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The 2007 NFL Supplemental Draft has come and gone and Falcons’ general manager Rich McKay decided not to take the opportunity to upgrade the teams’ front line or secondary.

Maryland’s Jared Gaither (6-9, 350 lbs.) had to jump into the supplemental draft after not making the grades. He was regarded as one of the top offensive tackles in college football as a junior and would have pretty much solidified the Falcons left side.

Head coach Bobby Petrino has emphasized the fact that he wants the team bigger on the offensive line by drafting Texas’ Justin Blalock to play left guard. By adding Gaither, the Falcons would have had two players over 300 lbs. on the left side. By most quarterbacks’ point of view, that is their blindside. However, with Vick a left handed QB, the left protects his front side and also is the side where he is most effective as he likes to boot and get out on the edge rolling left.

The Baltimore Ravens were lucky enough to get Gaither with a fifth-round pick and he should be groomed very well behind perennial pro-bowler Jonathan Ogden.

I guess Rich and BP did not feel that Gaither was worth an earlier pick and will continue to go with veteran Wayne Gandy A.K.A. “Gandyland” at left tackle. Gandyland is pretty much closed at this point, so offensive tackle needs to be addressed in next seasons draft. Maybe someone on this year’s roster can come out and win a spot.

The San Diego Chargers (who don’t stand a chance of repeating last season’s success) were able to pick up UGA’s Paul Oliver in the fourth round of the draft. I was not too high on Oliver, but he is real good player. UGA fans will tell you he shut down Calvin Johnson. That is still up for debate, but he definitely gave Johnson the most competition he ever saw in college.

Atlanta’s secondary should be fine for now with four players that are regarded as potential starters. The competition will be fierce for playing time and that only means more favorable results for the Birds.

I guess this is the squad we are rolling into training camp with.

Check out the position-by-position breakdowns.

Welcome to Falcon Reporter and I am your reporter Tim Love. This blog is dedicated to the Atlanta Falcons, whom for forty years have never been able to pull off back-to-back winning season, but have managed to capture the hearts of this great city.

Since their inception into the league in 1966, the Falcons have won three division titles (1980, 1998 and 2004) and one conference championship (1998). As mentioned before, the team has yet to win back-to-back titles, but I have a feeling that we are about to have some good fortune.

On January 1, 2007, Arthur Blank probably made one of his best decisions since buying the team from the Smith Family back in 2002 by firing Jim Mora Jr. as the head coach.

Blank and General Manager Rich McKay hired Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino on Jan. 7. Petrino is regarded as an offensive guru as his Louisville squad averaged 457.3 yards per game in total offense (2nd in the nation) in 2006 while hanging an average of 37.8 points per game (4th in the nation). Petrino will now bring his “power spread” offense to Atlanta and try to get the most out of QB Michael Vick.

Over the next few days, I will break down the squad from head coach to place kicker as the team gears up for training camp, which is scheduled to begin on Thursday, July 26, at the Falcons’ Flowery Branch headquarters.

I would like to encourage anyone that has feedback or comments regarding the team to please post and let your opinion be expressed.

Here’s to the 2007 season. A new beginning (yet again) for our Atlanta Falcons. There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic and throughout this blog I will shed some light on that. Game 1 is Sunday, Sept. 9 at Minnesota. Anybody remember the magic that happened the last time the Birds invaded the Metrodome?