Atlanta Falcons should part ways with Feleipe Franks

Perhaps the biggest roster mystery of Arthur Smith’s tenure as the Atlanta Falcons head coach thus far is his insistence on keeping Feleipe Franks on Atlanta’s roster. Smith’s first season Franks was kept as the third quarterback behind Matt Ryan and Josh Rosen.

Franks hit the field a handful of times and finished with 6-rushing yards and one pass that was intercepted. This past off-season Franks attempted to switch positions moving to tight-end putting together impressive plays throughout camp and flashing his ability as a runner.

Fast forwarding to one game left in the season and Franks’ stats as a rusher and a passer haven’t changed from last season. As a receiver, Franks has two targets without a catch. The few times that Franks takes the field on offense it seems something bad always happens.

Whether it is a terrible fake play, a run for zero gain, or a missed pass it is clear that Franks isn’t a weapon for this offense. Despite this Smith has kept Franks on the roster cutting players like Bryan Edwards who had made more of an impact on offense.

Smith has shown how much he values utility players and guys who give the team a bit more roster flexibility. It is only valuable, however, if said player can play any of the positions at an NFL level and it is clear at this point Franks cannot.

As great of a story as Franks would be switching positions and sticking on the Atlanta roster it is time for Smith to make the move he should have made a year ago. Franks isn’t a quarterback in this league and he certainly isn’t capable of playing the tight-end position on a roster looking to make a playoff push this off-season. Franks was a fun camp story but is clearly not a contributor and a player Atlanta should have already cut.