August 26, 2025 • 24 mins
Tori McElhaney & Terrin Waack join Will McFadden to share their first impressions of the Atlanta Falcons’ initial 53-man roster. From which bubble player they’re most excited to see on the team to where the biggest question marks remain, they break down every aspect of the roster to get you ready for week 1.
0:00 - Intro
0:57 - Offensive Line news
5:35 - Vibe shift award
10:00 - Bubble players
14:10 - Surprise cut
18:20 - Biggest question marks
23:26 - Outro
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dirty Birds. What's up and welcome back. I'm your host
Will mcfadd and I am joined by Tory mclaney and
Tarren Walk and we are here to discuss the Falcons
initial roster, which dropped on Tuesday afternoon. The NFL teams
had to cut their rosters down to fifty three men
by Tuesday at four pm, the Falcons got down to
fifty two. We're not going to go through the whole
(00:21):
thing as it stands right now. If you'd like to
see the whole thing before listening to this podcast, just
press pause for one quick second and dash on over
to Atlanta Falcons dot com, where we have the full
fifty three men roster for you and excellent coverage from
all of training camp that you can check out while
you're there. But really quickly, we will go through just
some of our biggest surprises, some of the players were
(00:43):
glad that made it, some of the position groups we
feel that have changed the most, and then tomorrow the
practice squad will be announced, So we're not going to
really touch on any of the practic squad stuff because
we don't know it at this point in time. But
before we get into the roster, there's a little bit
of offensive line news that happened on Tuesday that we're
going to start off with, so Taren kicking it on
over to you.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
At the same time, the fifty three or fifty two
man in this case, roster was announced. Caleb McGary, the
Falcons starting right tackle, was placed on injured reserve without
the designation to return, so that means he is out
for this season. He injured his left leg in the
Falcon's final practice of training camp last Wednesday, and then
(01:24):
on Friday, after the Falcons preseason lost to the Cowboys,
Falcons head coach Rahim Morris said McGary will miss significant
time and we now know how significant, and it is
very significant. And then on top of that news, on
what day is today, Tuesday, a report surfaced that the
(01:46):
Falcons are making a trade with the Seattle Seahawks for
offensive lineman Michael Jerrold, Michael Jarrell and.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Jerald Or Jarrell ask we're going to find out, We're
going to report back.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Report back once it becomes an official trade.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
So those are the two newsy bits when it comes
to the offensive line, along with something we'll get into later,
but I'll leave that for later.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Yeah, Tori I was watching a little bit of film
on the Seattle offensive lineman, just preparing. But I think
we can probably table that for a later time and
we'll kind of see what he brings to this team.
Right now, let's talk a little bit more about Kayla McGary.
We know that he's done for the year. That was
kind of the missing piece in all of this. We
knew he was injured, we just didn't know what the
severity was going to be. Now that we do, you
(02:33):
said last time you were concerned.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Yeah, I still am.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
I still am concerned, And I think that this is
one of those things where we're recording this at like
five o'clock on Tuesday. It wouldn't surprise me at all
by five o'clock on Wednesday that the Falcons have made
a move, have turned over a new leaf at right tackle,
whether it be. I think the reported trade of Michael
(02:58):
Jerrell is is more along the lines of like reinforcing
depth at the position than I do. I don't believe
this is somebody who's going to come in and be
a starter. I think this is someone who's going to
come in and compete for like a swing.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
Tackle role on this roster.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I do not think that the Falcons are done looking
at what's available at the tackle position. There are a
lot of offensive tackles that have starting experience on other
rosters that actually fell off of other fifty three man
rosters that I think could come in and, if anything,
(03:37):
compete for a starting spot. And so I think, even
though yes, we can right now in this moment at
five to ten pm on Tuesday, say okay, Elijah Wilkinson,
I'm sliding him in. If I'm looking at a depth
chart right now with the initial fifty two man roster
that we have available to us.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
It's like, Okay, it's Elijah Wilkinson.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
I don't know if that's who we're going to be
penciling in twenty four hours from now. I don't know
if that's going to be who we're penciling in for
Week one. Like I think, this is a very fluid situation,
and the fact that the only thing that's not fluid
now is we do know Kayler McGary will be out
for the entire season. So you've got to figure out
that right tackle spot and the ramifications of it also
(04:17):
across the line and what happens with the whole group
as a whole because as we know, running the ball
down the right side behind Cayleb McGarry and Chris Lynstrim
is something that the Falcons found uper success doing last season.
How that changes and how that affects potentially even Zach
Robinson play calling will be something to monitor.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
It sure brought a smile to my face every time
I saw it on Sunday, seeing those two guys leading
the way for jean Or Tyler. I'm just gonna miss it.
I'm gonna miss it, but I hope everybody heard what
you said. It's gonna be a fluid situation. That's fully
what I would expect because they're doing their due diligence
as they always do, but this time there's a real
mission I think involved in scouring all of the cutlasts
to figure out who is available, can they help our team,
(04:56):
and can they do so quickly? Because I was looking
at at Kin of Lancer Line for NFL dot Com
does a lot of the draft profile, so I again
just wanted to get a real quick idea on the
reported signing of Michael Durrell, and this little bullet point
stood out to me. Trades could lead to rapid growth
with pro coaching and development. Now he's been in the
league for one year. I did see a little bit
of growth. But Dwayne Ledford, the offensive line coach here,
(05:18):
is very highly thought of within the building and around
the league, and so I'm curious to see what he
could do. But I agree, I think that's going to
be a depth move ultimately, so fluid situation. As you said,
keep an eye on that. But now we are going
to go ahead and transition to talk about some of
the cuts that were made, some of the position groups
that were left. But we're going to start with our
(05:39):
Vibe Shift Award, and this is the position group that
is the most different from last year. I think it's
very clear that the Edge group, based on the draft
picks and the rookies coming in and just really again
the demeanor of the group itself. We saw kind of
the tenacity that they played with starting a couple of fights,
a little bit of that. So I think Edge is
(06:01):
very clearly the answer for a lot of people here.
