First, the terrible news: Kerry Meier is done for the year. What appeared to be a very minor injury at the time -- his knee buckled beneath him, he lingered for a few minutes, then walked off the field without a limp -- is unfortunately very serious. For the second straight year, the team has lost one of its most promising rookies very early on.
Falcons fans were excited about getting to see Meier in live action soon. It's been easy to forget he was actually our fourth-round draft pick. Throughout camp, he's felt more like a second-rounder to many of us, and we've heard nothing but great things about his play, work ethic, personality, and studiousness. He played particularly well in his limited snaps against the Chiefs two weeks ago.
But this is football, and bad things happen. Good teams have to be prepared. How prepared were the Falcons for this loss? Here are the remaining healthy wide receivers on Atlanta's roster, arranged by our best stab at what the actual depth chart may look like:
- Roddy White
- Michael Jenkins
- Harry Douglas
- Eric Weems
- Brian Finneran
- Troy Bergeron
- Brandyn Harvey
- Andy Strickland
- Ryan Wolfe
- Tim Buckley
Beyond Douglas, there's not a lot to get worked up about. Weems is a decent athlete, and may have been sticking around anyway due to the team's trust in his kick return abilities. He's shown signs of mental lapses in the past, both on the field and off. But he's one of the receiving corps elders now, with the fourth-most experience of any Falcons wideout. It was up in the air, but it has just now returned to the ground, so to speak: Weems will remain a Falcon.
Finneran has been capable for ages, though one wonders how many more miles he has left. The ten-year-vet, who has endured several knee surgeries, has been mentioned as an on-the-bubbler (and even a potential retiree, as one
Courage and Fight commentator suggested). However, Finneran is pretty much a lock to make the team again after Meier's injury. They've been compared to each other
ad nauseum, and even
play the same position on the onside kick unit.
The battle for the sixth spot, assuming the team keeps six receivers, should come down to Bergeron and Harvey. Both have been training camp studs at times. Former Georgia Force star Bergeron has much more experience, having bounced around various NFL practice squads since 2004 and joining the Falcons' active roster on three game days last year.
The 6-foot-4 unsigned rookie Harvey has tremendous -- sigh -- upside and sometimes appears uncoverable in one-on-one drills, yet you have to assume there's a reason why the wiry Villanova product hasn't earned very many snaps so far this preseason.
Of course, that's probably about to change.
