July 26, 2012; Flowery Branch, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons tackle Will Svitek (74) during training camp at the Atlanta Falcons Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-US PRESSWIRE

This afternoon we have some really bad news out of Flowery Branch. The offensive line, which had very little good depth, just lost its best backup.

Offensive tackle Will Svitek, who is the backup behind Tyson Clabo at right tackle and Sam Baker at left tackle, is out for the season after suffering an upper arm injury. I don’t know what exactly the injury is, but it is obviously serious enough for Svitek to miss the rest of the 2012 season.

That makes the Falcons depth along the offensive line razor thin, and the margin of error for players along the line, especially the tackle position, even thinner. The backups behind Clabo and Baker for the tackle positions are Mike Johnson, and rookie Lamar Holmes. Holmes missed minicamp and the beginning of training camp, and was unable to vault past Svitek on the depth chart up to this point. Mike Johnson was injured in 2011, and has played with the second team in this year’s preseason. He has certainly not impressed anyone in that role with that unit.

It is even clearer now that the Falcons must address the offensive line in a big way the next couple positions. Sure the Falcons could use a great pass-rusher, but they have solid depth along the defensive line. Sam Baker was an injury issue in 2011, and never really played well last season. He will always be a concern for potential injuries. I say, draft offensive linemen to replace Baker and to play the right guard position, and at the very minimum, draft linemen to improve the depth on this team. There is currently next to no margin of error.

July 27, 2012; Flowery Branch, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) throws a pass during training camp at the Atlanta Falcons Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-US PRESSWIRE

There are just a couple things to report from Atlanta Falcons training camp, but they are certainly worth mentioning. Isn’t it great to see the Falcon on the sides of the players helmets again? Every part of training camp gets me excited.

First, Tony Gonzalez says he is “95% sure” he will retire after 2012. I’m a little surprised it’s that low. I think if the Falcons win a playoff game or do even better, he will certainly retire after this season. His production isn’t what it once was, and he doesn’t really stretch the field vertically anymore, but he is extremely well versed in ways to box the defender out, use of route running to fool defenders, and getting to the first down marker. He is the best safety valve the Falcons could ask for. I just hope that if he does decide to come back for 2013 that he will remain with the Falcons. I can’t imagine him not.

Secondly, we have this video and Q&A session with Matt Ryan that D. Orlando Ledbetter posted this evening. Many of the things discussed are exactly what you would expect from this time of the year. It involves asking Ryan what he has done to improve his own, how the Falcons will operate under new coordinator Dirk Koetter, how the players are adjusting to Koetter’s new system, and similar questions. Nothing that you wouldn’t really expect, but absolutely worth reading nonetheless.

Finally, we have this last piece from the AJC discussing the offensive line situation. A couple weeks ago I brought up the fact that the guys from the NFL Network regarded Lamar Holmes as a ‘right tackle only’ prospect. The NFL Network guys made it seem like they drew those conclusions from what they had heard from scouts or maybe even the Falcons front office, but I’m not entirely sure where they got that from. In the AJC article, it says how Holmes has recently been cleared to practice with the team, something he wasn’t able to do during minicamp. That’s a good sign. The better sign is that he was the No. 3 Left Tackle on the depth chart. Now that doesn’t seem very impressive, and for most teams he would be years from being able to play a down. However with the Falcons, he is a lot closer than that. Everyone knows Sam Baker struggled last season and not been spectacular in previous seasons. If he is similar to his 2010 form, he is only slightly ahead of Will Svitek for the No. 1 LT spot. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t know what Lamar Holmes has played like so far in training camp, and I’m not saying that he will challenge for the starting job barring something horrible happening. But what I am saying is that it’s a big sign that he is the No. 3 Left tackle and not the No. 3 Right tackle. Obviously the Falcons think he has a future at LT rather than RT. That could change next week, but I sincerely hope Holmes improves and one day starts at left tackle.

August 1, 2009; Flowery Branch, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey watches the action during the first day of training camp at the Falcons Training Complex. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-US PRESSWIRE

Before all of Falcons fandom burns me in effigy for claiming that Mike Mularkey may not have been at fault completely for the ill fated 2011 Falcons offense, let me promise that I will explain, and that fans should at least consider my thought as a valid one. What if Mularkey wasn’t a no-gooder who was bent on having the most predictable offense in the NFL, one that completely lacked originality and explosiveness? What if that underachieving phase of the game didn’t achieve due to other reasons than a poor offensive mind? I’m going to explain a couple of the reasons Mike Mularkey may be truly blameless, and other coordinators (like Dirk Koetter) could one day face the same fate.

Now I don’t think that Mularkey was a particularly genius coordinator in the first place. However, I think he began the 2011 season with all intentions of opening up the offense, allowing an aerial attack to be the most prominent part of the Falcons offense, and reducing the dependence of the team on Michael Turner and the running game. Through the first three games of the season, they tried exactly that. They started off 1-2.  The problem was that the offensive line was unable to hold up and protect Matt Ryan long enough for that plan to come to fruition. Mike Smith, feeling the heat of the prospect at going 1-3, probably forced Mularkey’s hand into going back to a run-balanced offense. The Falcons toyed with the prospect of the ‘aerial attack’ but it worked so poorly that Atlanta realized their only prospect at winning with the given o-line situation, was to run the ball and play-action off of it.

Could Dirk Koetter suffer the same fate? It is certainly possible. With Peter Konz, I think we have reasonable solution at Right Guard for the 2012 season, and there is no doubt in my mind that Konz will provide a better push than any player did at RG in 2011. If Sam Baker is healthy this season, there is no doubt he will be more productive than a tandem of hurt-Sam Baker/Will Svitek. I think the entire solution to the Falcons o-line puzzle isn’t completely solved for good, but I don’t see the situation changing drastically for the better this season. If it holds up the way I hope it will, Dirk Koetter’s offense can take flight, and we can stretch the field vertically with the passing game. If it doesn’t for whatever reason, the Falcons are in deep trouble, and Koetter will have to resort to running the ball with Michael Turner once again.