Atlanta Falcons: Right guard battle officially goes to Wes Schweitzer

It was one of the few questions all offseason for the Atlanta Falcons, but there is now an answer as Wes Schweitzer was officially named the starting right guard

While pretty much every starting position on both sides of the ball have been known all offseason, the Atlanta Falcons did have one glaring need to fill. The right guard spot was left vacant when Chris Chester retired following the team’s 2016 season which ended with them representing the NFC in the Super Bowl.

They went into training camp knowing it would be a battle that decided the starter and it quickly came down to second-year pro Wes Schweitzer and veteran Ben Garland. In the end it was the youngster pulling out the win as head coach Dan Quinn named Schweitzer the starter on Monday according to reports (including a Tweet from Atlanta Falcons content producer Kelsey Conway).

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Schweitzer (6-foot-4, 300-pounds) was picked in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of San Jose State. He was a reserve all season for the Falcons and still has never appeared in any regular season games. Despite his lack of experience he was able to beat out Garland.

The veteran enters his fifth-NFL season after going undrafted in 2010 out of the Air Force. He started his career with the Denver Broncos and appeared in just eight games with them from his rookie season through 2014.

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The 6-foot-5, 308-pound backup was active in all 16 games but has yet to start a single game in the NFL. He does however have a tackle for a safety in a playoff game as Garland played some defensive tackle last year for Atlanta.