Leaderboard

Just got back - managed to get a couple of plays during the scrimmage portion of the practice for those that couldn't make it. It was a bit shorter than previous years I thought. I'm on my phone so I just uploaded them to my Twitter.

Ryan is good enough to win the super bowl. So the easiest plan is to build a team around Ryan's strengths. Replacing Ryan doesn't make the Falcons super bowl contenders. Quarterbacks don't win championships, teams do. Quarterbacks are however the leader of the team. Ryan is the leader of this team. Replacing him means you have to build to THAT QBs strengths and get him guys who love playing around him. That new QB has to earn the locker rooms respect as the leader of the team. Something Ryan has already done. Very risky move to trade Ryan and start from scratch. Frankly stupid actually. People who point the finger at Ryan don't look at football as a team sport. They look at it as a "QB vs QB" situation. They see the QB and don't realize that the team has 21 other starters on it. If TD and Quinn can build a great defense, and get an O-line to protect Ryan, they are super bowl contenders. Ryan doesn't HAVE to be Aaron Rodgers or Peyton Manning to win the big game. That's what people don't understand

I am thinking they signed him so Neal will get use to knocking the Crap out of a Saint. But other wise, I hate this move!

It will be a major issue if the other team's coaches run out onto the field during the regular season and intercept the ball.

I want to post up these two tweets to show some QB interception percentages. Hopefully we can change some perspectives on a few things regarding what went on last year, and if Ryan actually had as bad of a year getting picked off as some people seem to imply. What this is gauging is the percentage of passes that a QB threw that a defender had a legitimate chance at intercepting, that were actually intercepted. For example, if a QB threw 10 passes that could have been picked off, and 5 of them acually were picked off, then he would have a percentage of 50%. I just quickly did the math on Matt Ryan and Tom Brady here. If someone wants to take the time to do all 8 QB's then have at it. But I was just curious what the difference was between Brady and Ryan last season, since the perception is Ryan was such an INT prone QB last year. Let's do the math: Ryan had 16 INTs, his percentage of INTable passes that were actually intercepted was 63.6%. That means Ryan threw 25 total passes over the entire season that a defender had a legitimate chance to pick off. Brady had 7 INTs, his percentage of INTable passes that were actually intercepted was 22.7%. That means Brady threw 31 total passes over the entire season that a defender had a legitimate chance to pick off. Brady threw 31 passes that were INTable; Ryan threw 25. Wait, what??? Brady threw more passes last year that were INTable than Ryan? Do you see where I am going with this? Look, I'm not suggesting that Ryan played well last season. Everybody knows he turned the ball over more than he usually does. But the thing that makes it seem worse is that the turnovers were critical TO's that happened often in the absolute worst time or worst parts of the field. That perception distorts Ryan's play last year and makes it look worse than it probably was. These numbers don't absolve Ryan of the mistakes he made, because he knows he needs to be better than he was last season. But these numbers should shift some people's perspectives a little bit and hopefully make people realize that he didn't play nearly as bad as some people want to claim. Ryan got the short end of the stick last year in the luck department. He actually threw less pickable balls than Brady, but had way more of his mistakes come back to haunt him than Brady did. Imagine our record last year if Ryan had only 22.7% of his INTable balls actually picked off. I've heard Ryan say this several times, and these numbers kind of corroborate it - but Ryan said they actually were playing better on offense as the season went along, even better than they were during the opening win streak. The big difference was after the winning streak that they just didn't get away with any mistakes the rest of the year. They weren't actually playing better during the win streak, they just weren't getting punished on every mistake they made at that time.

