The Atlanta Falcons had a plan to rebuild their offensive line last offseason, signing Jamon Brown and James Carpenter to lucrative deals in free agency and selecting two offensive linemen in the draft.
Both Brown and Carpenter struggled in 2019 and aren’t a part of the team’s long-term rebuild up front. Rookies Kaleb McGary and Chris Lindstrom finished the season strong, however, and the Falcons won six of their final eight games.
Nick Shook of NFL.com gave the group a B- in his NFC South draft grades. Here’s some of what he wrote below:
McGary was available all season, but he finished 90th in pass blocking and 74th in run blocking, per Pro Football Focus. Lindstrom was lost for much of the season due to injury, leaving his evaluation incomplete. Sheffield earned a sub-50 grade in pass coverage from PFF, but he was statistically effective, recording 46 tackles, three passes defended and one forced fumble in 16 games. Cominsky was effective per PFF, finishing 23rd in overall defensive grade among edge rushers despite not racking up a ton of traditional stats. Ollison didn’t make much of an impact, while Miller spent the majority of his season on special teams.
McGary did struggle early in the season, but the entire offesnive line was awful over the team’s first eight games. When Lindstrom returned from injury, he played well at right guard and made McGary look considerably more comfortable at right tackle.
Outside of the two linemen drafted in round one, defensive back Kendall Sheffield played well when forced into action due to injuries in Atlanta’s secondary. Defensive end John Cominsky was solid as a depth addition that should have a chance to compete for more snaps in 2020 and beyond.
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