because it was indeed Bosher. But in the second half of the season, he really began to come on, and his ability to drive kickoffs into the endzone with consistency as well as get good placement on his punts saw a huge boost to the production of the Falcons special teams unit. He’ll be pushed by undrafted rookie Dawson Zimmerman. As is the case with the kicker spot, Zimmerman will have to be extremely good to unseat Bosher, who cannot afford another slow start to this season.

Zelenka might have the most tenuous hold on a roster spot among the three specialists. The team made an extra effort to bring a bunch of snappers this off-season, which could be a referendum on their desire to get younger at the position. In January, they added Corey Adams and Scott Albritton. Neither made it to camp, but they also signed undrafted rookie Josh Harris. It seemed that the team had plans to move on from Zelenka this off-season. He was one of the team’s final free agent re-signings, a move made in late March seemingly at a point when they realized they could afford to bring him back. That gives Harris a better than average chance to actually unseat Zelenka. The fact that Harris was actually a pretty solid snapper at Auburn. Harris probably needs another year or two to add polish, but if he can hit the ground running this summer, it would not be a surprise if he’s the team’s opening day snapper.

But most of the attention paid to special teams this year will be at the returner spots. The team will have open competitions for both kickoff and punt return duties this summer. While the team feels relatively secure at punt returner, as Harry Douglas and Dominique Franks will be pitted against each other. Douglas handled punt returns in the latter half of his rookie season in 2008, and Franks has been productive in limited action in each of the past two summers there. Between the two of them, the team should get a fairly competent replacement for the departed Eric Weems. Douglas appears ahead in the competition, but the positive for both is that losing that competition won’t cost either a roster spot.

The kickoff return duties are a lot less settled. The team will likely give several players looks this summer at the spot, but James Rodgers, Antone Smith, Jacquizz Rodgers appear to be the front-runners. James Rodgers was productive kickoff returner during his days at Oregon State, but will have to show that some of the burst he lost due to a knee injury in 2010 has returned. Smith is considered a dark horse candidate and because of his already established value on special teams coverage might be in prime position to win the job. Given the increased role on offense, the team would probably prefer not to use Quizz as a returner.

Depending on how the competition goes during the early days and weeks of camp, the team could easily throw others into the competition, including Brent Grimes, Franks, Douglas, Robbie Frey, and Marcus Jackson into the mix. It’s also possible that depending on how the competition goes the team could look elsewhere for an established returner on the waiver wire come August.

While the new rules around kickoffs lessen the impact that having a good kickoff returner can have on the game, it still remains important to have someone effective in that role. With Weems, the Falcons had a player that they were confident could field kicks 5 or so yards deep in the endzone and advance the ball past the 20-yard line on a fairly consistent basis. Not having that player won’t have a hugely negative impact on field position, but it does have still have a negative one. It’s mostly about trust. And if the coaching staff cannot trust the player to get 25 or more yards and the team is forced to kneel for touchbacks, then you’re not really helping the team.

Brent Grimes

The Monday, July 16 deadline for when franchise players could get long-term deals done passed without Falcons corner Brent Grimes getting one. That outcome was not a surprise given how little movement and noise had been made in recent weeks.

The Falcons appear to be in a position to play wait and see with Grimes. The team picked up Asante Samuel this off-season, and the team is trying to get a return on their substantial investment in Dunta Robinson this year by moving him inside in nickel situations. Essentially, if Grimes has a good season then he’ll likely land the long-term deal he seeks next off-season. But the Falcons want to be sure that they are not committing another huge deal to a player that does not deserve it. Because while the Falcons brass won’t admit it, they aren’t too thrilled about the Robinson deal they gave out two years ago.

Robinson received $57 million over six years, and nearly $25 million in guaranteed money. That was and remains roughly market value for a top No. 1 corner. Unfortunately, Robinson has been anything but that caliber of player. On the other hand, Grimes has been. You would be hard-pressed to find a corner outside Darrelle Revis and Samuel that has collectively played better the past two seasons than Grimes. Yet the Falcons appear to be reluctant to make such a big investment unless they deem that player to be essential. And right or wrong, it’s clear that this team doesn’t view Grimes as an essential piece.

