The Falcoholic
Hey, I got the snap counts much earlier this week!
Here’s a breakdown of playing time for the Atlanta Falcons against the Tennessee Titans, plus notes about playing time and battles worth mentioning. If I didn’t mention your favorite here, definitely add your own notes via the comments.
Josh Gray: 67
Easton Stick: 55
Chris Blair: 47
Elijah Wilkinson: 47
Jovaughn Gwyn: 47
Jack Nelson: 47
Kyle Hinton: 47
Dylan Drummond: 45
Nick Nash: 40
Josh Simon: 31
Nate Carter: 26
Jashaun Corbin: 22
Feleipe Franks: 21
Nikola Kalinic: 20
Brandon Parker: 20
Jordan Williams: 20
Jake Hanson: 20
DJ Chark: 20
Matthew Cindric: 20
Quincy Skinner: 19
Jesse Matthews: 19
Elijah Dotson: 19
Emory Jones: 12
David Sills: 6
There’s plenty of yarn to pull at here. Sills appearing early in both preseason games and exiting early suggests the Falcons feel they don’t need to see much of him, which in turn tells you he has a strong chance of sticking around. Chark’s late playing time, meanwhile, tells us the battle may be much more uphill for him. Blair, Drummond, and Nash are getting long looks as potential practice squad players, and the Falcons may legitimately keep all three in that capacity. With Casey Washington not playing, Sills seemingly lining up for a spot, and three guys taking the bulk of the preseason snaps, it’ll take luck and a terrific third preseason game for the likes of Skinner, Chark, and Matthews to make it.
Carter, meanwhile, made his case in the best possible way. After getting stonewalled Week 1 alongside Dotson and Corbin, Carter broke multiple big runs—I know one was called back, but still—and showed explosiveness and some pass catching ability. Carlos Washington seems to be his primary competition, and if he’s too banged up to be ready for the season, Carter feels like a strong bet for RB3.
The TE3 battle is an interesting one. Quitoriano not playing on offense would seem to suggest that he’s in line for duties there, but he did log significant special teams snaps while the team got a long look on offense at Simon and to a lesser extent Franks and Kalinic. I think this comes down to Quitoriano and Franks, ultimately, but I still like Simon’s pass catching chops and hope he’s done enough to merit practice squad consideration. Quitoriano and Franks offer the special teams ability the Falcons need—and didn’t really get from that spot a year ago.
The offensive line is kind of a mess, but I do think history tells us what we can expect here. Storm Norton is a lock for swing tackle as long as he’s healthy, Kyle Hinton is a trusted guard option despite some struggles this summer, and Jovaughn Gwyn is a player the Falcons appear to like enough to keep around. That leaves maybe one spot on the roster and a handful of practice squad spots, and the long, long look at Joshua Gray tells me that they are...
