Falcons Planning Open Competition On Offensive Line

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The Atlanta Falcons used their first two picks in the 2012 NFL Draft to address an offensive line that ranked 27th in Football Outsiders' "Adjusted Line Yards" in 2011 -- after ranking in the Top 10 in each of the first three seasons of the Thomas Dimitroff/Mike Smith Era -- and was ineffective in short yardage situations in a playoff loss to the New York Giants. Atlanta chose 6-foot-5, 313-pound Wisconsin center Peter Konz is round two and, later that night, selected 6-foot-5, 323-pound Southern Miss offensive tackle Lamar Holmes. Both will get a chance to play early as Smith intends to have an open competition along the offensive line, reports D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "We’re going to have an open competition," Smith said. "I think competition brings out the best in everyone. These two (offensive linemen) that we added, we’re going to put them right in the mix. We are going to have a very competitive off-season, and it will start with the rookie mini-camp in two weeks." The only position that appears to be set in stone along the Falcons offensive line is Justin Blalock at left guard. Blalock is entering the second year of his six-year, $38.4 million contract that was restructured last week so the team could add Asante Samuel to the roster.

Source: Mac's Football Blog