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Harry Douglas has been ruled out this Sunday. How did this happen? No idea but I'm pretty concerned right now. Drew Davis is about to be the next x-factor on the rise or will Harry be missed in a big way?

Davis is quick enough to get open, but his route-running needs a lot of work. I haven't seen enough of Cone except raw athleticism and inconsistent hands to really have a strong positive feeling about him.

When the Falcons go 3-wide, they will essentially be playing 10 on 11. The good thing is that Palmer is back, and thus the Falcons might employ more 2-TE sets than we've seen thus far this year to try and get an 11th guy on the field that Ryan has some faith in. But I expect the Falcons may split Quizz out quite a bit, and we may actually see some sets where Quizz & Turner are on the field at the same time??

Losing Douglas hurts because our depth at WR is so thin, but thankfully he was the most expendable part of that unit. His value to the team (an underneath outlet) is the easiest to replace for this team because it doesn't require a highly skilled replacement, and we already have a great one in Tony Gonzalez.

I'm hoping this is a good thing. Harry Douglas is simply a non factor in this passing attack, as much as it hurts me to say it. 16 catches of 149 yards and no TDs. He's just non-existent out there, aside from his ability to block in the run game. I'd say they should at least give those other guys a chance. Maybe there's a Victor Cruz or a Randall Cobb or Ramses Barden on this team somewhere.

Maybe whoever takes his place will be able to break out and replace him. Now I realize how unlikely that scenario is, because things like that just NEVER happen on this team, but hey, a guy can still dream right?

Douglas lack of production IMO is not from a lack of ability, but I think more from a lack of opportunity. Watching the All-22, I've seen times where he was open, but he's Option D in the passing game, and primarily is not a guy that can create for himself. Think of him as the wing player in basketball that can take the open three on the kick-out, but he's not a guy that can "create his own shot" like our other receivers can.

The problem I think is that Douglas is very good at one thing: getting open underneath. His quickness coupled with his less than stellar size makes it harder for him to separate from man coverage downfield. He presents a much smaller window to throw into on these downfield throws, and thus why it puts more pressure on Ryan to be more accurate when he throws to him. Compare that to Tony Gonzalez, who doesn't create much separation, but you can throw to a spot and feel comfortable that Gonzo will go and get the ball. That is not HD's forte.

I think what hurts HD more than anything is the fact that Gonzo is also on the team. Gonzo's forte is the short stuff as well. And so what you have in the Falcons offense is all 3 levels covered: short goes to Gonzo, intermediate to Roddy, and deep to Julio.

If/when Tony retires next year, I think you'll see HD take over more of that short stuff. Especially if the Falcons can replace Gonzo with a TE that is more of an intermediate/vertical threat that can challenge the safeties/vertical seams, which should open things up more for players like Julio on the outside.

So I think you'll start to see HD's production increase starting next year.

I wasn't thrilled when the Falcons re-signed Douglas this off-season because I did feel he was expendable. But I do think it's a good case of TD playing the longer game and looking ahead to the future especially given that it's likely that the Falcons will take a major step back at TE over the next few years.

You are looking into stats far too much. Douglas has been solid this season and has made his fair share of plays. I would love to see Harry explode sooner or later but until then, he's made some key third down catches.

I wouldn't say he's a consistent key-play maker, simply because of the things Pudge eluded to. I mean, he's made some plays, but not as many as I would think he can, being as fast as he is with his hands.

He should consistently be ending the season with 600-700 yards with at least 4 TDs. The guy has 3 TDs in his entire career.

If Cone hands were just a tad bit more reliable then I would be all for him getting more opportunities, but I can just see the ball bouncing off his hands and landing in a defenders chest for some reason. With that said he is a big and fast so maybe they can get him in on a WR screen or something and just get the ball to him quickly and use him as an extension of the running game because he does have game breaking speed. Drew Davis is pretty much HD83 probably a step or two slower and without the route running acumen (In the NFL that is the difference from seeing the field and being an special teamer). To be honest I think TD should have done a better job of being prepared and we should have had a better player in the fourth WR spot and then a developmental prospect in the fifth spot. Had Roddy or Julio went down (knock on wood) like Pudge mentioned previously we would be screwed.

Methinks Mr Davis rose to the occasion

That was such a sweet play. Gotta feel good for the kid.

i THINK WE MIGHT HAVE GOT LUCKY WITH #19. Davis looked like he had soft hands and although he was not returned to after the first quarter, his TD was conducted like he'd done them before.

We've talked about all these receivers who haven't even hit the field.....Harry Douglas has never done much, I think Davis could be a full time solution and he seems to have enough size although I didn't look him up.

Will see about Drew Davis, he got a gimmie for a touchdown but showed great concentration to haul it in. I love how under appreciated Harry Douglas is. People ridicule him to be this cancer on the team and then praise someone for getting a gimmie touchdown. I'm happy for Drew and he earned some more reps but the negativity on Douglas is pretty ridiculous.

Drew Davis' TD was 50% Davis having the concentration to bring that in and 50% Julio for being such a threat that the entire secondary bit hard on the pump.

Harry Douglas is a weapon. It is a shame that he doesn't get more touches. At the very least, Davis showed that he can fill in if someone goes down. Harry proved last year that he can fill in if Roddy or Julio go down.

Davis definitely stepped up but lets pump the brakes for a second. Both of his catches were instances where he was wide open and uncovered. To be a "real" NFL receiver you have to beat man coverage on a consistent basis. Douglas isn't the greatest there, which is why he's largely marginalized in the offense.

Can Davis get there? Sure, like I said he displays the quickness to be able to separate from the lesser corners. But as we all know being a reliable and productive NFL receiver its no just about getting open and catching the ball, you have to be able to read coverages and adjust routes and be on the same page with the QB, which is why it takes years for guys to get good.