We don't need to spend much more time on that.
But Tarin, I'm really curious who who did you have?
What position group do you think had the biggest five shows?
Speaker 2 (06:10):
See I think I went with the most obvious quarterback.
You have a completely different starting quarterback this year. I
mean the same quarterbacks are in the room, right.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
I was about to say, it's like.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
So it's a change though in the h I mean.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Different.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
So last year, obviously Kirk Cousins was the starting quarterback
and Michael Penix Junior was his backup one eight I think.
But now Michael PENNOCKX Junior is the starter and Kirk
Cousins is the backup.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Oh yeah, not said it's different. It's just one too different.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Always get the one eighty three sixty thing wrong. So
I'm kind of glad to see you do that because
I always am like, oh yeah, it was a full
three sixty and they're like, so we just kept on
going right in the same direction.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Will yeah, slide.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Tory, what was what was the vibe shift for you?
Speaker 3 (07:01):
So the vibe shift for me was the defensive line,
interior defensive line to go along with the same vibes
of the EDG dresser group. I think that this is
a young group outside of David on Yamada, I mean,
for how long? For ten years, an entire decade, Grady
Jarrett has been the core of the interior defensive line
for the Atlanta Falcons. He is no longer on a
(07:22):
fifty three man roster here in Atlanta, and it does
feel like there is this ushering end of the next guard,
the new guard, and that includes Rucuroro, it includes Zach
Harrison and Brandon Dorless, and yes, david On Yamada is
still here and Lakal London I know we're going to
talk about him later making the fifty three man roster.
I think that for the scope of how much different
(07:45):
it could look, that group and along with the Edgresher,
the entire defensive line could look and feel very different
Week one. I already feel like through the first three
preseason games it did look and feel different, the way
that they were playing, how they were rotating, all of
those things, the.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Bodies that they have, the youth that they have.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
I think all manifests in this entire defensive front feeling different.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
So you brought up Grady Jarrett no longer being here, which, like, honestly,
that's it's crazy to think about that. Who among this
group and there there's probably not an answer in year
one because it took Grady a decade to ingratiate himself
the way that he did. But who do you think
has the best chance to kind of end the year
with that Grady type of fan favorite label amongst this
(08:32):
group of maybe into your defensive linemen.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
I do think it's Ruke. I think it's Ruke.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
I think he is the one that you drafted to
come in here with kind of the understanding that, hey,
Grady jareded is not going to be around this roster forever,
whether it happened the way it happened or if he
retired here in Atlanta. You know, like there was always
going he was in the twilight years of his career.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
You got to pass the towrch somehow.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
You have to figure out a secession plan. And I
think one what we've seen from Ruke really take ownership
of like not trying to be Grady Jarrett because he
can't be Grady Jarrett, but understanding that his time is
now and his time has come. I think him and
you know, the kind of pairing of Brandon Dorlys. I
think Brandon Dorlys had a great camp. Ye I think
(09:14):
he had one of the best camps of you know,
anybody on.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
This roster professional camper that man right there.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Yes, and so I think, like, but to me, it's Ruke.
The investment you made into Ruke and also understanding I
also think like just from a fan's perspective, the personality
of Ruke, and you know he's a Clemson grad, Like,
this is a guy who I mean, he's been on
this podcast. He has an infectious personality. He is really
fun to interview. I think in terms of who the
(09:41):
fan base could gravitate towards if they really get going,
it's in that group.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
It's Ruke.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Ruke would take it as an honor too. I remember
when he got drafted, he was so looking forward to
learning from Grady Jarrett that if he could be in
some way, shape or form Grady Jarrett two point zero,
that boy will always have a smile on his face.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Let's pivot to our next topic. Who's the bubble guy
Taren that you are really excited to see on this roster?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
This player brought a smile to my face seeing him
on the initial fifty two man roster. And that is
offensive lineman Jack Nelson, partially because I was in Madison
two weeks ago and went to the bar that he
got drafted in so there's a tie there, But I
just think you see how Dwayne Ludford has built his
(10:29):
offensive linement from like the ground up essentially, and how
many offensive linemen in the Falcon system who were drafted
here and built from the ground up and had such
long careers that I would love for a young guy
like Jack Nelson to learn from these veterans like Jake Matthews,
like Chris Lindstrom and even Ryan Noodle who had a
completely different career path than the other two, and just
(10:50):
absorb that and maybe be a really good future depth
or starting option down the line.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Yeah, it's a great pick, and I think you know
a lot of people were myself and included kind of
tough on Jack Nelson during training camp in the preseason,
But like Raheema said him many times, he got so
many reps this preseason and he got on both sides,
and switching sides like that is not easy for a
young player, for a veteran even and so I do
think it is. I'm really curious to see how his
(11:17):
development throughout the year progresses. Tory, what about you?
