The Atlanta Falcons found out the hard way what happens when injuries make their way through a roster. Projected to have one of the better offenses in the league last season, both Roddy White and Julio Jones were lost for several games thanks to injuries. Jones was leading the league in receiving yards when he was lost for the season. After not drafting any receivers to help with depth, are the Falcons considering a last-minute signing before OTAs begin?
According to head coach Mike Smith, the Falcons' offense will be back to its high-flying self in 2014. The team added big bodies up front to protect quarterback Matt Ryan, including first-round pick Jake Matthews, and they are expected to have both Jones and White back and fully healthy. White suffered from a high-ankle sprain in preseason last year before also getting hit with a reoccurring hamstring issue. He saw his impressive streak of consecutive starts end. Pairing White's injury with the foot break that lost Jones for the year and Harry Douglas ended up leading the Falcons in receiving by the end of 2013.
Smith spoke with the Atlanta Journal Constitution and noted that White was healthy and ready for practice, but Jones would be limited during most of OTAs and some of training camp. Smith said that Jones has been everything possible to get healthy in the offseason and was well-ahead of schedule, but the team would continue to be cautious while bringing him back on the field.
"We anticipate he'll be ready to go 100 percent," Smith said, via Atlanta Journal Constitution. "We'll get him going at some point in time here in the offseason. We'll be very careful. Our No. 1 goal is to have him ready to participate in training camp."
However, while Jones only remains partially active, the Falcons might have some depth issues at the receiver position. Several NFL Draft experts had Atlanta pegged to take a late-round receiver as some to potentially develop and help with injury issues. Losing Tony Gonzalez to retirement only furthered the need for an extra body, but so far Atlanta has not made any moves.
Right now, Santonio Holmes is the best available option after Miles Austin and Earl Bennett signed to the Cleveland Browns. He would not be a bad choice and at this point, Holmes could sign for relatively cheap. Greg Little is also available, but likely more expensive than Holmes. Little is young and has suffered from quarterback inconsistencies for his entire career. At the hands of Matt Ryan, he could be something special. He could sign to a very low-risk contract and end up helping Atlanta more than hurting.
The Falcons would be wise to pick someone up. Outside of White, Jones and Douglas, they have Devin Hester in certain situations, Drew Davis and Darius Johnson. Levine Toilolo will replace Gonzalez. That is not enough if one o the stars go down.