Archive for March, 2011

Bailey in the 2nd? (J.Carter/AP)

Seems like the big day will never get here. Combine’s over and most Pro Days have already occurred, leaving us fans with a painful drought of football until the NFL Draft finally gets here. It’s also been tough this year with no free agency to get us through most of March. The big weekend is still almost 5 weeks away (4 weeks as of Thursday) and all we’re left is going over the endless scenarios on who the Falcons will draft and when. And with that, here’s Falcons Full Mock Madness 2.2…….

1st Round

Torrey Smith – Wide Receiver – Maryland

Many may disagree on the need to upgrade the wide receiver position, but repeated comments by both Head Coach Mike Smith and General Manager Thomas Dimitroff about needing to be “much more explosive” can’t help but be directed at the wide receiving corps. Michael Jenkins should definitely be apart of the receivers, but he’s been unable to show he can carry the team if Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez are double …

Continue reading Falcons Full Mock Madness – 2.2 »

3rd Annual Bird Cage Falcons Mock Draft Competition

It’s that time again fellow Bird Cagers, the NFL draft is rapidly approaching and it’s one of the best events of the entire year. Even the greedy owners and selfish players can’t ruin this, at least let’s hope.

Beginning this week and lasting until the week of the draft, The Bird Cage will offer a new look at what the Falcons might do as the draft nears, culminating with the 3rd Annual Bird Cage Mock Draft Competition. The competition will be a friendly and enjoyable chance for Bird Cage readers and posters to predict what the Birds will do. The next several weeks will not necessarily be the exact prediction of what the Falcons will do, but rather to examine the possibilities they could entertain with various prospects in the different rounds. In other words, research and play around with your practice mocks for the next several weeks, before offering your final version submitted for the actual competition.

Some excellent …

Continue reading Falcons Full Mock Madness – 2.1 »

Catching up in The Bird Cage after a round of sickness swept through the authors house and family. New, more extensive post to come shortly.

Almost all of The Bird Cage is devoted of course to our Atlanta Falcons, but seeing as though a real possibility exists of not even seeing any Falcons games in 2011, the topic should be a good one for some comments and feelings towards the NFL, the owners, and the players.

“Reasons” for Lockout

The factors at play are complicated, complex, and hard to understand. If you’ve been following the entire dramatic saga you know that the NFL makes $9 billion dollars a year and the owners want more of the pie and the players not quite as much. Then there’s the issue of the season going to 18 games, a rookie wage scale, and owner’s opening their financial books.

It’s amazing all involved in this ridiculous ordeal are this tone deaf in the current state of affairs in our country and the world overall. The NFL just hit its highest peak in the last …

Continue reading NFL Lockout = Stupid Greed »

Make Some Tough Decisions of Your Own

Franchise QB (C.Compton/AJC)

To break up the off-season monotony a little, The Bird Cage decided to take a little break from the positional breakdowns and put a debate up that sure to stir some passion and heated discussions. We as fans may have some clue as to what Thomas Dimitroff, Mike Smith, and the Falcons front office have in store for us, but anyone watching last year’s draft knows that we’re only spectators and are just guessing in the dark after all. Anyone who guessed Joe Hawley, Kerry Meier, or Shann Schillinger would be wearing red and black before the draft began would be lying.

Try doing your best to rank your Atlanta Falcons on importance to the team and overall value to the team in future success. Some rankings will be tough, but this can also serve as a guidepost to the upcoming draft posts on truly what the Falcons need when late April rolls around. Make sure to give your own ranking and shoot plenty of holes in the …

Continue reading Rank Your Atlanta Falcons – Part 1 »

Much to Decide

How Much Gas in the Tank? (C.Compton/AJC)

A position that surely to generate some heated debate: what should the Falcons do for the future at running back? The Birds just had their feature back Michael Turner head to the Pro Bowl for the 2nd time in 2 years and both times the Falcons made the playoffs, even if it ended poorly. Their backup running back Jason Snelling boosted his stock not only as a runner between the tackles, but also was the 3rd leading receiver on the entire team in terms of receptions. Jerious Norwood was injured in the beginning of the season and will have a tough road back. 3rd string backs Gartrelle Johnson and Antone Smith couldn’t take advantage of their opportunity and made a negligible impact. Obviously, Turner is the undisputed starter, but what will the Falcons do with the rest of the position, or rather what SHOULD they do?

2010 Rushing Stats

Michael Turner – 334 Attempts – 1,371 yards – 12 TDs – 4.1 yards/attempt

Jason Snelling – …

Continue reading What’s Falcons Future @ RB? »