Preseason has always been ugly, but it\u2019s gotten uglier over the past decade as teams stop viewing it as an essential part of the league calendar and start treating it as a way to get reserves and roster hopefuls a lot of run. Teams really don\u2019t care about winning, many don\u2019t play their starters at all, and secrecy-obsessed squads rarely use it to try out any wrinkles in their playbooks. It\u2019s generally a slog aside from a handful of heroic efforts from players getting extended run and doing something with it.<\/p>\n
So the Atlanta Falcons<\/a>, viewed through that prism, have a limited number of tasks to accomplish in their preseason opener against the Detroit Lions<\/a>. With Michael Penix and Kirk Cousins sitting<\/a> and many others likely set to join them, the Falcons want to emerge from this week healthy, with a better idea of how position battles are proceeding, and knowing what roster tweaks they want to make, if any. Let\u2019s talk a little more about those three items.<\/p>\n We can debate the merits of preseason reps all we want\u2014I\u2019m much more open to the idea that playing half or full games means something than \u201cthe starters get one drive\u201d\u2014but good health is still priority number one. Last year, the major injuries to DeMarcco Hellams and Bralen Trice impacted the trajectory of the Falcons season, with the team choosing to use significant draft capital and dollars to get Matthew Judon and sign Justin Simmons, both of whom had disappointing seasons by their standards. Particularly for players you intend to rely on, a preseason injury can derail things for a team.<\/p>\n Of course, health is out of the team\u2019s control to some extent, but they\u2019re going to elect to park most of their starters and cross their fingers with key reserves, and I hope that works.<\/p>\n Determine how to churn the bottom of the roster<\/p>\n It sounds a bit cruel, but there are probably anywhere from five-to-fifteen players on this roster today who are going to struggle meaningfully in the first preseason game. If those players were already tabbed to be at the bottom of the 90 man roster, the Falcons will likely cut ties with a small number of those players<\/p>\n For a team with depth questions, it\u2019s very well worth it to churn the bottom of the roster and bring in any players who might interest you, giving them a preseason game or two of runway to prove they belong on your practice squad. Demone Harris in 2023, Abdullah Anderson and MyCole Pruitt in 2022, and Luke Stocker in 2020 are all examples of players who signed after the first wave of training camp practices and\/or the first preseason game and went on to have real roles for Atlanta, something that\u2019s only possible when the team decides it\u2019s had a long enough look at a player or two currently on the roster.<\/p>\n The Falcons won\u2019t make sweeping changes to players 70-to-90 based on a single preseason game, but you shouldn\u2019t be surprised if a young player who struggles exits the picture in favor of another rookie hanging out in free agency or a veteran known to the staff. It\u2019s an unfortunate part of the business, but it\u2019s in service of the Falcons building something a little stronger.<\/p>\n Start settling position battles<\/p>\n It\u2019s not often that one preseason game decides a battle, but separation can begin or accelerate based on a single effort. The Falcons will hope to get some limited clarity on key battles against the Lions.<\/p>\n Take kicker, for example. The Falcons will likely give Younghoe Koo and Lenny Krieg both run after Krieg has shown a strong leg but some inconsistency. If he fares better in game action, perhaps he can keep this battle burning. If not, a healthy Koo begins to sew this one up.<\/p>\n Or take wide receiver, where Drake London, Darnell Mooney, Ray-Ray McCloud, and KhaDarel Hodge are locks and Jamal Agnew and DJ Chark are likely strong bets. There may be one more spot on the roster with Mooney\u2019s injury and two or three practice squad spots, but there are many players vying for that honor. David Sills, Chris Blair, and Nick Nash have been early camp standouts, so they have a real opportunity to shine catching lobs from Easton Stick and Emory Jones and start pushing others further down the depth chart.<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s Stick and Jones, who are both hoping to make the case to be the team\u2019s third quarterback if Kirk Cousins stays in Atlanta and backup to Penix if he\u2019s eventually moved. Neither is guaranteed that spot with a flood of quarterbacks likely to be released at the end of the month, so they need strong performances not only to get a leg up on one another, but to stave off the axe when final cuts roll around.<\/p>\n Those battles will provide the closest thing to intrigue we\u2019re likely to get from preseason, so buckle up to enjoy them, no matter how aimless the actual football is.<\/p>\n