FLOWERY BRANCH -- Falcons offensive line coach Mike Tice went out of his way to let us know that Lamar Holmes is penciled in as the starter at right tackle.
After last season, you have to figure that Holmes, who was taken in the third-round of the 2012 draft, is on a short leash.
Holmes needs improved him play dramatically.
Here’s want profootballfocus.com had to say about Holmes in a preview that was done before Baker went down for the season:
Holmes projects as the team's swing tackle, but his poor play ranked him second worst in the NFL out of PFF's 76 qualifying tackles. Draft bust Gabe Carimi was brought in as a backup interior lineman to compete with Konz and Harland Gunn for snaps should there be an injury. Regardless of who steps in, the Falcons are in a world of trouble if one of their backups is forced to see extended time in the starting lineup in 2014.
Holmes had one of the great plays last season. He showed some courage by going to tackle a defender after he was beaten on the play. That showed us some spunk!
The Falcons spent the offseason with protecting Matt Ryan as the No. 1 priority and that appears to be in jeopardy if Holmes is not much better.
Peter Konz played very poorly as the team's starting center, earning himself an overall grade of -14.6. Joe Hawley subsequently replaced Konz in Week 11. Lamar Holmes was even worse. His 53 quarterback hurries were good for second most in the NFL behind Bears rookie tackle Jordan Mills, and earned a -33.4 gradeat left tackle replacing the injured Sam Baker.
The other options behind Holmes include Ryan Schraeder, Gabe Carimi and Terren Jones.
Former NFL lineman Jamie Dukes, over at 92.9TheGame, was advocating that the Falcons make a trade with the Titans to land tackle Michael Oher, who’s in a battle with rookie Taylor Lewan to start. The Titans signed him in the offseason to a four-year, $20 million contract. A total of $9 million was guaranteed.
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