Wide Receivers

Who's on the roster?
#12 Darren Chiaverini (6'2" 210, 4th yr., Colorado)
#18 Mike Coleman (5'11" 190, rookie, Widener)
#16 R.J. English (6'3" 215, rookie, Pittsburgh)
#86 Brian Finneran (6'5" 210, 3rd yr., Villanova)
#14 Kahlil Hill (6'2" 200, rookie, Iowa)
#81 Willie Jackson (6'1" 212, 9th yr., Florida)
#84 Shawn Jefferson (5'11" 185, 11th yr., Central Florida)
#88 Quentin McCord (5'10" 188, 2nd yr., Kentucky)
#80 Travis McGriff (5'8" 185, 4th yr., Florida)
#19 Shawn Mills (6'1" 184, 1st yr., Southern Mississippi)
#87 Alvis Whitted (6' 186, 5th yr., N.C. State)

Projected starters: Finneran (flanker), Jefferson (split end)
Top backups: Jackson (flanker), Whitted (split end)

Newcomers: Chiaverini (free agent/Cowboys), Coleman (7th round pick), English (undrafted rookie), Hill (6th round pick), Jackson (free agent/Saints), McGriff (free agent/Broncos), Whitted (free agent/Jaguars)

The Falcons overhauled this position towards the end of 2001 and during the off-season. It began when they released veteran Tony Martin late in the season. At the time, Martin was the starter at the split end position. The team then cut long-time Falcon, Terance Mathis, in late February as one of their first personnel moves of the off-season. With those two players gone, it left last year's reserves: Shawn Jefferson, Quentin McCord, and Brian Finneran as the only experienced wideouts on the roster.

The only players that are in contention for a starting spot are Finneran, Jefferson, and Jackson. One might be able to throw Whitted into the mix, but he'll need to pick up right where he left off in throwing camp, and just blow people away. Initially Jackson will work behind Finneran at the flanker position. Both players are well suited for that position, but Finneran is the best playmaker on the team, and it's hard to imagine him not earning the starting spot. Thus Jackson will probably compete with Shawn Jefferson at split end at some point during camp. And it's quite possible that Jackson will win the job.

Jackson was brought in to replace Jeff Graham, who's off-season problems had him neglecting the Falcons. The team did not like that too much and cut Graham only weeks ago. Jackson had a stellar year in New Orleans last season, having career highs. But Jackson has never been a star receiver, and has made his living mostly in his 8-year career as a third wideout. Jackson has only decent speed, but does a good job at getting open and has good hands. He works best in the intermediate areas. The Falcons will hope that he'll add a downfield presence to his repertoire.

Finneran is a big guy with decent speed. But Finneran has shown the ability to make plays downfield despite his lack of top notch speed. Finneran was clearly the team's best receiver last year, but Reeves was reluctant to play the young wideout until late in the year. He was hoping his veterans would rebound, but they did not. Finneran is still somewhat of a question mark, because of his lack of extended playing time. He has looked good when playing in situations, but it's unknown how his performance will be when asked to play nearly every down. Finneran has soft hands, a nose for the big play, and at the very least should be a solid third wideout for the Falcons this year. He has been excellent in the past two summers, so it's likely that he'll have another solid summer. He'll need to get off to a good start in order to fend off Jackson.

Jefferson was signed to a nice contract in 2000, but has not played very well. He's been a good reserve, but when in the starting position, he does make plays. He has good speed, although it has deteriorated over the years. His hands are not that great, but they are good enough. In his best years, Jefferson has been a solid #2 wideout, but had good #1 wideouts to play off of like Tony Martin in San Diego and Terry Glenn in New England. He'll definitely be helped if Finneran or Jackson emerges and has an outstanding year. nitially Jefferson will work with first team at split end. But it may not be long before he's looking hard over his shoulder with Jackson and Whitted behind him.

Whitted was inconsistent in the 3.5 years he played in Jacksonville. The Jaguar coaching staff grew tired off his poor hands last season and dumped him. For much of his career, Whitted worked as the third wideout behind stars Keenan McCardell and Jimmy Smith. Whitted claims that working behind those two guys really helped him learn. Whitted is a track star with Olympic speed, but has never been a sure-handed wideout. He looked excellent in throwing camp catching virtually all passes thrown to him and blowing by defenders. But he'll need to show the same in actual games during preseason. Whitted's rap has always been excellent in practice, but bad during games. He'll need to erase those preconceptions. Whitted will enter camp third on the depth chart at split end. If Jackson sticks at flanker for a while, it gives Whitted more time to push Jefferson. If all the pieces fall into place, there's a chance Whitted could be starting on opening day. Those pieces are him having a great summer, and Jackson and Jefferson not.

Quentin McCord is the only other holdover with experience. McCord logged some minutes during a few games in 2001. McCord impressed the coaching staff with great speed. But McCord's hands were never really that solid, and lapses in concentration were rampant last summer. But McCord gets another shot this year. He'll need to outplay Whitted and others to assure himself a roster spot. Despite his lack of size, McCord can contribute some on special teams, which helps him a lot. But so can Whitted. He will enter camp as the #2 split end.

