Honest evaluations should lead to new heights for the Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons are hoping to soar to new heights in 2019 and that all starts Thursday night in Canton, Ohio as they take on the Broncos in the Pro Football Hall of Fame game.

Most Atlanta Falcons starters will most likely be held out of the match-up Thursday night, we already know that Julio will not at all this preseason, for the second straight year. This preseason should be dedicated to one thing and one thing only – building depth to ensure that the most talented roster in the NFC does not go 7-9 and miss the playoffs for a second straight year.

In that regard, having five pre-season games is a blessing. On the offensive side of the ball, this will allow the young running backs an ample opportunity to sort their room out, will give wide receivers not named Jones, Sanu or Ridley an opportunity to make their case and more importantly, this should give the offensive line time to establish their identity and depth.

Defensively, this will allow the young first and second year corners like Jordan Miller, Isaiah Oliver and Kendall Sheffield and opportunity to become accustom to the what life will be like in the NFL – especially Oliver who is going to be targeted a lot in 2019 as he sits opposite of Desmond Trufant.

The other great aspect of having five preseason games in 2019 is the defense will have to time to look at the multiple fronts and schemes they are going to employ in 2019. We have all seen the reports out of training camp and the five man fronts and different looks that the secondary is employing during camp.

Building depth is going to be the most important aspect of what happens this preseason. Injuries in football happen and usually come in waves as teams do not go an entire season without experiencing some sort of setbacks throughout the year.

After the injuries in 2018, Dan Quinn and crew should understand just how important depth can be and will hopefully take all precautions to make sure they have a parallel plan in place to account for that. That starts with being truthful to oneself about guys like Duke Riley, who are special teams players and should not be counted on for anything more than that.

If Dan Quinn has had that level of honest conversation with his staff, 2019 should see the Falcons soar higher than they ever have.