Speaker 3 (11:21):
So my player, my bubble player, which I think you
could probably argue if he was a bubble player or not,
but was d'angelum alone. I thoroughly appreciated how much he
was kind of doing whatever he needed to do to
make this roster, adding value wherever he could to make
this roster. And I always think that that stuff should
be rewarded, like doing the dirty work on special teams,
(11:45):
playing multiple positions, doing anything and everything that is asked
of you, and honestly doing it pretty well. I thought
he had some moments where he flashed in some preseason games,
even understanding that particularly inside linebacker was a position that
was very new to him. I really liked that the
if you're talking about just like fifty three man decisions
(12:07):
and initial rostered decisions, someone who did everything that was
asked of them and earned a spot on the fifty
three man or on the initial roster, that to me
matters to also other people that are kind of watching
what decisions are made, either in Atlanta or if you're
on a practice squad or anything like that like that,
(12:30):
if you do the right things and if you do
what you're asked, that there is something good for you
at the end of it.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
You just want to build on the Barnyard Bully I
do well I love I love that tagline.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
I love that Rahane called him the Barnyard Bullity of
special teams, I.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
Really do well.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
And he built on special team right, Like he came
in with that floor of special team starter and then
he built on top of it. And they we saw
light like late last year, some of the skills that
they felt they could use that Raiders game kind of
stands out and coming off the edge, but maybe even
being some of that backup for Kayden, knowing the pass
rush skills that he brings if you want to move
into the A gap, I think it works too. Sitting
(13:04):
on the defense side of the ball with Kale London,
a player's been here for the past few years and
kind of shines every time he's in there, and I
just love to watch him. He made maybe my favorite
play of the preseason, which was in Dallas, like and
I watched him. I don't know why he caught my eye,
but I just saw him from the sideline running in
late to the game because he just, I guess wasn't
in there. The ball is snapped as he's like he's
(13:27):
still running and they just kind of run up the
middle and he just runs right into the ball carrier
and makes the tackle for like a one yard game.
It was amazing.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
It was the funniest player of the preseason.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
It was like, so the best play of the preseason
and honestly, like, maybe you should try that more often.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Think he ran his way into the roster.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
I mean that play, yeah, Rahiem is just like going
back and forth, like, guys, this is what.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
You need to do in order to do He was like,
that's all hustle right there. That's what we need to
show in clips on the next.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
Day, hertman fist all on one play.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Maybe not mind part, but the heart.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
I think the mind. Like maybe he was the one
that was like, oh I need to get out there.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
It's true. Maybe somebody else was and he was like,
doth love it? All? Right? Let's get to the most
surprising cut was tern Who is your most surprising cut?
Speaker 4 (14:16):
That threw me for a loop because I'm last on
the list.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
We go on the fly here, we like to shake
things up.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
I went with Contavious Street mainly because I was just
so shocked by the fact the Falcons kept what five
defensive linemen I predicted eight, which was afty. But I
just know when we were out there during training camp
and Nate Aulie and Jeff Ulbrick are rotating guys along
the line in out and out. Nate Ollie said, four
plays apiece, you're divving up four plays among five guys.
(14:43):
The math doesn't math the like the laptop says. The
math is not mathing, And that really surprised me. And
so Contavious Street was probably the biggest name I noticed
from the guys who didn't end up making the cut.
Morgan Fox initially surprised me from the cuts made last Saturday.
So yeah, it's just a much thinner group than I expected.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
You also have to take in consideration that to Kwan
Graham is one of the players that got put on
IR with the designation two returns, so that also I
think limits the scope of how many you were carrying.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
Yeah, what about you, toy Eastern Stick.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
I was very, very surprised when the reports came out
pretty early in the day that the Falcons were releasing
Eastern Stick, because I thought that he had absolutely done
enough to make the fifty three man roster. And I
have also been very adamant that, like if Kirk Cousins
is a tradable asset for you, you need to have
(15:40):
someone in.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
Ready to go at the drop of a hat.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
This to me, the fact that the Falcons were willing
to send him to Waivers. I think he'll be back
if he clears Waivers. I do think that this is
somebody who you pencil in on the practice squad, absolutely,
But the fact that they are willing to take that chance,
to me, signifies that everything that Raheem Morris, Terry Fonna,
all the leaders in this Falcon organization have said is true.
(16:06):
That the Falcons are comfortable moving forward with Kirk Cousins
as the backup. This right here, to me indicates that
they were willing to take a chance on East and
Stick being picked up by another team somewhere else via waivers,
and they were like, we're fine, We're cool going forward
with Michael Pennix and Kirk Cousins. Like, to me, I
think people need to And it's so funny because this
(16:27):
is what the Falcons have been saying since freaking.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
January finally accepted.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
But I do think that people maybe need to get
it through their head that Kirk Cousins is going to
be on this roster for a ample amount of time
and probably we're going to be in January twenty twenty six,
February twenty twenty six, and he is on this roster.
So that's that's you know, I'm just speculating here, but
that was the indicator to me. That was a big,
(16:55):
a big shock and a big kind of for me
and understanding of where the organism finds itself.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Yeah. I do think if you look at with the
two guys in the quarterback room right now, like the
average skill of Michael Pennock Junior and Kirk Cousins, they've
got to have the best quarterback room in the NFL,
right Like if we're doing Madden grades and then it's
like the overall grade for your quarterback position. I can't
imagine another another group has kind of like do you
guys like that? So they must have felt really good
(17:22):
about going into the season obviously they said with those
two and then yeah, we'll see what happens with Easton.
Another veteran though, who was released and signed this offseason
that I was surprised to see was Jordan Fuller. We
know that they drafted Xavier Watts to come in here
and ultimately, you know, be that starter next to Jesse Bates.
