Who's on the roster?#2 Matt Allen (6'4" 246, 1st yr., Troy State)
#4 Jay Feely (5'11" 205, 2nd yr., Michigan)
#6 Brian Holmes (5'11" 195, 1st yr., Samford)
#13 Chris Mohr (6'5" 215, 13th yr., Alabama)
Who's on the roster?
#2 Matt Allen (6'4" 246, 1st yr., Troy State)
#4 Jay Feely (5'11" 205, 2nd yr., Michigan)
#6 Brian Holmes (5'11" 195, 1st yr., Samford)
#13 Chris Mohr (6'5" 215, 13th yr., Alabama)
Projected starters: Feely (kicker), Mohr (punter)
Top backups: none
Newcomers: Allen (free agent), Holmes (free agent/AFL)
The Falcons went with two newcomers last year at both the kicker and punter position. Feely and Mohr replaced Morten Andersen and Dan Stryzinski, a pair that had been kicking and punting together since joining Atlanta in 1995. Feely beat out Jake Arians, the favorite, last year to replace Andersen.
Feely won the kicking job from Arians last summer due to Arians' injuries and weaker leg strength. Arians was only healthy for only part of training camp, and was the favorite going into summer. Arians had spent the previous year on the Falcons practice squad, and was the obvious choice to replace a departed and close to retirement Andersen. Although the superior in field goals, Arians could not match Feely's abilities on kickoffs, a noted weakness of Andersen. Feely kept the race close enough on field goals also, in order for the coaching staff to make an easy decision in going with the more consistent Feely. Feely went on to have a good, if not great rookie season. He proved that he was no worse than Andersen had been in recent years. Feely should only get better as he adds more experience.
He will face competition from Brian Holmes. Although Feely looks like the clear winner of this battle, Holmes has taken a similar path to the NFL much like Feely. Feely came to the Falcons after a two-year hiatus from college football. Holmes has spent the past two years in the Arena Football League since college. Like Feely did a year ago, Holmes impressed the team in a private workout that earned him a one-year contract. Holmes was not a great Arena kicker, but considering that he consistently kicks from farther than 30 yards and the Arena goalposts are significantly narrower may even the score. Holmes it the underdog, but he'll be trying to beat out a player that was in the same shoes a year ago. Holmes' best bets to beating Feely will be to out kick him on kickoffs and to be close if not better than Feely on field goals.
At the punter position, the team will match Mohr and Allen for the second year in a row. Mohr had a good season, showing accuracy, placement, and hang time. He was amongst the best in pinning teams deep in their own territory. The problem was that Mohr's punts were short as in they did not go very far. He does not have the leg strength to punt the team out of trouble as he kicks rarely surpass 50 yards. He will be under heavy scrutiny this summer. He will need to show a much stronger leg to go with his accuracy, or else the team may turn to Allen.
Allen was signed by the Falcons as an undrafted free agent last season, and did not win the job. But he impressed them enough that they re-signed him to push Mohr again. Allen has similar skills to Mohr, but has a stronger leg. Allen just was not better than Mohr in either distance or accuracy last summer, which led the team to go with Mohr. If Allen added some more consistency, and shows that he is close to Mohr in accuracy and better in distance, he could take the job from him.
Currently, the holder on special teams is listed as Mohr. His backup is Johnson. If Allen wins the job however, it's likely he'll perform as the team's holder.
Long snapping duties are held by Derek Rackley and it's hard to imagine him losing the job. He's been perfect in two years as the team's snapper. Other potential snapping candidates are Matt Stewart, Curt Lessman, Reggie Kelly, and Jeff Kelly. Lessman is the only real threat since Stewart will be too busy on defense to get many reps here. Rackley is going to have to botch some snaps in camp in order for Lessman to have a real shot. Plus Lessman will have to be perfect.
Salary Cap Sense
Feely's cap number will be $300,000, while Holmes will carry one of $225,000. I don't know Mohr's figure exactly, but I can guess that it will be between $600,000 and $900,000. Allen, contrastingly will carry the same figure as Holmes. Because of the latter discrepancy at punter, the team would not mind at all if Allen won the job. Mohr is entering the final year of his contract anyway, so the team may not be too hesitant to part with him. Otherwise, the salary cap will have little effect on this unit.
Predictions
The team's plans are to go into this year with Darrick Vaughn returning kickoffs and Allen Rossum returning punts. Rossum replaces Darrien Gordon, who led the NFC in punt return average last season.
Currently, Rossum is listed as Vaughn's backup on kickoffs, and Vaughn is Rossum's on punts. It is doubtful Vaughn will win the punt returning duties since he was not that impressive there last summer. He does not have the acceleration to excel there. He needs some time and distance to pick up speed. Once he reaches it, he's gone. Rossum has more quickness and is probably faster than Vaughn, making him a better option on punts. Rossum can do both and has done so in the past. Historically, he's been better on kickoffs than on punts, but that changed last year.
The only other player on the roster that seemingly may get a legitimate shot at either is Kahlil Hill. Hill was an excellent punt and kickoff returner in college, thus giving him a legitimate shot to unseat both players. Hill is not as quick as either Vaughn or Rossum, but is hard to take down in the open field due to his quickness and moves.
Whoever wins these jobs may determine a lot about who makes the roster at cornerback and wide receiver. If either Rossum or Vaughn wins both jobs, then the loser probably won't be kept. Hill's winning either job will obviously automatically earn him a roster spot at wide receiver, thus causing the Falcons to possibly keep a sixth wide out.
If injuries occur to the above trio, the team has some backup. Warrick Dunn or Ray Buchanan will likely take over on punt return duties, while Mike Coleman, Juran Bolden, Willie Jackson, or Travis Jervey could handle kickoffs. But otherwise, these six do not really look to have legitimate shots at earning the jobs over the previously mentioned trio.
Salary Cap Sense
The cap should have no effect on this unit, since the best one or two will be retained.
Predictions