Footblog Campfire #4: Falcons, RBBC's and NFL Draft

* Tune in tomorrow for a live-blog of the NFL Draft!

Let's fire up the 4th installment of the Footblog Campfire:

1. Who is going to catch the ball in Atlanta? Last season was an absolute debacle in terms of catching the ball in Atlanta. Every player at this position on this team was guilty of frequent drops, and as of now, the only move this team has made to rectify what appears to be the team's biggest achilles heal is bringing in 35-year old Joe Horn. There is no way Joe Horn alone is going to upgrade this corps enough to give Vick the help he needs. What is going on here? They keep talking about Vick throwing more and running less, but how can the coaches execute such a plan without talent at the wide-receiver position?

The short answer to this is no one, because they'll probably just end up dropping it anyway. It's amazing to me how many picks the Falcons have wasted trying to get their receiving corp in order with zero results. Roddy White and Michael Jenkins have been busts, and their only reliable target has been Alge Crumpler. I think Joe Horn will help a bit, but at his age is he really going to stay upright all season? The obvious fix to this situation is Calvin Johnson, but Atlanta doesn't have the firepower to make a trade up to number two to get him. I think the Falcons are doomed to yet another inconsistent season with their receivers.

2. Let's talk RBBC's. Two previously feature-back oriented teams have now verbally confirmed they will move closer to an RBBC for the upcoming season. I'm talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Minnesota Vikings. This is potentially a big blow for Willie Parker and Chester Taylor owners. Of these two guys, which one is going to lose the most reps, and how far does this news drop their stock?

I suppose the answer to this one depends a lot on the draft. If the Browns pass on Adrian Peterson and he, by some chance, falls down to the Vikings at the number seven spot, then I would be a bit worried if I were Chester Taylor. I think the only person who thinks Taylor can be a feature back is himself, and I'm sure the Vikings would be more than happy to bring in a young stud like Adrian Peterson to help take off a lot of the load. The Steelers really don't have a lot of really talented options to spell Willie Parker, so I wouldn't be as worried about him losing as many carries as Chester may.

3. Give me one or two draft-day trades you would like to see happen, but probably won't.

I'm going to go a bit obscure on this one, and I'm going to say the Seahawks should find a way to trade themselves back into the first round and go get Greg Olsen from Miami to fill their tight end spot. They traded away their first rounder to New England in the Deion Branch deal, and desperately need a tight end. Unfortunately it's a very weak class as far as tight end depth, so the good ones (Olsen and Zach Miller) will probably be off the board by the time their second round pick comes up. They should make a move.

4. Give me one or two draft-day trades you think will happen.

I think the Skins are going to get out of that six spot. They need more picks, and if Adrian Peterson or Brady Quinn is sitting there they need to make a deal to get out of that spot. I don't know who exactly will make the move up (Buffalo? Tennessee? Green Bay?) but I think the Skins will move off of the six spot to pick up a couple of draft picks in later rounds.

5. Who is your early candidate for biggest rookie bust?

Brady Quinn. First off, he's probably going to Cleveland, which is where draft picks go to get injured or have a horrible career (take a look at their draft record since coming back....it's horrendous), but also I just don't know if he's going to be an elite NFL QB, and being picked third you had better be an elite player. He gets happy feet rather quickly, and also shows a tendency to not be as accurate as you'd like an NFL QB to be....and that was in college! I just don't think he's going to be as good as advertised.

6. Which team(s) are in the best position to fill their exact needs in this draft?

Tampa Bay, San Francisco, and New England. Tampa Bay and San Francisco both have a load of picks in the first three rounds, and can definitely fill some spots of need. Tampa wants Calvin Johnson, but I doubt they'll give the Lions enough to get him, but they can still use all their picks to fill holes in their team. New England doesn't have that many holes, but they also have two first round picks which will help fill the few holes they actually do have. What a great organization they are running up there.

Well that's it for that campfire.
Don't forget that I'll be live-blogging the NFL draft tomorrow at noon!

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Footblog Campfire #4: Falcons, RBBC's and NFL Draft

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