I just didn't know it would lead to Jordan Fuller
(17:44):
not being on the fifty three man roster, and I
think that's a credit to Xavier certainly. I think it's
a credit to DeMarco Hellums. And we'll see if Jordan
Fuller is a player to come back as well. He's
obviously got that experience with Raheem and he was out
there a lot. So I'm that one left me scratch
my head a little bit. But I think when you
look at at some of the injuries that have taken
place and you maybe have to make a hard decision
(18:06):
somewhere else, maybe you felt like, all right, safety is
a very solid room as well. We like all four
of those guys, maybe we like three, you know, so
that that was definitely shocking to me. We're gonna wrap
up here with our biggest question mark. I'd save in
mind for the end because I think it'll be a
good little button cap for this, said Taren, We'll start.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
With yours again out of order. It's okay.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
I went with Darnell Mooney just because putting him on
the fifty three slash fifty two initial roster shows that
maybe he is further along in his recovery from the
shoulder injury that we then we thought because I know
it was very up in the air for a while there.
Raheem Morris originally said a few weeks and a few
(18:52):
weeks past and there still wasn't an answer, and people
were definitely marking their calendars week by week to what's
a few and the fact that he's not falling into
any of these other designations. Granted, we don't know what's
gonna happen in the upcoming days. I will say that's
my biggest question. Is he ready to go week one?
Speaker 4 (19:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yeah, it'll be a huge question. And they would love
to have him week one against Tampa Bay, right, that
could be a shootout, two offenses. We expect a lot
of fireworks from So you'd love to have Darnell Mooney,
what about you, Toy.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
It's all about where the practice squad ultimately shakes out.
This is a group that I think you can pencil
in a lot of names. We talked about Easton Stick,
we talked about Jordan full or Contavious Street already, but
Nick Nash, Chris Blair, I think that there are a
good number of individuals that are that were either waved
or released today that we absolutely should pencil in to
(19:44):
see again. And I will note that don't kind of
count out Lenny Kreg either. This the Falcons international player.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
He would you would be able to.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Carry him as a seventeenth person on the practice squad.
So yeah, you have sixteen spots, but also pen slin
leaning Krieg if he clears waivers. So that to me
is the biggest question that remains. We'll have that answer
probably around noon on Wednesday, which will be really really great.
And honestly, I was even looking back and the way
the Falcons do, they're like practice squad elevations and designations.
(20:16):
There's a very very good possibility that we will see
a lot of these practice squad guys on the active
game day roster. With elevations the Falcons have and honestly
playing too like they utilize those. It's not like they
just bring those guys up for depth. They actually utilize
them a lot on special teams. So for that reason,
it's like who ultimately lands on that sixteen, But I
(20:38):
think it is going to be a lot of the
names that you see on the waves released list of
who got cut today.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Absolutely that's a great point. They do utilize that practice squad.
It's very valuable now in the NFL. So yeah, that's
a great point to bring up. I'm gonna end it
with what we begin with. The offensive line. You know
that is easily to me the biggest question mark going in,
but specifically who is going to start at right tackle?
So I kind of want to wrap up our discussion
a little bit by just making one kind of proclamation,
(21:08):
who do we think is going to start Week one
at right tackle? I think the options right now are
Elijah Wilkinson, Jack Nelson, the reported signing of Michael Jarrell,
and then a player to TBD. You know, as you said,
maybe there's another move to be made. So if you
had to kind of bank on one of those right now,
maybe I'll go first. Elijah Wilkinson would be my pick
(21:28):
at this moment, Toy.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Can I pick someone who's not on the roster, Yeah,
that's player TVD, Yeah, player TBD. I think that to
play Devil's advocate advocate. I also think that it wouldn't
surprise me if week one Elijah Wilkinson is the guy.
Week two, and then maybe even after the bye week
you change something up a little bit also depending on
how Storm Norton is progressing. If you feel like you
(21:51):
can get through maybe the bye week and have Elijah Wilkinson,
you know, handle himself at the position and wait out
Storm Norton, you don't have to go out and get somebody,
and you feel okay with what you have.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
I can see that.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
But I'm also sitting here looking at some of like
what I said earlier, some of the offensive tackles that
fell off of other rosters like the Texans and the
Jets that had a lot of tackle depth. I'm absolutely
kind of seeing who I could get in here to
potentially move the needle, who has that starting experience.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
At that position, Toy's and those other rosters I am.
I'm literally she's greedy. She's like, she's looking out there,
She's give me a yeah, what about you?
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Terren?
Speaker 4 (22:29):
I agree with Tory.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
So with that being said, I'm going to use my
little segment here to circle all the way back when
I said we'll talk about this later, because we haven't
addressed it technically yet. That Storm Norton didn't make the
initial roster because he was placed on reserve slash injured
with the designation to return so that means he can
come back this season unlike Caleb McGary. But at some
(22:53):
point he has to miss four games. I mean at
right off the bat, not at some point right away,
at least four games. And you did have that report
last week that came out that he is expected to
miss six to eight so that timeline is another question mark.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
But according to our report, had the surgery six eight
week timeline, missed four four weeks automatically going on the
IR designate to return. So maybe post by week right
if the best case scenario, you're maybe looking at week six.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Right, five by has never looked so good.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
It is not for right now, So that is going
to do it for our initial roster discussion. Fifty two
man roster. We'll see you know when that fifty third
guy manages to uh to come on in here. But
I'm ready there you go, Tarin. We've seen your what
is it your cornerback? What are you line? You're a linebacker? Okay,
I feel like your position every time we every time
(23:46):
we try to get you out there on the field,
it's like kick returner, and then it's corner and then
you're the edge rusher. So I'm just trying to pin
down exactly the long field burst, exactly where you are.
But that that's that's your secret sauce. You already been down.
You know it's wiley out there. Savvy Vett is all right. Well,
we will be back with you guys next Friday, before
(24:08):
Week one with a brand new show that is going
to be new to this Atlanta Falcons podcast network that
we are very excited to roll out for you all.
