2008 Atlanta Falcons Team Needs

Quarterback: Atlanta has the task of trying to find a replacement for Michael Vick.  Vick is locked up, and he will likely never put on a Falcons jersey again.  Chris Redman and D.J. Shockley are not exactly long term answers.  Consequently, the Falcons will likely select a quarterback early in day one of the draft.

Cornerback: DeAngelo Hall was traded in the off-season, and even with Hall, last season the Falcons’ secondary struggled.  It would be wise from them to look to the draft to find a shut-down corner to make up for the loss of Hall.

Offensive Tackle: Wayne Gandy is 34 years old, and he is coming off of a major knee injury.  The Falcons will likely be using a young quarterback, which means they need to protect his blind side.  Look for the Falcons to address the need at left tackle via the draft.

Linebacker: Keith Brookings is nearing the end of his career, and the Falcons failed to re-sign Demorrio Williams.  Therefore, Atlanta will likely invest multiple picks on linebackers.

Draft Candidates: QB Matt Ryan, Boston College, QB Chad Henne, Michigan, CB Leodis McKelvin, Troy, CB Tracy Porter, Indiana, OT Mike McGlynn, Pittsburgh, OT Sam Baker, USC, LB Marcus Howard, Georgia, LB Phillip Wheeler, Georgia Tech

K Jason Elam, Atlanta Falcons

How Jason Elam will help the Atlanta Falcons: Elam has reached 100 points in each of his 15 seasons in the NFL.  Last season, Elam proved he still has some life left in his leg as he finished the year making 15 consecutive field goals.  He also split the uprights with four game-winning kicks in 2007.

If you throw out the 2000 season where he was unable to play in three games, Elam has made at least 20 field goals every year. Even with the aforementioned partial season in 2000, Elam has only missed four games in his career.

Fantasy Outlook: Bottom line, Elam has made over 80 percent of his field goals and over 99 percent of his extra points in his career, and he can be cemented in for making at least 25 field goals in 2008.

RB Michael Turner, Atlanta Falcons

How Michael Turner will help the Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons released Warrick Dunn, and they now have a much younger backfield with the addition of Michael Turner. Although Turner has never finished a season with more than 80 carries, he has been able to rush for at least 4.5 yards per carry in every year of his career. Turner has also benefited from learning the running back position under the tutelage of LaDainian Tomlinson.

Fantasy Outlook: Turner will be considered the power back and Jerious Norwood the speed back in Atlanta’s new look backfield.  However, Turner has some speed of his own, posting carries of 83, 74, and 73 yards while he was with the San Diego Chargers.  Bottom line, Turner should benefit from being given more touches, which should translate into at least 200 carries and 1000 rushing yards.

Bobby Petrino quit on his team and left the Atlanta Falcons without a head coach before the 2007 season had even finished.  Petrino opted to return to the college ranks after a short stint as a coach in the NFL. 

There appears to be a developing trend occurring where college coaches are jumping into the pro game to improve their resume in an effort to return to the NCAA to land a more lucrative coaching job.  Last season, Nick Saban left the Miami Dolphins for a premium head coaching job in the college game. Now Petrino has followed in Saban’s footsteps and benefited from the brief stay in the NFL.

I think the league needs to put a rule in place where if college coaches are wanting to climb up into the NFL for a head coaching job, they will need to sign a minimum three-year mandatory contract where the only opt out option is if the club decides to terminate the contract.  I understand the view point that if the team can just fire the coach to break the contract, then the coach should have the option to break the contract too.

However, something has to be done, because coaches jumping into the NFL only to bail on their team to go back to the college game is watering down the NFL.  The coaches that are bouncing back to college from the pro game are leaving behind a mess that they made.  These are messes that could take NFL clubs upwards of a decade to fix. 

It is just not right that these rent-a-coaches are leaving pro teams in disarray just so they can use the fact that they coached in the NFL as a recruiting tool at their new jobs.  It is time that the NFL fights back and declare that they are not a developmental league for college coaches, and going forward, they will do anything in their power to keep these type of NCAA coaches where they belong…in the NCAA!

This article came courtesy of www.prosportsbeat.com.