And from a certain perspective that is understandable, now that the team has added Samuel and decided to move Robinson inside to the slot. If Samuel continues to play at a high level, and there is a significant uptick in Robinson’s play so that he appears to solidify a nickel spot that has been a major weakness for this defense for three years running, then committing $50 million or more to Grimes isn’t the smartest financial decision. Especially when you have players like Dominique Franks and Chris Owens on the roster. While they are not nearly the players that Grimes is, the Falcons only have to commit roughly $1.9 million to the pair over the next two seasons. Had the Falcons given Grimes the exact same contract as Cortland Finnegan received from the Rams this off-season (5 yrs., $50 million), that figure would be around $24 million. So while you may only be getting one half of the player, you’re getting him for one-twelfth the price.

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Kerry Meier

The backup positions at wide receiver will likely be some of the most contested positions on the roster this summer in training camp. The Falcons are pretty much locked in at the top of their depth chart, but are intent on seeing what competition can brew on the back-end.

Roddy White and Julio Jones will remain starters this year, and the team is looking for the latter to really step up this year. Jones showed flashes of his ability, particularly in the latter half of last season. The team hopes that with a complete off-season this spring and summer, he’ll be better prepared to be able to play at a similarly high level throughout the course of the entire 2012 season.

White is one of the more reliabe players on the entire team, and you can be certain he’ll play very well this year. He is coming off a year where he had a large number of drops, and he’ll be looking to redeem himself in 2012. But you can expect White to be the team’s top wideout throughout the season. And if that is not the case, it’ll likely be because Jones has really stepped up his game rather than any fall-off from White.

Behind them on the depth chart, but playing what in today’s NFL is practically a starting position himself is third wideout Harry Douglas. Douglas showed improvement a year ago after having a full season coming off his knee injury, and the team hopes he will also continue that upward trend this year. Douglas is at home in the slot, but he got a lot more opportunities on the outside last year due to injuries to Jones. The team is hoping that getting stronger should help allow him to contribute more there this year.

Behind those three receivers is really where the question marks lie. The Falcons have a large number of unproven wideouts and prospects expected to compete for what will likely be two, possible three roster spots.

The player who is most likely to emerge from that group for a spot is third-year player Kerry Meier. The Falcons traditionally have given their fourth and fifth wideouts extensive reps on special teams rather than offense. But for Meier unlike the others, the team may be paying more attention to his contributions this summer on offense. His size, hands, and blocking potential gives him some upside to contribute on offense, but he hasn’t quite put it all together in his two previous summers. The team knows what he potentially brings to the table on special teams, which gives him an edge there, but it doesn’t fully know his potential on offense.

Returning from last year’s practice squad are Kevin Cone and D.J. Davis. Cone is a player that has a good combination of size, athleticism, and speed. He got some work on special teams in the season finale. If he can impress in coverage as well as showcase some big play ability in preseason will likely give him an edge over the others. Davis is more quick than fast that flashed some ability last summer. Between the two, much larger expectations are being heaped on Cone.

Among the rest of the position group, the team will have a bunch of undrafted free agents competing for spots. And it’s likely their ability on special teams will trump any offensive production they may be inclined to show. Also the vacant return duties will factor in here, as whoever becomes the team’s kickoff and punt returners could shake up depth across the roster. That mainly goes for James Rodgers, the brother of Jacquizz, who is competing for the open kick return duties. Rodgers was one of the few undrafted free agents that the Falcons signed that was productive throughout his college career on kickoff returns. He is now nearly two years removed from a major knee injury similar to Douglas, and the team is hopeful that similarly he can regain some of that explosive burst he showcased prior to the injury.

Mike Calvin was a backup throughout his Cal days. But that gave him a large amount of experience working on special teams. Like Cone, he has a good combination of natural size and speed which can be effective as a gunner on special teams. Marcus Jackson began his collegiate career as a quarterback, but made the eventual switch to wideout. Kenny Stafford’s biggest claim to fame is that his uncle is former NFL wideout Cris Carter, but he hopes that his play on the field this summer in camp and preseason will give the team and its fans another reason to remember his name. All three of these players weren’t super-productive while playing in college, but unlike most summers they all have a fairly strong chance to make the roster rather than just trying to impress enough for a practice squad position.

