The Falcons dedicated most of their offseason resources to revamping their offensive line. Before using two first-round draft picks on linemen – Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary – they splurged to bring in free agent guards James Carpenter and Jamon Brown. They have also signed John Wetzel, Adam Gettis and today added Dieugot Joseph.
All of those efforts seem to have paid off, at least on paper. Pro Football Focus has released a list of the NFL’s most improved offensive lines, and Atlanta made the cut. Here’s what they had to say about the OL rebuild.
“The Falcons offensive line had been trending downwards ever since their Super Bowl loss. . . Add that to the fact that right guard had been a glaring hole on the roster for years and you can see why they double dipped along the offensive line in the first round. We had Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary more as second-round values, but we could see the theme the Falcons were going for. Both players are exceptional athletes who can be plugged into any scheme.”
The team will have three new faces up front, with left tackle Jake Matthews and center Alex Mack being the only returning starters from last year. It may take awhile for the group to gel as a whole but long-term, these moves could potentially pay off big for Atlanta.
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