Darren Chiaverini and Travis McGriff are the other veterans on the roster. But at 24 and 26, respectively, they are not that experienced. Chiaverini is trying to rebound after a down year in 2001 with the Cowboys. He had an impressive start to his career, catching 44 passes with the Browns in 1999. But the Browns traded him to the Cowboys at the end of last summer. He served as a reserve in Dallas for much of the season, but did not impress them too much. He'll get another opportunity here in Atlanta. He does not have great speed, but has good hands. McGriff is small and will immediately remind most Falcon fans of Tim Dwight. They share identical stature, but McGriff lacks Dwight's outstanding speed. Thus far, McGriff has been very impressive as a receiver, and could be considered a dark horse to make the roster. McGriff never really progressed much up Denver's depth chart in his three years there. He and Chiaverini will work at flanker behind Jackson and Finneran. Although directly vying with each other, indirectly they will be competing with McCord and Whitted too for a roster spot. It's unlikely that the team will be able to afford all these veterans at this position. Those four players could possibly be only competing for two roster spots.

This will leave some of the young wideouts on the outside looking in. Kahlil Hill had an opportunity to distinguish himself in passing camp, but was hampered by a hamstring injury that severely limited him. That hurts his chances of making the roster a lot since he'll be a month behind the rest of the unit. But Hill is a talented player with good size, decent speed, and hands. Although selected in the sixth round, many felt that he was worthy of a third or fourth round pick. Hill probably slipped in the draft due to some perceived baggage. Hill will enter camp as the fifth flanker on the depth chart. Because of his late start, Hill is most likely to be looking for a practice squad position rather than roster position. But if he lives up to his potential quickly, then he becomes a cheaper alternative than many of the veterans ahead of him.

Fellow draft pick Mike Coleman is facing a similar situation. Coleman did play in throwing camp, but did not really distinguish himself. Coleman has track speed and was a huge threat on the Division III level at Widener. But the level of play in the NFL is vastly greater than Division III. So far Coleman does not look like he's making an easy adjustment, but that can be expected. Coleman is really fighting for a chance to make the practice squad. He could make the roster, but he'll need to play much better than he has done so far.

Shawn Mills is the last player that really has a chance to make the roster. But his chance is very slim with solid veterans ahead of him and two draft picks. Mills was decent last summer, but it was sort of unexpected to see him make the practice squad last year, since he was not that great in preseason. Mills is a decent competitor with athleticism, but does not have great speed or hands. He will be mostly pushing for a practice squad spot, but will need to outplay rookies Coleman and Hill to do so.

R.J. English is the last receiver on the roster and tore his ACL in the waning days of throwing camp, so he's out for the year. But English could still be put on the injured reserve and allowed to get another shot next summer. English has great size, good speed, decent hands, and is good on special teams. He has all the components needed to be a sleeper to make the roster, but his chance will never come, at least not this summer. English has had a history of knee injuries, as this recent one is his fourth. So he is no sure bet to even be put on injured reserve since it's questionable if he'll ever recover from this one.

The Falcons are likely to keep five receivers on the roster. That is usually what Reeves does. The only exceptions came in 1998 and 2000. In '98, the team opened the season with four on the roster, and six in 2000. But the added wideout in 2000 was due to the injury of Jammi German, and the sixth wideout, Eugene Baker, did not play a down the entire season. So the team will only keep an extra player if an injury occurs. Unless something unexpected happens, it's close to a safe bet that three of the five will be Finneran, Jefferson, and Jackson. McCord, Whitted, McGriff, and Chiaverini will probably be competing for the final two spots, with Hill, Coleman, and Mills outside the bubble.

Salary Cap Sense

McGriff, Whitted, and Chiaverini will all be playing at the veteran minimum of $450,000. Graham signed a three year deal, but his cap figure is probably not too much higher than that figure also. I believe Jefferson's cap figure ranges anywhere between $2.5 and $3.5 million. If that's the case, then cutting him could free up anywhere between $1.2 and $2.4 million in cap space. Because of that huge cap savings, Jefferson's roster spot is not as assured as I may have implied. If Jackson plays well enough to start, and another younger reserve looks like he can fill in as the third wideout then Jefferson may be dumped. But the coaching staff likes Jefferson's presence even as a third wideout, so those two conditions must be met in order for Jefferson to be released. Finneran's cap figure is $375,000, while McCord will count about $300,000. Mills and English will count about $225,000 against the cap and Hill ($250,000) and Coleman ($235,000). Because of the fact that the team has some decent talent for half the price, it will be tough for McGriff, Whitted, and Chiaverini to all make the roster.

Predictions

1. Brian Finneran (starter)
2. Willie Jackson (starter)
3. Shawn Jefferson
4. Alvis Whitted
5. Darren Chiaverini
6. Kahlil Hill (practice squad)
7. Travis McGriff (cut)
8. Quentin McCord (cut)
9. Mike Coelman (cut)
10. Shawn Mills (cut)
11. R.J. English (injured reserve)