Smith’s visit to the Branch went “Great”
Things are starting to pick up at Flowery Branch.
Tight end L.J. Smith and center Brett Romberg visited the Falcons on Thursday. They were the first players to drive through the gates during free agency this offseason
Daniel Loper, a reserve guard/tackle with the Tennessee Titans, is slated to visit on Friday, according to our friend Jim Wyatt of the Nashville Tennessean.
Brian Mackler, Smith’s agent, has been a busy man in free agency. He worked out Domonique Foxworth’s great deal with the Baltimore Ravens. He also has Sean Jones, the Cleveland Browns safety from UGA and Westlake High. Surprisingly, Jones has been keeping a low profile in free agency. Reportedly he’s headed to Philadelphia for a visit on Friday.
“It went great,” Mackler said of Smith’s visit with the Falcons.
When asked if they were working out a deal, Mackler said, “Call me tomorrow and I’ll let you know what’s going on.”
That wasn’t a no!
So it looks like the Falcons may have zeroed in on Smith as their pass-catching tight end. The Falcons feel it’s important to the development of quarterback Matt Ryan to add that weapon to the offense.
Smith must convince the Falcons that he’s at least a decent blocker. He was a second rounder coming out of Rutgers in 2003.
His career got off to a fine start as he caught 27 passes and started five games as a rookie. In his second season, he started eight games, caught 34 passes and was a weapon in the redzone with five touchdowns.
He was a full-time starter in 2005 and 2006, starting 31 of 32 games. He caught 61 and 50 passes and appeared headed for the Pro Bowl. But he’s been plagued by injuries the last two seasons.
Over his career Smith has averaged 10.9 yards on 231 catches. He caught four passes and scored a touchdown in Philadelphia’s Super Bowl loss to New England. The Eagles beat the Falcons in the NFC Championship game to advance to the Super Bowl.
Like Smith, Loper is coming to Atlanta after a visit with the Detroit Lions.
Loper is massive at 6-foot-6, 320 pounds. He was a fifth round pick out of Texas Tech in 2005. He has played in 40 regular-season games with no starts. Coming out of Texas Tech, he is a good pass protector. The key will be if he’s a mean and nasty attacker in the run game.
Should the Falcons pull the trigger and sign Smith? If they get Smith, should they still pick up a tight end in the draft? What about Loper? (You can’t teach anybody to be 6-6 and 320! He certainly passes the eye-ball test.)
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
111 comments Add your comment
kc
March 8th, 2009
3:13 am
Ok Ken … Truce … I’m a Falcon fan as well. I’ve had season tix 10 years. My Dad’s had season tix since 1980. —— For the record … The Dawgs finished 2nd in the nation 2 years ago, and 3rd 5 years ago. I’d call a 2nd nationally, a 3rd nationally and 2 SEC championships in 5 years a “National power”! ******** The Falcons need to draft a TE, draft 2 linebackers, draft a DL guy and sign a free agent safety. Hopefully Sharper. Peace -
ddawgdavis
March 8th, 2009
9:51 am
Ok, time to throw in my two cents on the Falcon’s “Offseason 09 Plan.” I have good faith in Dimitroff and Smith, but it’s too quiet in Flowery Branch. Either they are going to shock us on Draft day or going to make small moves that come November we are all going to be thinking, Thank you Lord for Dimitroff!
Smith- Please stay away! Great athlete, hands, etc., but no blocking. And injuries that could scare anyone away. I realize it’s great idea to give our Offense another Red Zone Weapon, which we need, but draft or let’s wait till 2010 FA when Scheffler becomes available. Pettigrew, kid out of South Carolina are good choices, but still unknown to the average fan.
I am sold on First Round, First pick we go Safety or LB. If we are getting younger and faster and better at the point of attack (aka open field tackling) Defense is our first option. Peele is a decent 2009 starting TE for us. He’s not “sexy” like Smith, but he is already in the fold, been with Ryan, so why not give him another year.
The focus should be on Defense! LB or S or DL, depth….Blah Blah Blah
Ken Strickland
March 8th, 2009
10:58 am
KC-I would be glad to honor your truce suggestion. I’d much rather discuss Falcon issues than argue about anything else. Dimitroff has stated that he wants an impact SS, much like Reed or Palomolo. It’s obvious there’s not a SS available in FA that’s shown that kind of ability, so that leaves the draft. There does seem to be a few players in the draft that, with a little seasoning and experience, could fit the bill. I haven’t seen a single mock draft where a SS was projected to be taken before our 24th pick. That means we can get a quality talent at the position in the lower rds. Unless whoever we draft steps up and outperforms Fudge and McCloud, we will likely see one of them start.
I don’t think we’ll see more than 1 or 2 rookie starters on DEF, and that will be at LB and DT. Like I said earlier, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see us take a CB with our 1st pick. Even though we’ll have 3 CB’s returning from IR(DIrons, VHutchins and BGrimes), they are all returning from season ending injuries and therefore question marks. The truth is, Smith isn’t all that enamored with CB Houston’s lack of aggressiveness. Therefore, he might be looking to replace him as well as finding a replacement for DFoxworth.
