Sports Page Atlanta

Saturday night proved a coming-out party for new RB Michael Turner, who had a 52 yard rush on his first carry and started Atlanta’s 2nd drive with a 63 yard run, and he wound up with 113 yards on just 4 carries.  Elsewhere on offense, rookie Matt Ryan’s solid play was marred by a terrible decision that resulted in an interception returned for a touchdown.  Chris Redman also looked good, but failed to put a lot of distance between him and Ryan.

Defensively, the Falcons were solid if unspectacular.  The linebacker crew stood out, as Keith Brooking, Michael Boley, and rookie Curtis Lofton all looked impressive.  Rookie DE Kroy Biermann picked up a sack and is starting to warrant more playing time.  In the secondary, training camp mini-star cornerback Brent Grimes continued to push for a starting job as his coverage remained stellar, including a pass defended in the end zone.

Though the Falcons lost 16-9, there were many encouraging contributions from young players, and hopefully the rest of this preseason will be used to continue to hone the considerable talents of the youth of the roster.

After day one of the NFL Draft, the Atlanta Falcons added 3 players (Matt Ryan, Sam Baker and Curtis Lofton.)

The Falcons had options, but selected Ryan as the 3rd pick overall. The Boston College quarterback was 7th in the Heisman voting last year and was the ACC Player of the Year. He had 34 career starts and 56 career TD passes.

After making a few trades, Atlanta moved up to get the 21st overall pick where they selected an offensive tackle from Southern Cal named Sam Baker. He was a 3-time All-American for the Trojans.

With the Falcons 2nd round pick (37th overall) Atlanta got linebacker Curtis Lofton from Oklahoma. Lofton was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year winner.

More complete analysis on the Falcons draft will come shortly…