But an issue the Falcons may have to address in the late summer is that if none of the young guys really step up to be able to fill those depth roles, the team may have to sign a veteran player. A number of proven wide receivers will find themselves out of a job come late August and September as roster cuts are made, and the Falcons might make the decision to try and bolster it with a more known commodity than these untested players. That could especially become relevant based around how the competition at the return spots shakes up. Any veteran player the Falcons add between now and the start of the season is likely to be a guy they want to help as a return man rather than any potential offensive production.

Julio Jones

After discussing the quarterbacks and running backs, it’s time to look at the wide receiver position’s outlook for the Falcons in 2015.

To no one’s surprise, Julio Jones is the leader here. Jones rise to the top comes in 2013, which was the first year where he led the team in both receptions and receiving yards. And he has not looked back since. He has produced thousand-yard seasons in all but his rookie season. He is one of the elite receivers in the league with only Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Dez Bryant, and A.J. Green considered to be in the same stratosphere.

Over the ensuing years, Jones and Ryan have formed a strong rapport and it’s often Jones’ ability to make something out of nothing which is a key reason why the Falcons are potentially poised for huge success come 2015.

The team did not re-sign a 33-year old Roddy White following the 2014 season. White winds up with a bottom rung AFC team hoping that his veteran presence will uplift their meager passing attack. But White’s exit from Atlanta is not without its own glory. He finishes his Falcon career just shy of 800 career receptions, over 10,000 yards receiving, and 70 receiving touchdowns. It so far outpaces any other Falcon receiver that he is unanimously hailed as the team’s all-time greatest receiver. While White spent 2013 and 2014 as the second fiddle to Jones, he still was a highly productive player for the team and a big reason why the Falcons were able to achieve greater postseason success with one of the best starting pairs of receivers in the league.

Replacing White in the lineup is 2014 draft pick DeAndre Hopkins out of Clemson. Hopkins blend of speed and size make him a good complement to Jones, bringing many of the same tools to the offense that White once did. Hopkins spent his rookie year as the No. 3 receiver in the offense and his solid production in that role has the team willing and ready to promote him into the starting lineup.

Tyler Eifert

Behind Hopkins is still the now savvy veteran Harry Douglas, who adds quality depth in the slot for the Falcons. Douglas is entering what is expected to be his last season with the Falcons at age 31, but he’s been a solid third option for the team for the past few years, with Hopkins surpassing him the year before. But he’s back in the driver’s seat for the No. 3 spot. But he’s being pushed by Cody Pearcy, who after spending his rookie season on the Falcons practice squad has developed into a newer version of Tim Dwight. Pearcy’s primary value is on special teams, but they like his speed and potential to stretch defenses and are hoping to mix him more into the offense now that he’s got three years under his belt.

Tony Gonzalez walked away from the game after 2012, and the Falcons used their top pick the following spring on Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert. While Eifert doesn’t quite measure up to Gonzalez (who does?), he has been a solid starter from Day One giving Ryan a solid pass catcher and chain mover in the middle of the defense. By 2015, he is considered the team’s second-best weapon in the passing game behind Jones.

Teaming with Eifert is the Falcons 2014 free agent pickup Kellen Davis, formerly of the Chicago Bears. Davis lost his starting job in Chicago in 2013 to an up and comer, allowing the Falcons to snatch him up in free agency the following year. Davis’ combo of size, athleticism, and blocking ability makes him well-suited for the No. 2 role. But he’s also a solid pass catcher and the Falcons are taking a page from the New England Patriots among other teams with having a solid pair of tight ends. Davis’ presence made the decision not to bring back Michael Palmer in 2015 as a free agent easy.

In this week’s episode, Ryan and I get back to the grind of talking about the Falcons. Taking segments of recent live shows where we talk about different position groups on the offense, this episode is an amalgamation (I know, big word) of those discussions. Also included in this episode is our interview with The Bleacher Report’s Scott Carasik, another knowledgeable Falcon fan. If you want to hear practically every offensive player on the Falcons roster get discussed, then this is the episode for you. Topics range from who will make the roster to what can be expected from different players this year. What if any changes that Dirk Koetter has will affect different players and positions. Ryan and I get into a long debate about what exactly is an elite quarterback. Michael Turner’s future, Chris Redman, Kerry Meier, Julio Jones, and Sam Baker are other Falcon players that get extensive discussions in this episode.

