The Falcoholic
The first preseason game kicks off tomorrow night, and we’ll soon have a live game for players to prove themselves as they jockey for starting jobs, reserve roles, and even just future practice squad slots.
How are those battles looking heading into Falcons-Lions? Here’s a look based on camp reports from our team here at The Falcoholic and the media who have been there every day, as well as some good old-fashioned hunches from yours truly. We’ll use the eight battles I identified as key ones back in July for our base.
I expected this to be a straightforward battle between Jordan Fuller and Xavier Watts, less because of what I believe DeMarcco Hellams is capable of than the fact that he was coming off a major injury, has the most special teams value out of the trio, and is the only player in the group who wasn’t acquired by the Raheem Morris regime.
But a funny and perhaps unsurprising thing has happened: Hellams has inserted himself into this battle for real. He was getting first team reps this week, meaning there’s at least nominally a three-way fight for the starting job next to Jessie Bates. I think most observers expect Watts to win it—he’s the future—but Hellams and Fuller seem like they’re headed for real roles regardless. The defense is better when the depth is compelling, and it’s more compelling at safety than it is anywhere else on this defense.
Expected winner: Xavier Watts
After a disastrous 2024 season, Alford was a late re-signing and took some not-so-subtle social media shots at outgoing defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake. But here he is seemingly in the driver’s seat for the nickel role, regardless.
It’s worth remembering that last year was the outlier in Alford’s brief NFL career. After hopping over from the CFL, Alford was stingy in coverage as a reserve in 2022, solid at worst in 2023, and was a fairly clean tackler in those two campaigns. Last year, he was victimized frequently in coverage and missed a ton of tackles, with his rating jump from 6.8% in 2023 to 16% in 2024. If the coaching staff felt that was going to be the new norm, he would not be competing for this job, to put it mildly. Instead, he’s been running with the starters a little more often than his main competition,
Billy Bowman is the player the Falcons want holding down the fort over the long haul, and a couple of terrific preseason games might see him leapfrog Alford, especially because he was out there with the starters early for Wednesday’s scrimmage. I’d consider this a pretty even battle at the moment, but I’m betting on Alford being the Week 1 starter barring an implosion in live game action.
Natrone Brooks is not a serious contender for the nickel role, evidently, but he is a player I’d keep an eye on for a roster spot.
**Expected...
