http://www.profootballweekly.com/2012/0 ... rting-roleIs Falcons' Dent ready for starting role?
About the Author
Dan Parr
dparr@pfwmedia.comAssociate editor
PFW reported this spring that the Falcons viewed Akeem Dent as a legitimate contender to win the starting job at middle linebacker. The Falcons believed he could be an effective two-down player in 2012, sources said, but they wanted some veteran insurance. Dent would not be handed the opportunity with ex-Seahawk Lofa Tatupu also in the mix to start in the middle.
With the Falcons revealing Saturday that Tatupu suffered a pectoral injury during a recent workout, it’s not yet clear when Dent’s top competition for a starting job will be able to participate in practice. Tatupu, who sat out last season after undergoing surgery on both knees in January 2011, might not be ready to go when training camp begins later this week.
Dent, a third-round pick in 2011, became a core special-teams player as a rookie and the Falcons saw in him the potential to be an adequate and relatively cheap answer at middle linebacker after Curtis Lofton departed for the Saints in free agency.
