5 players to watch against Pittsburgh: McKinley ready for his debut

August 6, 2017 Flowery Branch: Falcons Vic Beasley Jr. works against Takkarist McKinley during team practice on Sunday, August 6, 2017, in Flowery Branch. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: Curtis Compton

Credit: Curtis Compton

August 6, 2017 Flowery Branch: Falcons Vic Beasley Jr. works against Takkarist McKinley during team practice on Sunday, August 6, 2017, in Flowery Branch. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

Falcons coach Dan Quinn could hardly contain his glee after Friday’s practice.

The staff gave rookie defensive end Takkarist McKinley, this year’s first-round pick, a full load of practice this week and he came through with flying colors.

Quinn said McKinley is likely to play in the exhibition game against the Steelers at 4 p.m. Sunday.

Quinn hadn’t conferred with McKinley and was reluctant to make a full announcement.

“He had a really good week of camp,” Quinn said. “After Miami, we said we are now going to take him up from half the reps to the full amount like everybody else. It’s something that I’ll discuss with him… All systems look good. I haven’t discussed it with him, but he had a really good week.”

Here are the five players to watch against the Steelers:

1. Takkarist McKinley, defensive end. McKinley, who was the 26th player taken in the NFL draft, is set to make his NFL debut. He's recovering from a surgically repaired right shoulder.
"He's probably a little stronger than what I thought," Quinn said. "That's not to say that was a weakness, but the strength that he's able to set an edge with, I knew that part of his game was good, but until you see it on film compared to seeing it live, it's a big difference."

McKinley combination of speed and power has been impressive in practice. He didn’t play in the exhibition opener against Miami.

“It wouldn’t be something that you’d even notice in a workout,” Quinn said. “You wouldn’t feel that kind of strength. You see the athleticism and explosiveness. Sometimes you’ve got to see, not even in OTAs for that matter, you’ve got to see the physicality of pads and setting edges. That part of his game is really intense.”

McKinley has mostly played right defensive end for the Falcons, opposite of Vic Beasley. He dropped back from 10 to 20 percent of the time while at UCLA as a linebacker in their 3-4 alignment.

“We are trying to find out more,” Quinn said. “He’s been in two-point and in a three-point (stances.) Where is he going to be best featured with us?”

2. Wes Schweitzer, guard. Schweitzer will start at right guard against the Steelers.

“That was really by design for me heading into training camp,” Quinn said. “I knew week one I was going to start Ben (Garland) and week two I wanted to start Wes. ... Don’t read into it past that. … Both are going to play almost the equal amount of plays.”

The Falcons are looking to replace Chris Chester, who retired over the offseason.

“I wanted both of them to have the opportunity to go out with the first group,” Quinn said. “I don’t know how long some of their defensive players will go, but I wanted that continuity with them being alongside of (center) Alex (Mack) and alongside of (right tackle) Ryan (Schraeder) and the first group that goes out. I wanted to offer both of them that opportunity.

“That was by design heading into camp. I told both of them that. As we get into next week, the practice certainly matters a lot for the evaluation. It’s not like we just base everything off the game. Both of them have had maybe 15, 16 or 17 really good practices. We felt it appropriate to stick to the schedule and stick to the plan.”

3. Darion Griswold, tight end. At 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds, Griswold has played well.

“The competition at tight end has been a good one,” Quinn said. “Griswold, it’s his size at tight end. When you see him in the one-on-ones, you see him catching. He has a big catching radius where he can go up and grab it. He’s not quite as tall as Levine (Toilolo), but he does have length.”

4. D.J. Tialavea, tackle. The Falcons are searching for a backup tackle. Tialavea is an option after a move from tight end.

“We’ve moved D.J. over to tackle and that’s still ongoing to see him at the right tackle position,” Quinn said. “You see his quickness coming off the ball. He’s still working on his pass protection. It was the right decision for him to go for it in that way.”

5. Tevin Coleman, running back. With Devonta Freeman out with a concussion, Coleman will start with the first-team offense. Behind Coleman, the Falcons want to see if rookie Brian Hill can turn in a solid performance after rushing for 10 yards on nine carries last week.