But until then, take a deep breath, go touch some grass,
go walk around out in the sunshine. It's it's been
a long cave. It's been a long offseason. The season
is right around the corner. But until then, everybody for
(24:28):
Terron Walk, for Terren Walk and Tory mcaleney. I am
Will McFadden. We'll see you next time.
Dirty Birds. What's up and welcome back. I'm your host
Will mcfadd and I am joined by Tory mclaney and
Tarren Walk and we are here to discuss the Falcons
initial roster, which dropped on Tuesday afternoon. The NFL teams
had to cut their rosters down to fifty three men
by Tuesday at four pm, the Falcons got down to
fifty two. We're not going to go through the whole
(00:21):
thing as it stands right now. If you'd like to
see the whole thing before listening to this podcast, just
press pause for one quick second and dash on over
to Atlanta Falcons dot com, where we have the full
fifty three men roster for you and excellent coverage from
all of training camp that you can check out while
you're there. But really quickly, we will go through just
some of our biggest surprises, some of the players were
(00:43):
glad that made it, some of the position groups we
feel that have changed the most, and then tomorrow the
practice squad will be announced, So we're not going to
really touch on any of the practic squad stuff because
we don't know it at this point in time. But
before we get into the roster, there's a little bit
of offensive line news that happened on Tuesday that we're
going to start off with, so Taren kicking it on
over to you.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
At the same time, the fifty three or fifty two
man in this case, roster was announced. Caleb McGary, the
Falcons starting right tackle, was placed on injured reserve without
the designation to return, so that means he is out
for this season. He injured his left leg in the
Falcon's final practice of training camp last Wednesday, and then
(01:24):
on Friday, after the Falcons preseason lost to the Cowboys,
Falcons head coach Rahim Morris said McGary will miss significant
time and we now know how significant, and it is
very significant. And then on top of that news, on
what day is today, Tuesday, a report surfaced that the
(01:46):
Falcons are making a trade with the Seattle Seahawks for
offensive lineman Michael Jerrold, Michael Jarrell and.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Jerald Or Jarrell ask we're going to find out, We're
going to report back.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Report back once it becomes an official trade.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
So those are the two newsy bits when it comes
to the offensive line, along with something we'll get into later,
but I'll leave that for later.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Yeah, Tori I was watching a little bit of film
on the Seattle offensive lineman, just preparing. But I think
we can probably table that for a later time and
we'll kind of see what he brings to this team.
Right now, let's talk a little bit more about Kayla McGary.
We know that he's done for the year. That was
kind of the missing piece in all of this. We
knew he was injured, we just didn't know what the
severity was going to be. Now that we do, you
(02:33):
said last time you were concerned.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Yeah, I still am.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
I still am concerned, And I think that this is
one of those things where we're recording this at like
five o'clock on Tuesday. It wouldn't surprise me at all
by five o'clock on Wednesday that the Falcons have made
a move, have turned over a new leaf at right tackle,
whether it be. I think the reported trade of Michael
(02:58):
Jerrell is is more along the lines of like reinforcing
depth at the position than I do. I don't believe
this is somebody who's going to come in and be
a starter. I think this is someone who's going to
come in and compete for like a swing.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
Tackle role on this roster.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I do not think that the Falcons are done looking
at what's available at the tackle position. There are a
lot of offensive tackles that have starting experience on other
rosters that actually fell off of other fifty three man
rosters that I think could come in and, if anything,
(03:37):
compete for a starting spot. And so I think, even
though yes, we can right now in this moment at
five to ten pm on Tuesday, say okay, Elijah Wilkinson,
I'm sliding him in. If I'm looking at a depth
chart right now with the initial fifty two man roster
that we have available to us.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
It's like, Okay, it's Elijah Wilkinson.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
I don't know if that's who we're going to be
penciling in twenty four hours from now. I don't know
if that's going to be who we're penciling in for
Week one. Like I think, this is a very fluid situation,
and the fact that the only thing that's not fluid
now is we do know Kayler McGary will be out
for the entire season. So you've got to figure out
that right tackle spot and the ramifications of it also
(04:17):
across the line and what happens with the whole group
as a whole because as we know, running the ball
down the right side behind Cayleb McGarry and Chris Lynstrim
is something that the Falcons found uper success doing last season.
How that changes and how that affects potentially even Zach
Robinson play calling will be something to monitor.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
It sure brought a smile to my face every time
I saw it on Sunday, seeing those two guys leading
the way for jean Or Tyler. I'm just gonna miss it.
I'm gonna miss it, but I hope everybody heard what
you said. It's gonna be a fluid situation. That's fully
what I would expect because they're doing their due diligence
as they always do, but this time there's a real
mission I think involved in scouring all of the cutlasts
to figure out who is available, can they help our team,
(04:56):
and can they do so quickly? Because I was looking
at at Kin of Lancer Line for NFL dot Com
does a lot of the draft profile, so I again
just wanted to get a real quick idea on the
reported signing of Michael Durrell, and this little bullet point
stood out to me. Trades could lead to rapid growth
with pro coaching and development. Now he's been in the
league for one year. I did see a little bit
of growth. But Dwayne Ledford, the offensive line coach here,
(05:18):
is very highly thought of within the building and around
the league, and so I'm curious to see what he
could do. But I agree, I think that's going to
be a depth move ultimately, so fluid situation. As you said,
keep an eye on that. But now we are going
to go ahead and transition to talk about some of
the cuts that were made, some of the position groups
that were left. But we're going to start with our
(05:39):
Vibe Shift Award, and this is the position group that
is the most different from last year. I think it's
very clear that the Edge group, based on the draft
picks and the rookies coming in and just really again
the demeanor of the group itself. We saw kind of
the tenacity that they played with starting a couple of fights,
a little bit of that. So I think Edge is
(06:01):
very clearly the answer for a lot of people here.