Veteran Dwight Freeney ready to help Falcons turn corner Vaughn McClure FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Dwight Freeney, the 36-year-old pass-rusher who just signed a one-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons, arrived in Atlanta on Thursday and brought a sense of humor with him. "I love the game and I love to play," Freeney said. "I'm one of those guys you're going to have to pull me off the field. ... So if it's 18 snaps, then it's 18 snaps. If it's 30 snaps, it's 30 snaps. If it's 45, 50, they're going to have to get me an IV, but I'll still go out there and then still play." The Falcons need Freeney to help inject life into a listless pass rush, one that resulted in a league-low 19 sacks last season. Freeney has 119.5 sacks, including eight in 11 games with the Arizona Cardinals last season. He'll be a nickel rusher for the Falcons, not a guy asked to drop into coverage. "I'm excited," Freeney said. "This (Falcons) team that, for the last few years now, I've always looked at this team as having a lot of potential to do some great things. They have a lot of talent, definitely offensively. And then defensively, we're getting it together now. I know I wanted to come here because I see possibilities are endless, especially having a coach like (Dan) Quinn. He has the right attitude, a standup guy. I'm just here just to help turn that corner; one more piece to help this team win." Freeney is eager to help some of the young players such as Vic Beasley Jr. develop, as well as show the world he still has "a lot left" to be a difference-maker on defense. He aims to bring leadership to a defense which could have as many as three rookie starters -- strong safety Keanu Neal and linebackers De'Vondre Campbell and Deion Jones. "You know, it's just being able to help some young guys maybe avoid some of the issues or help them grow as a player," he said. This will be Freeney's 15th NFL season. The seven-time Pro Bowl and former first-round draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts even has a little gray in his beard now. "I've got to color that out," Freeney said with a laugh "It goes by so fast. You never think about it too often, but when you sit back and think, you know 15 years playing in this league, that's a long time. I've been very blessed. I've been a part of some great organizations. "I still love the game. I talked to the Hall of Famer Howie Long and he said, 'Look, play as long as you can if you still love it, because when it's over, it's over, and it's done,'" Freeney said. "I said, 'Why not? I'll give it another try.'" It was somewhat of a surprise to see Freeney sign now, considering he joined the Cardinals in Week 6 of last season. Now, he'll have to go through the grind of training camp. "I tried to hold out as long as I could," Freeney said. "I'm like, 'Man, camp, I'm not looking forward to that. It's hot and the heat. Who wants to go to another camp?' But you know what? It's a blessing honestly, just to be playing, doing something like this, playing a kid's game. And it's still playing the game that I love 15 years. ... Overall, if I have to come a little bit early, I'm sure they'll take care of me."

Just got back. A few names I have not seen mentioned. 96 Nordley Capri would have had two sacks if it was real. Fast into the backfield. 35 Gus Johnson played very well both catching and running. Guy is a load, but surprisingly quick. The tip by 32 Collins to 27 Theresie was a think of beauty. Tipped it back into the field of play after an athletic play at the sideline- special play. 12 Sanu looked very good. 29 Goodwin made the pick on 81 Hooper. Very well played. Thought Hoop was going up to snag it, but Goodwin made it look easy. Great play to end the drive. Someone mentioned 87 Fuller making the game winning catch again. Really getting to be a regular thing. The whole D-line is ballin. I am not sure how many sacks ant TFL would have happened if they were tackling. 44 Beasley, 99 Clayborn, 91, Upshaw, 90 Shelby all made their presence known.

that is a lot of touchdowns for only 29 catches.....maybe he is good in redzone - which is what we need.

We're a family of 5 again. We got this guy today, an older gentleman is moving and couldn't take him with him. He's a Boston Terrier mix, not sure what he's mixed with. He's very sweet. He and Waylon are still getting used to each other. We're trying to decide on a name. He's about 2 1/2 years old.

