I wonder if Petrino will turn out to be like his owner…quick to make a personnel decision that later turns out to be ill-advised.
Blank inherited Vick, but extended his contract big time after the Falcons advanced to the NFC championship game. Had he waited a year, he might not have made the same decision. Blank also quickly signed Warrick Dunn to a monster contract, soon after a dinner meeting. Dunn is a great citizen and has made a solid contribution, but it may not have been the biggest #### for the buck.
GM Rich McKay deserves some blame for many draft day failures, particularly receivers Jenkins and White. Injury-prone defensive lineman like John Abraham were given large contracts. The large payroll led to the loss of end Patrick Kearney.
At the end of training camp the Falcons cut kicker Billy Cundiff, who was more experienced than the stronger-legged Matt Prater. Prater was to relieve punter Michael Koenen of kickoff and long field goal duties, but washed out in two games. Ageless vet Morten Andersen was welcomed back, but now Koenen has his kicking duties back.
Now it appears Blank urged McKay to sign QB Byron Leftwich, who had lost his job in Jacksonville largely in part to not sharing his coach’s enthusiasm. While Leftwich was perhaps the best option available, the odds seem stacked against his success.
Leftwich Plusses:
1. Great arm
2. Tireless preparation & study of film
3. Plays hurt
Leftwich Minuses:
1. Immobile…joining a team with a weak defensive line. Joey Harrington has been sacked 13 times in two games, though in his career Harrington had one of the lowest sacks per game averages…notable considering he played for below-average teams.
2. Not the take charge type. Sounds like the guy we had last year.
I'm glad you and tiny are here. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to discuss the worst team in the NFL on this site. Oh well, I am a die-hard and I'll hang in there, for now. I actually enjoy watching a franchise try to improve itself almost as much as the games themselves.
Blank was blindly in love with Vick. Arthur didn't se the light until the feds indicted Michael.
I love Dunn. I think he has done a tremendous job.
I think Jenkins and White can still come through. Roddy made two big plays on Sunday didn't he?
Abe is worth it. But we will mis Kearney more.
We need to find a real kicker next year.
I think Byron is a backup at best. He may start later in the year. But I still think he is just a backup. We will need to draft a future QB. That sucks since we had one in Schaub.
Last edited by 14Falcons on September 21st at 3:55 PM.
The Falcons should not panick and go out and draft another QB next draft. We have an excellent QB that got hurt in preseason. DJ Shockley will serve the Falcons well once he is healthy. I think that all this is leading up to is Petrino trying to make reason for drafting one of his own in the Brohm kid from Louisville next draft. We need to "fix" that offensive line before we start to "waste" more money on another quarterback. And the other thing is that we should have pursued Mike Marts as the head coach instead of Petrino. We also should have picked up Jamaal Lewis via free agency instead of relying on a lightweight kid in Jerious Norwood. We needed an every down, pounding, experienced stud to pair with Mughelli and we did not get that. The best off-season acqusition that we made was Joe Horn, and now that seems like a mistake, because we have nobody to get the ball to him. Our "biggest mistake" was trading Matt Schaub. He should have been given a fair shot at the starting QB job, regardless of whether we had Mike Vick or not. Matt proved that he could handle the passing game and was mobile enough to produce. All Vick could do was run. I never was a fan of Mike Vick, eventhough I'm a diehard Falcon fan from decades gone by. I live in the Dallas area and am also a Cowboy fan, but my cousin just so happens to be an Atlanta Falcon and that just increases my interest in the Falcons. Good luck DeMorrio Williams and the rest of the Atlanta Falcons!!! Don't give up!!
Last edited by Majik22 on September 22nd at 5:09 AM.
Duh. I forgot that Shockley will heal. I am not sure he is the future though.
I would still like Booty. I watched all of the Bootys come through High school when we were all in Shreveport Louisiana at the time. And this is the best Booty,pun sort of intended.
I had enough of Mike Marts when we were in St. Louis at the same time. I don't think his offensive genius parlays itself into Head Coach genius necessarily.
I am not sure Petrino is the answer though. I liked both of our previous coaches better.
I like Joe. I don't like him defending Vick. I think Joey will get him the ball.
I don't think Schaub should have replaced Vick as a player. I think we should have dumped Vick as a behavioral problem and allowed Schaub to inherit the position.
I liked Vick originally and returned to the Falcon's camp partly as a result of them drafting him. Now he is an embarrasment and I am hoping the Falcons can overcome it. I was a Falcons fan from 1979-1985 and have been again since 2003.
I had a cousin that played for the Giants back in the day.
DeMorrio huh? Cool.
Last edited by 14Falcons on September 23rd at 9:55 AM.
Yep, no where to go but keep rootin' for the Birds. Another week, another crisis. Good to have Morten back, at least for this year.
We can all dream about who the Falcons should get next year. I say McFadden is too good to pass up. Need an O.L. just as bad as a QB. Which one? Booty or the Louisville guy, or Ryan from BC. The Kentucky QB is good, but he's too much like Vick for me.
No relation to Dale! Lifetime Georgia boy...enjoys visiting the rest of the USA. The CPA is my buddy with a finger on the pulse of MLB. I'm a GT grad who also appreciates UGA. Love the Braves & MLB, tolerate the Falcons, Hawks, & Thrashers. A worker bee enjoying Little League & ballet - my excuse for not having hours to write & research. More ramblings can be found at www.sacrifice fly.blogspot. com