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Duration: 1 hour, 39 minutes

If you have any questions and comments, you can hit us up on Twitter, post in the forums in the podcast thread, or drop Ryan an e-mail at: ryan-valdez@live.com. Don’t forget to drop by every week to hear our live broadcast at: justin.tv/didziojo

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Julio Jones

When looking over the final numbers that Julio Jones posted in 2011: 54 catches, 959 yards, 17.8 avg, and 8 touchdowns, you would think he was one of the most feared wideouts in the league. Then considering that he missed what combined to be 3.75 games (about 15 quarters), then his production becomes even more astounding. His projected 1253 yards over 16 games would have had him finished 10th in the league in yards not far behind Roddy White (1296 yards), and his 10 touchdowns would have ranked 6th, exceeding that of White and players like Wes Welker, Victor Cruz, Vincent Jackson, Larry Fitzgerald, and Greg Jennings. But as usual, when one examines only the raw numbers it can paint an inaccurate picture. A deeper look at Jones performance in 2011, particularly when you look at each game paints a slightly different picture.

Not to slight Jones and his excellent rookie season, but there were trademark signs of the inconsistency that is common among first-year wideouts that is not easily seen if you just look at the overall numbers. Two prime examples of this was his Week 3 performance against the Bucs and his Week 13 performance against the Panthers. In both games, his final box score numbers looked great with 6 catches for 115 yards against Tampa Bay and 3 catches for 104 yards and 2 touchdowns against Carolina. But in both games, Jones was extremely quiet for the first three quarters of the game.

Against Tampa Bay, he was targeted a grand total of 2 times in the first three quarters, catching the ball once for an 18-yard gain. With the Falcons down 16-3 going into the fourth quarter, Jones was able to turn things on, catching all 5 of his targets for 97 yards including a 49-yard bomb that set up a scoring play to Tony Gonzalez which cut the Bucs lead to 6 points with 10 minutes to go on the game.

Against the Panthers, through the first three quarters Jones had been targeted a total of 6 times, catching the ball only once for 12 yards. That also included 2 dropped passes. Then in the fourth quarter, he caught a pair of touchdowns on his only two targets for a total of 92 yards.

These two games are perfect illustrations of the highs and lows that Julio Jones experienced in 2011. With the highs you get that game-changing big play ability that this offense was sorely lacking in previous seasons. But with the lows, you get next to nothing where he is virtually a non-existent factor in the offense.

Another often overlooked thing was Jones number of drops. While most observers criticized Roddy’s league-leading 15 drops, forgotten is that Jones had 9 of his own. Once you factor in targets (91 for Jones, and 175 for White according to Pro Football Focus.com), you realize that Jones dropped a slightly higher percentage of passes than White did: 9.8% for Jones vs. 8.6% for White.

The key for the Falcons in 2012 is to find ways to minimize those lows while also being able to maintain or maximize the highs. That will be potentially the biggest priority that new offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter will need to accomplish this year. And if the Falcons can get him to a point where opposing defensive coordinators have to fear him the most, then that opens up opportunities for their other weapons.

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The Falcons announced that they have re-signed free agent quarterback Chris Redman. Falcons wideout Harry Douglas tweeted that he will be staying in Atlanta, indicating that he has come to terms with a deal to keep him a Falcon. An official announcement came shortly thereafter. Per Alex Marvez of FOX Sports, Redman signed a one-year deal, and Douglas a four-year deal.

The free agent signing period began today at 4 pm eastern, and the Falcons have to make any moves. Redman joined the Falcons in 2007. He has made 6 starts since then as injury replacements. He played in 5 games this past year, where he completed 18 of 28 passes for 188 yards and an interception.

Douglas was a third round pick by the Falcons in 2008. He missed all of the 2009 season with a torn ACL. He is coming off a season where he set career highs with 39 catches, 498 yards, and 1 touchdown.