On Dukes and Bell last night, Brian Billick said that he felt Devonte Freeman is the best all round running back in the NFL right now and needs to be a 350 touch guy (includes receptions and carries). That's one heII of an endorsement. We drafted arguably the best if not one of the best all around Pro Bowl RBs in the NFL with a 4th rounder? Troffed! I've been saying all offseason how excited I am that Ryan finally has the type of RB that can do it all, much as Brady, Brees, Manning and Rodgers have had most of their careers. Turner was the best RB Ryan ever had but he was a one trick pony with no long speed and not an accomplished receiver or blocker. This is the most important part. Last year Ryan had only 3 dependable pass catchers in Julio, Tamme and Freeman. Now that we have other necessary pieces such as a #2 WR in Sanu, a seasoned veteran Hardy coming back as #3 looking much improved and a rookie receiving TE who can help us in the red zone, and Mack at center, this offense is going to be dominant and will be able to match up against any defense. We can attack in so many different ways it won't be like last year where we lose Hankerson and simply couldn't match up against good defenses. http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2016/08/03/brian-billick-devonta-freeman-needs-to-be-a-350-touch-guy/

Sanu will surprise some folks. He's not the type of WR whose gonna just go down either. He's got good size and will wear down some Dbacks... Looking forward to some YAC...

There's a joke in there, but out of respect to Abe, I won't go there. (Okay, I guess I kind of already did )

I'll always remember the guy for how proud he seemed to receive the hick'ry stick. Best of luck Corey.

My first training camp visit since 1999 in Suwanee. Highlights of the day were Wr #16 ( his name escapes me ) caught eveything his way including a one-hand snare at the goalpost that made everyone hoot and holler. TE Hooper caught several TD passes and was featured on most plays , although he did noticably miss one route which brought the wraith of the receivers coach. But he's a rookie and I guess that is expected. i'm not sure what TE Tamme has done to everybody or anybody but I know he's had a scuffle or two with Neal. but he got popped again , was on the other side of the field and didnt catch the number of the popper. Ryan looked sharp, Renfree and Shaab , not so much. Defensively the line shut down most of the running plays , the best linebacking corps included Campbell and Deion Jones , whose covering skills were awesome except one play where Devonte beat him (jones ) Gotta give credit where its due, Worrilow looked good, like he was fighting for his job ( he is ) , he even looked good covering Devonte out of the backfield but missed hitting a back in the hole by a long shot which resulted in a big play. Neal looked great against the run, but got beat on a few passes . The team as a whole looked very energetic. I was entertained and thank god for the shuttle back and forth to my car.

I really do love these training camp wired videos. For those of us that can't attend, it gives great perspective into what's happening, outside of the random pics, and short shaky cam vids. It's the most insight into TC that I've ever seen the Falcons do, and I hope they keep'em coming and do them next year too.

They're gonna feel pretty silly for not listing Beasley on here.

serious note if he can be hankerson 2.5 thats all we need bc hank made the offense a lot better than roddy did and as fatboi pointed out sanu is wr2 but not target number 2 80 percent of the time. that will be freeman/coleman or tamme/hooper

I always hated how he gutted us on contested balls. Little SOB always seemed to come down with them. But that was a while ago, and I doubt he's that guy any longer. I'm not a fan of this move, but we'll see.

My first trip to a training camp and I must say it was nice. A nice day for camp, relatively cool. Good to see them scrimmaging. Not too many details as I didn't know where to focus my attention, I did see Beasley in position to sack Ryan on one drill via a stunt and Raheem Morris cannot throw a fade to save his rear, lol. The new guys look fast. Other than that, I had fun, got a new hat and I am ready for the season to start! I woke up to a tent leaking this morning so I packed up and went back to Savanah(8/4)

Nice! Thanks man. I believe this... is a clip of this...

Devin fuller with ANOTHER practice ending. Touchdown

So much BS over a rook making a mistake........ Good Lawd,,,, "According to Knox Bardeen, a digital content producer and on-air host for 92.9 The Game, a CBS Sports Radio station, the Falcons were practicing the depth of their routes. I'll let him explain, as he did to me via email: Rookie TE Austin Hooper ran the right route but at the wrong depth and Shanahan jumped it and grabbed it. He immediately turned to Hooper and let him know what had gone wrong. This wasn't a case of Ryan making a mistake or Shanahan trying to make him look bad. It was a teaching moment. So, there you have it: Ryan doesn't stink and Shanahan is doing his job as the team's offensive coordinator," http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/watch-even-the-falcons-offensive-coordinator-is-intercepting-matt-ryan/