We don't need to spend much more time on that.
But Tarin, I'm really curious who who did you have?
What position group do you think had the biggest five shows?
Speaker 2 (06:10):
See I think I went with the most obvious quarterback.
You have a completely different starting quarterback this year. I
mean the same quarterbacks are in the room, right.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
I was about to say, it's like.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
So it's a change though in the h I mean.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Different.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
So last year, obviously Kirk Cousins was the starting quarterback
and Michael Penix Junior was his backup one eight I think.
But now Michael PENNOCKX Junior is the starter and Kirk
Cousins is the backup.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Oh yeah, not said it's different. It's just one too different.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Always get the one eighty three sixty thing wrong. So
I'm kind of glad to see you do that because
I always am like, oh yeah, it was a full
three sixty and they're like, so we just kept on
going right in the same direction.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Will yeah, slide.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Tory, what was what was the vibe shift for you?
Speaker 3 (07:01):
So the vibe shift for me was the defensive line,
interior defensive line to go along with the same vibes
of the EDG dresser group. I think that this is
a young group outside of David on Yamada, I mean,
for how long? For ten years, an entire decade, Grady
Jarrett has been the core of the interior defensive line
for the Atlanta Falcons. He is no longer on a
(07:22):
fifty three man roster here in Atlanta, and it does
feel like there is this ushering end of the next guard,
the new guard, and that includes Rucuroro, it includes Zach
Harrison and Brandon Dorless, and yes, david On Yamada is
still here and Lakal London I know we're going to
talk about him later making the fifty three man roster.
I think that for the scope of how much different
(07:45):
it could look, that group and along with the Edgresher,
the entire defensive line could look and feel very different
Week one. I already feel like through the first three
preseason games it did look and feel different, the way
that they were playing, how they were rotating, all of
those things, the.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Bodies that they have, the youth that they have.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
I think all manifests in this entire defensive front feeling different.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
So you brought up Grady Jarrett no longer being here, which, like, honestly,
that's it's crazy to think about that. Who among this
group and there there's probably not an answer in year
one because it took Grady a decade to ingratiate himself
the way that he did. But who do you think
has the best chance to kind of end the year
with that Grady type of fan favorite label amongst this
(08:32):
group of maybe into your defensive linemen.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
I do think it's Ruke. I think it's Ruke.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
I think he is the one that you drafted to
come in here with kind of the understanding that, hey,
Grady jareded is not going to be around this roster forever,
whether it happened the way it happened or if he
retired here in Atlanta. You know, like there was always
going he was in the twilight years of his career.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
You got to pass the towrch somehow.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
You have to figure out a secession plan. And I
think one what we've seen from Ruke really take ownership
of like not trying to be Grady Jarrett because he
can't be Grady Jarrett, but understanding that his time is
now and his time has come. I think him and
you know, the kind of pairing of Brandon Dorlys. I
think Brandon Dorlys had a great camp. Ye I think
(09:14):
he had one of the best camps of you know,
anybody on.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
This roster professional camper that man right there.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Yes, and so I think, like, but to me, it's Ruke.
The investment you made into Ruke and also understanding I
also think like just from a fan's perspective, the personality
of Ruke, and you know he's a Clemson grad, Like,
this is a guy who I mean, he's been on
this podcast. He has an infectious personality. He is really
fun to interview. I think in terms of who the
(09:41):
fan base could gravitate towards if they really get going,
it's in that group.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
It's Ruke.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Ruke would take it as an honor too. I remember
when he got drafted, he was so looking forward to
learning from Grady Jarrett that if he could be in
some way, shape or form Grady Jarrett two point zero,
that boy will always have a smile on his face.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Let's pivot to our next topic. Who's the bubble guy
Taren that you are really excited to see on this roster?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
This player brought a smile to my face seeing him
on the initial fifty two man roster. And that is
offensive lineman Jack Nelson, partially because I was in Madison
two weeks ago and went to the bar that he
got drafted in so there's a tie there, But I
just think you see how Dwayne Ludford has built his
(10:29):
offensive linement from like the ground up essentially, and how
many offensive linemen in the Falcon system who were drafted
here and built from the ground up and had such
long careers that I would love for a young guy
like Jack Nelson to learn from these veterans like Jake Matthews,
like Chris Lindstrom and even Ryan Noodle who had a
completely different career path than the other two, and just
(10:50):
absorb that and maybe be a really good future depth
or starting option down the line.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Yeah, it's a great pick, and I think you know
a lot of people were myself and included kind of
tough on Jack Nelson during training camp in the preseason,
But like Raheema said him many times, he got so
many reps this preseason and he got on both sides,
and switching sides like that is not easy for a
young player, for a veteran even and so I do
think it is. I'm really curious to see how his
(11:17):
development throughout the year progresses. Tory, what about you?