GREG-your point, and the point of the article, can be best illustrated by the success of a former Probowl CB named Rod Woodson. He had lost a step or 2 and the Steelers waived him because he was getting beaten consistently. The Raiders picked him up and converted him to safety and he became a Probowler again. That same thing happened to 2 other former CB’s that were successfully converted to safety after losing a step or 2, but I can’t remember their names. I thought a former Falcon draft pick from VA Tech, CB Jimmy Williams, was a perfect candidate for conversion to safety. He was big, strong, a heavy hitter, with CB cover speed, although he lacked technique. All he needed was seasoning and adequate training to become a standout safety. Maybe that’s what the team that recently signed him has in mind.
SportsLoungeCentral
March 8th, 2009
12:56 pm
http://www.sportsloungecentral.com/forums/index.php
ray
March 8th, 2009
8:11 pm
Ken,
I see us drafting a safety first, unless a very good defensive tackle or exceptional linebacker falls to us. I don’t figure it will be a linebacker unless Aaron Curry or Brian Cushing falls to us. Don’t see that happening, but stranger things have happened in the NFL draft.
As far as safeties go, I like William Moore of Missouri, and Sean Smith of Utah. Delmas and Chung are also pretty good, but a bit smaller than I’d like, although Chung is a tough cookie.
Lots of mock drafts have us picking a corner before anything else, and it tends to be D.J. Moore of Vanderbilt. Who knows, we could get a guy like Vonta Davis or Malcolm Jenkins.
As far as defensive linemen go, I’m not sure what the deal is. We won’t likely be able to get ends like Orakpo or Tyson Jackson. Michael Johnson is a scary physical specimen, but he’s got some issues. Besides, we could be more or less set with Davis/Anderson and Abraham/Biermann. I think the tackle position will be the emphasis. Hate to say it, but Raji and Perry probably don’t fall this far, so we maybe we get Ron Brace.
Still, I’m not sure we burn that first pick on a defensive lineman or linebacker unless they are top billing at their position, and manage to fall to us. While everybody is picking guys like those, big offensive linemen, and every other position, that will probably push nearly all of the top secondary players to our area (24th pick), and all we will have to do is decide which position (safety or cornerback) we want to upgrade the most at first chance. Not to say that we won’t have another shot at the secondary in the 2nd round, but it wouldn’t surprise me if by then we are looking at LBs or DL-men (depending on what we do in the first round, and what happens in the early/mid part of the second).
I’d look for us to draft a guy who can play safety or corner, or can fit at either safety spot. Such versatility has to be a plus. William Moore can play either safety spot, and Smith can play either safety or corner, though he’s probably better as a safety. The boy has some size, too.
We’ll see. Can’t rule out Dimitroff trading up in the draft, either. But then, if he does that, he probably doesn’t end up with as many picks, and if that’s the case, whomever he’s wanting to grab will have to be special….
ray
March 8th, 2009
8:23 pm
I can see why Pettigrew will probably still be the first TE off the draft board, and should still go in the first round.
Other than getting arrested for assault/battery on a police officer, this guy is THE package, without so much speed (but he don’t need it, trust me). Besides, we don’t know just how valid that charge was or how it all happened. Don’t want to be too quick to judge.
But is Pettigrew good enough to want to take a chance on drafting him first?
Ken Strickland
March 8th, 2009
9:21 pm
RAY-there are always GM’s and HC’s that put a great deal of stock in combine results. That’s what separates GM’s like Dimitroff from the others. A situation like the one that happened to Pettigrew could benefit us. I remember a simular situation happening to a DT named Warren Sapp before the draft and it caused him to drop into Tampa Bay’s lap.
I’m not so certain the coaching staff is sold on CWire as an every down LB. I don’t know why, but I have a sneaky suspicion we will take a CB with the 1st pick. You know what, I’ll bet the other GM’s and HC’s are as uncertain about Dimitroff’s intentions as we are, and that’s probably what he wants.
I’ll say one thing. No matter what decision Dimitroff makes with our picks, I won’t offer a single objection or question his decision.
Najeh Davenpoop
March 8th, 2009
10:36 pm
LJ Smith has good hands and nice athleticism, but he runs inconsistent routes and gives you nothing as a blocker. Signing him makes sense, but handing him the starting job doesn’t. He wasn’t the best tight end on his team this year.
kc
March 8th, 2009
11:59 pm
At least we can all agree that we have “blind faith” in Thomas Dimitroff. We’re all just players in his game ! Your the man TD !
Magnetic
March 9th, 2009
1:28 am
I think they need to sign Sean Jones ASAP. A UGA product with the speed, size and smarts to sure up the Strong Safety position for years. Sean Jones is a must have if we plan to build on last year’s success. We need to replace Milloy with a stud, that being Mr. Jones. U also add LJ Smith. His speed is a problem for line backers to keep up with. In the play action game LJ Smith would be a great weapon. Tommie Harris is also available at DT. If we add these pieces prior to the draft, we can focus on corner and linebacker and grab a later round DT to fill the gap.
yupppppp
March 9th, 2009
12:29 pm
MV7!!