How Much Of An Impact Will Sam Baker’s Injury Have To the Falcons?
By Sam Kweon
Sam Baker of the Atlanta Falcons was one of the most important players to have heading into the hopeful 2014 season.
It was a sad day for us Falcon fans when this was announced.
Test confirms Falcons OT Sam Baker out for season with torn patella tendon http://t.co/ylgBng2O50
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) August 17, 2014
After drafting Jake Matthews and signing free-agent guard Jon Asamoah, the team hoped to have a revamped offensive line this year after ranking dead last in yards rushing and giving up 44 sacks, a career high for Matt Ryan.
This is a major setback, but exactly how much will it affect this offensive line?
Jake Matthews will be fine. He is one of the best offensive lineman to come out of college football in the last decade, and left tackle is his natural position anyways. So who starts at right tackle you ask.
Well, Falcons offensive line coach Mike Tice let us know that Lamar Holmes is penciled in as the starter at right tackle.
Holmes projects as the team’s swing tackle, but his poor play ranked him second worst in the NFL, ProFootballFocus
Yeah…….. This is a problem.
Holmes was horrendous in both pass and run blocking last year, and qualified as one of the worst active tackles in the league. Considering he is a former third round pick of a recent draft (2012), there is no doubt that we have to give the kid another chance. The scouts obviously saw something in Holmes and he may be one of those players that need a year or two to adjust to the NFL.
Holmes commented on Baker’s injury, and commented on how he will play better in 2014.
“It’s unfortunate that Sam went down, but with the great leadership that we have on the offensive line it’s–I mean, there’s times–you’ve really got to flip your mind and get over there to the other side and play and just continue to play fast. My personal key is just play more physical, have better steps, have better hand placement and have better footwork and whatnot than what I had last season,” Holmes said.
The other options behind Holmes include Ryan Schraeder, Gabe Carimi and Terren Jones. There are also some decent tackles still left in the market.
Sam Kweon