Speaker 3 (11:21):
So my player, my bubble player, which I think you
could probably argue if he was a bubble player or not,
but was d'angelum alone. I thoroughly appreciated how much he
was kind of doing whatever he needed to do to
make this roster, adding value wherever he could to make
this roster. And I always think that that stuff should
be rewarded, like doing the dirty work on special teams,
(11:45):
playing multiple positions, doing anything and everything that is asked
of you, and honestly doing it pretty well. I thought
he had some moments where he flashed in some preseason games,
even understanding that particularly inside linebacker was a position that
was very new to him. I really liked that the
if you're talking about just like fifty three man decisions
(12:07):
and initial rostered decisions, someone who did everything that was
asked of them and earned a spot on the fifty
three man or on the initial roster, that to me
matters to also other people that are kind of watching
what decisions are made, either in Atlanta or if you're
on a practice squad or anything like that like that,
(12:30):
if you do the right things and if you do
what you're asked, that there is something good for you
at the end of it.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
You just want to build on the Barnyard Bully I
do well I love I love that tagline.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
I love that Rahane called him the Barnyard Bullity of
special teams, I.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
Really do well.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
And he built on special team right, Like he came
in with that floor of special team starter and then
he built on top of it. And they we saw
light like late last year, some of the skills that
they felt they could use that Raiders game kind of
stands out and coming off the edge, but maybe even
being some of that backup for Kayden, knowing the pass
rush skills that he brings if you want to move
into the A gap, I think it works too. Sitting
(13:04):
on the defense side of the ball with Kale London,
a player's been here for the past few years and
kind of shines every time he's in there, and I
just love to watch him. He made maybe my favorite
play of the preseason, which was in Dallas, like and
I watched him. I don't know why he caught my eye,
but I just saw him from the sideline running in
late to the game because he just, I guess wasn't
in there. The ball is snapped as he's like he's
(13:27):
still running and they just kind of run up the
middle and he just runs right into the ball carrier
and makes the tackle for like a one yard game.
It was amazing.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
It was the funniest player of the preseason.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
It was like, so the best play of the preseason
and honestly, like, maybe you should try that more often.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Think he ran his way into the roster.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
I mean that play, yeah, Rahiem is just like going
back and forth, like, guys, this is what.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
You need to do in order to do He was like,
that's all hustle right there. That's what we need to
show in clips on the next.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
Day, hertman fist all on one play.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Maybe not mind part, but the heart.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
I think the mind. Like maybe he was the one
that was like, oh I need to get out there.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
It's true. Maybe somebody else was and he was like,
doth love it? All? Right? Let's get to the most
surprising cut was tern Who is your most surprising cut?
Speaker 4 (14:16):
That threw me for a loop because I'm last on
the list.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
We go on the fly here, we like to shake
things up.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
I went with Contavious Street mainly because I was just
so shocked by the fact the Falcons kept what five
defensive linemen I predicted eight, which was afty. But I
just know when we were out there during training camp
and Nate Aulie and Jeff Ulbrick are rotating guys along
the line in out and out. Nate Ollie said, four
plays apiece, you're divving up four plays among five guys.
(14:43):
The math doesn't math the like the laptop says. The
math is not mathing, And that really surprised me. And
so Contavious Street was probably the biggest name I noticed
from the guys who didn't end up making the cut.
Morgan Fox initially surprised me from the cuts made last Saturday.
So yeah, it's just a much thinner group than I expected.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
You also have to take in consideration that to Kwan
Graham is one of the players that got put on
IR with the designation two returns, so that also I
think limits the scope of how many you were carrying.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
Yeah, what about you, toy Eastern Stick.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
I was very, very surprised when the reports came out
pretty early in the day that the Falcons were releasing
Eastern Stick, because I thought that he had absolutely done
enough to make the fifty three man roster. And I
have also been very adamant that, like if Kirk Cousins
is a tradable asset for you, you need to have
(15:40):
someone in.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
Ready to go at the drop of a hat.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
This to me, the fact that the Falcons were willing
to send him to Waivers. I think he'll be back
if he clears Waivers. I do think that this is
somebody who you pencil in on the practice squad, absolutely,
But the fact that they are willing to take that chance,
to me, signifies that everything that Raheem Morris, Terry Fonna,
all the leaders in this Falcon organization have said is true.
(16:06):
That the Falcons are comfortable moving forward with Kirk Cousins
as the backup. This right here, to me indicates that
they were willing to take a chance on East and
Stick being picked up by another team somewhere else via waivers,
and they were like, we're fine, We're cool going forward
with Michael Pennix and Kirk Cousins. Like, to me, I
think people need to And it's so funny because this
(16:27):
is what the Falcons have been saying since freaking.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
January finally accepted.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
But I do think that people maybe need to get
it through their head that Kirk Cousins is going to
be on this roster for a ample amount of time
and probably we're going to be in January twenty twenty six,
February twenty twenty six, and he is on this roster.
So that's that's you know, I'm just speculating here, but
that was the indicator to me. That was a big,
(16:55):
a big shock and a big kind of for me
and understanding of where the organism finds itself.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Yeah. I do think if you look at with the
two guys in the quarterback room right now, like the
average skill of Michael Pennock Junior and Kirk Cousins, they've
got to have the best quarterback room in the NFL,
right Like if we're doing Madden grades and then it's
like the overall grade for your quarterback position. I can't
imagine another another group has kind of like do you
guys like that? So they must have felt really good
(17:22):
about going into the season obviously they said with those
two and then yeah, we'll see what happens with Easton.
Another veteran though, who was released and signed this offseason
that I was surprised to see was Jordan Fuller. We
know that they drafted Xavier Watts to come in here
and ultimately, you know, be that starter next to Jesse Bates.
I just didn't know it would lead to Jordan Fuller
(17:44):
not being on the fifty three man roster, and I
think that's a credit to Xavier certainly. I think it's
a credit to DeMarco Hellums. And we'll see if Jordan
Fuller is a player to come back as well. He's
obviously got that experience with Raheem and he was out
there a lot. So I'm that one left me scratch
my head a little bit. But I think when you
look at at some of the injuries that have taken
place and you maybe have to make a hard decision
(18:06):
somewhere else, maybe you felt like, all right, safety is
a very solid room as well. We like all four
of those guys, maybe we like three, you know, so
that that was definitely shocking to me. We're gonna wrap
up here with our biggest question mark. I'd save in
mind for the end because I think it'll be a
good little button cap for this, said Taren, We'll start.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
With yours again out of order. It's okay.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
I went with Darnell Mooney just because putting him on
the fifty three slash fifty two initial roster shows that
maybe he is further along in his recovery from the
shoulder injury that we then we thought because I know
it was very up in the air for a while there.
