Atlanta Falcons: Five biggest training camp battles for 2016

Battle for No. 3 cornerback spot

A four-way dance for the third cornerback spot that will dictate a lot in regards to pass coverage this season. Current starter Robert Alford is coming off a career year in 2015 but it seems that Dan Quinn would like to insert Alford and his skills at the slot position, which wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.

In order for that to happen, Quinn would like to see one of his four large corners to make enough plays and convince the coaching staff that they are able to start on the boundary opposite of the excellent Desmond Trufant.

The job may have been handed to Collins until the bad news of his four-game suspension came to fruition. He will be able to practice of course and hopefully he disregards his suspension and focuses on showing why he was drafted in the second round of the 2015 Draft.

King, Van Dyke, and Goodwin have each looked good so far this offseason. All three have the size that Quinn covets for this defensive scheme. Van Dyke is the faster of the three and his size/skills have been interesting enough to deem him as the favorite to start the first four games of the season. Of course, a lot of that remains to be seen.

Prediction: Jalen Collins – I believe in Collins, he has the size, speed, and ability to be a great fit in this defense. It’s up to him and that of course comes with experience. He was raw coming out of LSU as well as injured, so his learning curve was altered. As far as the suspension goes, I will give the nod to Van Dyke to win a spot to help fill the void of Collins being suspended. 

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