Since his retirement two years ago, the Atlanta Falcons have yet to replace the safety blanket Tony Gonzalez became for that team. The tight end was always there for Matt Ryan when the quarterback got into trouble and his absence is still felt on the field. Atlanta attempted to replace Gonzalez with Levine Toilolo who has the size of a top red zone threat, but inconsistent hands. That forced the Falcons to eye free agent options and Jacob Tamme is proving worth the money.
According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, head coach Dan Quinn has been impressed with what Tamme has been showing during OTAs over the past two weeks. The veteran signed a deal after being the primary backup to Julius Thomas with the Denver Broncos and is now proving that he might just be the starter the Falcons truly need.
D. Orlando Ledbetter of the AJC reported that Tamme could be the starter over Toilolo despite having just joined the team. Tamme is proving to be the better option for Matt Ryan and working more and more with the first-team offense The key to determining who gets the nod will be the whichever tight end excels more at blocking. Toilolo began to really develop as a blocker last year, but still has yet to develop into the red zone threat. Despite his struggles, Quinn remains confident in Toilolo and the rest of the tight ends to excel this season.
"[Toilolo's] come in, and he's been ready to work. I've been anxiously waiting to see what he can do," Quinn said, via the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "You should see how close they are. They are doing all of their drills together. They've been boxing. They've been lifting. They've been conditioning. It's a pretty cool group to see how tight they are becoming."
Tamme has been one of the breakout stars in OTAs along with several rookies. Both Jacob Hardy and Tevin Coleman have been making their presence known with the team as the Falcons look to rebound once again and become a bigger threat in 2015. The x-factor could be offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. According to the coach, calling plays for the Falcons is much easier than his previous jobs because of the type of quarterback Ryan is. Falcons fans certainly hope that equals to more success.
"He has all those intangibles," Shanahan said, via ESPN.com. "He's a big guy who is tall in the pocket. The protection doesn't need to be great and he still makes the play. He can make any throw. What I've noticed best about Matt is how good he is with his eyes. He manipulates the defense every play. I think I call a play against a coverage that a guy shouldn't be open on, but he is open because Matt looks people off and helps get people open. It makes it a lot easier to call plays."
