With the first practice in less than 4 days, the 2008 Falcons have many, many questions to answer. And the answers to those questions will impact not only the Falcons fantasy players and potential, but those of any players who will be going against the Falcons.

1. Who will be the starting QB? With the new face of the franchise, QB Matt Ryan signed and in camp on time, he will have a legitimate chance to win the starting position. With an offensive line in transition, I expect QB Chris Redman to take the lumps for the first part of the season while Ryan watches from the sideline. The last thing the Falcons want is to turn Ryan into another David Carr. This will also impact WR Roddy White. Can he build upon last season’s success or will the quarterback play stunt his development….
2. Will OT Sam Baker get signed an in camp in time to become an effective starting left tackle? What will the rest of the line look like? Just one more reason to start someone other than Ryan at quarterback…a rookie left tackle…..Also, this will make or break the success of RB Michael Turner this year, but expect a lot of carries this season. I would not be shocked to see Turner have a season similar to LenDale White had last year with Tennessee…1,100 yards and 7 TDs, but only a 3.7 yard average.
3. Who will play defensive tackle? I could list the names for you that are on the roster today, but you wouldn’t recognize many of them…..I expect that this team will have extreme difficulty stopping the run this year, especially in the early part of the year….if you can get any running backs from the NFC South, I would strongly recommend it.
4. Who will be the starting cornerbacks? The starting cornerbacks could be second year man Chris Houston and rookie Chevis Jackson…..again start your offensive players against the Falcons defense.

Should be an interesting training camp, head coach Mike Smith’s first one as a head coach. I’ll be heading up to Flowery Branch to see the action in person and will be back with my observations.