Predicted Final 53 Man Roster

NFL teams are required to cut their roster to 53 players after preseason. Here is our prediction of the Atlanta Falcons’ 53-man roster:

Quarterback – Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub

Running Back – Devonta Freeman, Tevin Coleman, Brian Hill, Terron Ward (The Falcons may well only keep three backs, but I think Ward will make the roster based on his return skills.)

Fullback – Derrick Coleman (This could also easily be Soma Vainuku or Tyler Renew. I only give it to Coleman at this point because of some familiarity with Dan Quinn.)

Wide Receiver – Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Taylor Gabriel, Andre Roberts, Justin Hardy, Devin Fuller (I feel good about the top five here. I give the edge to Fuller over Nick Williams and others because of Fuller’s potential as a returner.)

Tight End – Austin Hooper, Levine Toilolo, Eric Saubert (Like last year, the Falcons could carry four TEs instead of three, as they also like both Joshua Perkins and D. J. Tialavea.)

Offensive Tackle – Jake Matthews, Ryan Schraeder, Andreas Knappe (Knappe is a total projection here. The backup OT position for this roster is concerning to say the least.)

Offensive Guard – Andy Levitre, Wes Schweitzer, Sean Harlow, Robert Leff (I wouldn’t be surprised if the Falcons only carry three guards, with Leff being the odd man out.)

Center – Alex Mack, Ben Garland

“LEO” End – Adrian Clayborn, Takkarist McKinley, Brooks Reed

Defensive Tackle – Dontari Poe, Grady Jarrett, Ra’Shede Hageman, Courtney Upshaw (There’s a lot of positional versatility here, so I was hesitant to break this group up into “Nose Tackle” and “Under Tackle.”)

Base End – Vic Beasley, Derrick Shelby, Jack Crawford (With De’Vondre Campbell being moved from Weakside Linebacker to Strongside Linebacker and Kemal Ishmael being moved from Strong Safety to Strongside Linebacker, I’m assuming the experiment with Beasley as an SLB has ended.) 

Weakside Linebacker – Duke Riley

Middle Linebacker – Deion Jones, LaRoy Reynolds

Strongside Linebacker – De’Vondre Campbell, Kemal Ishmael

Cornerback – Desmond Trufant, Jalen Collins, Robert Alford, C. J. Goodwin, Blidi Wreh-Wilson (I feel confident with the top four here, but the fifth CB spot could easily go to Deji Olatoye or perhaps even Akeem King.)

Free Safety – Ricardo Allen, Brian Poole, Damontae Kazee (I have Allen listed as the starter here only because he is the incumbent. I could easily see either Poole or even Kazee winning the starting job.)

Strong Safety – Keanu Neal, Sharrod Neasman (I could see Neasman getting beat out by rookie UDFA Quincy Mauger.)

Kicker – Matt Bryant

Punter – Matt Bosher

Long Snapper – Josh Harris

Next: Atlanta Falcons: Should they look at OT Cyrus Kouandijo?