Raheem Morris originally said a few weeks and a few
(18:52):
weeks past and there still wasn't an answer, and people
were definitely marking their calendars week by week to what's
a few and the fact that he's not falling into
any of these other designations. Granted, we don't know what's
gonna happen in the upcoming days. I will say that's
my biggest question. Is he ready to go week one?
Speaker 4 (19:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yeah, it'll be a huge question. And they would love
to have him week one against Tampa Bay, right, that
could be a shootout, two offenses. We expect a lot
of fireworks from So you'd love to have Darnell Mooney,
what about you, Toy.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
It's all about where the practice squad ultimately shakes out.
This is a group that I think you can pencil
in a lot of names. We talked about Easton Stick,
we talked about Jordan full or Contavious Street already, but
Nick Nash, Chris Blair, I think that there are a
good number of individuals that are that were either waved
or released today that we absolutely should pencil in to
(19:44):
see again. And I will note that don't kind of
count out Lenny Kreg either. This the Falcons international player.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
He would you would be able to.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Carry him as a seventeenth person on the practice squad.
So yeah, you have sixteen spots, but also pen slin
leaning Krieg if he clears waivers. So that to me
is the biggest question that remains. We'll have that answer
probably around noon on Wednesday, which will be really really great.
And honestly, I was even looking back and the way
the Falcons do, they're like practice squad elevations and designations.
(20:16):
There's a very very good possibility that we will see
a lot of these practice squad guys on the active
game day roster. With elevations the Falcons have and honestly
playing too like they utilize those. It's not like they
just bring those guys up for depth. They actually utilize
them a lot on special teams. So for that reason,
it's like who ultimately lands on that sixteen, But I
(20:38):
think it is going to be a lot of the
names that you see on the waves released list of
who got cut today.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Absolutely that's a great point. They do utilize that practice squad.
It's very valuable now in the NFL. So yeah, that's
a great point to bring up. I'm gonna end it
with what we begin with. The offensive line. You know
that is easily to me the biggest question mark going in,
but specifically who is going to start at right tackle?
So I kind of want to wrap up our discussion
a little bit by just making one kind of proclamation,
(21:08):
who do we think is going to start Week one
at right tackle? I think the options right now are
Elijah Wilkinson, Jack Nelson, the reported signing of Michael Jarrell,
and then a player to TBD. You know, as you said,
maybe there's another move to be made. So if you
had to kind of bank on one of those right now,
maybe I'll go first. Elijah Wilkinson would be my pick
(21:28):
at this moment, Toy.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Can I pick someone who's not on the roster, Yeah,
that's player TVD, Yeah, player TBD. I think that to
play Devil's advocate advocate. I also think that it wouldn't
surprise me if week one Elijah Wilkinson is the guy.
Week two, and then maybe even after the bye week
you change something up a little bit also depending on
how Storm Norton is progressing. If you feel like you
(21:51):
can get through maybe the bye week and have Elijah Wilkinson,
you know, handle himself at the position and wait out
Storm Norton, you don't have to go out and get somebody,
and you feel okay with what you have.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
I can see that.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
But I'm also sitting here looking at some of like
what I said earlier, some of the offensive tackles that
fell off of other rosters like the Texans and the
Jets that had a lot of tackle depth. I'm absolutely
kind of seeing who I could get in here to
potentially move the needle, who has that starting experience.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
At that position, Toy's and those other rosters I am.
I'm literally she's greedy. She's like, she's looking out there,
She's give me a yeah, what about you?
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Terren?
Speaker 4 (22:29):
I agree with Tory.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
So with that being said, I'm going to use my
little segment here to circle all the way back when
I said we'll talk about this later, because we haven't
addressed it technically yet. That Storm Norton didn't make the
initial roster because he was placed on reserve slash injured
with the designation to return so that means he can
come back this season unlike Caleb McGary. But at some
(22:53):
point he has to miss four games. I mean at
right off the bat, not at some point right away,
at least four games. And you did have that report
last week that came out that he is expected to
miss six to eight so that timeline is another question mark.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
But according to our report, had the surgery six eight
week timeline, missed four four weeks automatically going on the
IR designate to return. So maybe post by week right
if the best case scenario, you're maybe looking at week six.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Right, five by has never looked so good.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
It is not for right now, So that is going
to do it for our initial roster discussion. Fifty two
man roster. We'll see you know when that fifty third
guy manages to uh to come on in here. But
I'm ready there you go, Tarin. We've seen your what
is it your cornerback? What are you line? You're a linebacker? Okay,
I feel like your position every time we every time
(23:46):
we try to get you out there on the field,
it's like kick returner, and then it's corner and then
you're the edge rusher. So I'm just trying to pin
down exactly the long field burst, exactly where you are.
But that that's that's your secret sauce. You already been down.
You know it's wiley out there. Savvy Vett is all right. Well,
we will be back with you guys next Friday, before
(24:08):
Week one with a brand new show that is going
to be new to this Atlanta Falcons podcast network that
we are very excited to roll out for you all.
But until then, take a deep breath, go touch some grass,
go walk around out in the sunshine. It's it's been
a long cave. It's been a long offseason. The season
is right around the corner. But until then, everybody for
(24:28):
Terron Walk, for Terren Walk and Tory mcaleney. I am
Will McFadden. We'll see you next time.
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