Most wco don't do the greatest in the redzone especially inside the 10 unless there is a beastly run game. I haven't seen JJ do a lot of back shoulder fades so maybe they are introducing that. Feel like he should have way more Tds

Geez. this whole Ryan debate gets so old. Ryan is the best QB this franchise has ever had. With the exception of a few teams out there, Ryan is better than most other QB's that are out there when you look at the totality of his career. Yes, Ryan had a down year last year. Yes, there were too many turnovers. But Ryan has done what he has without the benefit of a stellar oline or a very good defense. His INT's last year where a product of a poor interior line, marginal defense and only having one NFL caliber starting WR. Oh yeah, he was running a new offense that was radically different then anything he has ever been in before. These comparisons to other QB's is mind numbing because unless both QB's played for the same team, behind the same line, with the same set of WR and defense to help them out, there it is really hard to compare. Ryan's INT's last year were caused by a number of things, like the WR running the wrong routes, and not being able to step into the pocket, or being pressured very quickly, or dropped balls by the WR, or not having the timing down with the offense, or just plain old bad judgement. The fact is, the first five years of ryan's career when we had an decent oline and an okay defense and a couple of good WR, Ryan excelled. People forget here that since '08 our Oline, defense, running game and WR's have been deteriorating since '08. People forget that in 2012 our defense was not good, running game was putrid and oline was bad, but we almost got to the superbowl.

Yessir. Looking for some YAC and some TEC .... (Trolls Eating Crow) as Sanu proves he's a worthy #2.

I see where you are going with this. I get it. Makes perfect sense. Problem is, i don't think it will change the haters perception of Ryan. They still would bash him if he crushed every QB record in the league and had a perfect season. It would still be, "he could have done better or it was luck".. fools will be fools. We have a good QB. Best we have ever had. It's so hard to find a good franchise QB, so many teams struggle for so long to find one. All these beautiful hood ornaments come out from time to time and people think we should have them. Most of them bust. A good QB needs a good team, good coaching, and alot of luck to win a SB. That is just a fact. I don't know if it will ever all come together for us, but to me, it doesn't change my opinion of Ryan. Cam got there last year with a great defense and alot of luck. Sometimes things go your way . Hopefully they will for us soon.

Wes Durham was talking a lot about how good he looks, and how he blew up some plays. I'm not there so I can't confirm or deny -- just reporting what he said.

These past 2 years are probably the most I've been excited about rookie classes. This year's could be special. Can't wait for next week to get a true idea of where they are.

It's hard not to with all of these great early reports on them. Even Schweitzer, who's probably gotten the least attention, is getting some looks in the RG competition.

Welcome to the boards. But please use paragraphs in the future

This reminds me of my all-time favorite football gif.

Nice touch on making a Ryan threatening post in a Freeman thread.

Expect Atlanta’s 2016 Red-Zone Offense To Be Aggressive August 4, 2016 11:32 AM By Knox Bardeen FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan was very candid when he joined The Morning Show with John Fricke and Hugh Douglas on Thursday from the Falcons’ training facility. Not only did Ryan agree that the red zone was a huge problem last season, but the ninth-year passer offered suggestions on a fix. Expect the Falcons to get more aggressive on offense as they approach the red zone. “Where we have to be better is in that fringe area, said Ryan from the 92-9 The Game set at training camp. Where you have shots from maybe the 25-[yard line] to the 15, where you have some more space. We’ve got to score touchdowns from there. We’ve got to create explosive plays and score touchdowns from there.” Atlanta ranked 18th in the league last season after scoring touchdowns on 54.7 percent of the team’s trips inside the 20-yard line. That figure was down from 61.4 percent from 2014, when the Falcons ranked fourth in the NFL. The Falcons had little trouble moving the football in between the 20s — Atlanta’s offense ranked seventh in the NFL with 5,990 yards from scrimmage — but stalled in the red zone. Ryan called the end line in the back of the end zone “the best defensive player on the field.” With the end line a definitive stop for the defense, safeties are able to move up into the box, making it tougher to run the football. Spacing also gets much tighter in the passing game in the red zone because teams only rush two players at time and drop nine in to coverage. In those nine-players-in-coverage situations, Ryan said maneuvering a football into four guys deeper in coverage and five guys underneath gets increasingly difficult. “When we get it inside the 5-[yard line],” Ryan continued about changes that must be made in Atlanta’s 2016 red-zone offense, “we have to have the mindset that there’s no way you can stop us. We’ve got to be tough up front and run the ball right down people’s throat and score touchdowns.” Knox Bardeen Knox Bardeen - Weekends / Falcons Reporter Knox Bardeen is a show host at 92-9 The Game and content creator for 929TheGame.com. The above article, including a very good and longer interview with Matt Ryan, linked as follows: http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2016/08/04/expect-atlantas-2016-red-zone-offense-to-be-aggressive/

I've always liked Tom Jackson...while the rest of those guys let that pre-game show devolve into something of a clown show, he always seemed to just wanna talk football.

Im happy to have another guy with a positive attitude to go along with the skill set. These clips show a dude easily catching all sorts of passes AND being a kickass team player. What's not to like?

Can't we all just wait and see how well he plays this year? Patience is a virtue.

I saw him and Julio up close standing next to each other during camp this past Thursday. They look almost IDENTICAL stature wise. Julio is a smidge taller than he is and Sanu is only a tad more bulky than Julio. Should be fun watching this restructured receiving corps

everybody is talking about the outside rush but if Jarrett and Shelby can cause problems inside as rushers... Man this team D can be exciting. And with Coleman.. Im ready to see that game breaking speed create some explosive runs.. Some Homerun plays

Not worried about Sanu...... He will not only spread the field but his YAC are a biggie..........

We had one of the worst LB groups last year and lacked speed.. 6'4 234lbs DeVondre Campbell (23 years old) 6'1 230lbs Deion Jones (21 years old) 6'3 250lbs Vic Beasley (24 years old) We have a young group so mistakes will happen but we are faster and more athletic.... Excited about the group Im also interested in our pass rush 2 sets of outside rushers with Clayborn and Beasley ... The Reed and Freeney... If it pans out right... We should have some type of rush in Also with Shelby rushing on the outside and inside with Grady , Hage, Bbas and Upshaw

Falcon Fans Get Ready for everyone to jump on the bandwagon this year!! Even with one of the toughest schedules in the league this year the NFL always has a Surprise Team or teams every year. With free agency etc you cant always go by the year before records etc. We as a Falcon fan base have gone through the bad and good! Last couple of years have been subpar and not what we as a Fan base wanted to see. I always say maybe next year for our Falcons but I can honestly say I feel that this years team on paper is 100% better than the last 3 years. Here is my take: Julio- I don't care what anyone says but anyone with a right mind knows he is the best receiver in the NFL!....... Matt Ryan- I think last year play calling and new system was a learning curve for Ryan! I believe that Ryan will set his own records for TD'S this year! " I know that our Offensive Line has improved with Alex Mack Anchoring the center! " Think about last year -- how many bad snaps from center that caused fumbles and lost field position? TOO MANY TO FREAKING COUNT! Last - Our Defense has improved with Freeney, Shelby, Weatherspoon! Reed , Beasley, Clayburn, Babs, Neal, Hageman, Trufant all should see sacks, interceptions etc. I believe in our BIRDS and I am very excited about this year and if they start out strong I don't see them falling like last years debacle with this years team/ They have learned their lesson from last year--- WE PRAY! When they start winning I see everyone jumping on the Bandwagon! I predict either 11-5 or 12-4...... Split with freaking Panthers and Packers, Seahawks and Cardinals are Toss Ups! What do you think?

Well the girls look good.........

Booooooooooooooooooooooo! (not being coy, seriously don't like this biznitch)