Heading into Week 1’s matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, the question of who would be Matt Ryan‘s backup for the 2021 season remained up in the air.
On Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons revealed who QB2 was via their inactives:
No. 15 QB Feleipe Franks
No. 25 RB Wayne Gallman
No. 34 CB Darren Hall
No. 88 WR Frank Darby
No. 95 DL Ta’Quon Graham
With undrafted free agent rookie Feleipe Franks inactive, the Falcons are rolling with veteran quarterback Josh Rosen to kick off the season.
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Rosen Was Once a Highly-Touted Rookie
As a UCLA standout, Rosen was drafted 10th overall by the Arizona Cardinals in 2018. He appeared in 14 games, starting 13 of those as a rookie that year.
With Rosen as their start, the Cardinals struggled to a 3-10 record after he completed just 55.2% of his passes for 2,278 yards, throwing for 11 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
The Cardinals did a coaching shakeup and Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury took over as the team’s head coach. Rosen wasn’t around much longer after the team opted to draft his replacement in Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray out of Oklahoma.
Since then, Rosen has played for the Miami Dolphins, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the San Francisco 49ers.
The Niners gave him a chance during the second half of its opening preseason game on Saturday, Aug. 14 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Rosen threw 15 passes, completing 10 of them for 93 yards with one interception.
In three NFL seasons, Rosen has started 16 games, throwing for 2,845 yards, 12 touchdowns to 19 interceptions for a 63.5 passer rating.
Falcons Rolling With Mike Davis/Cordarelle Patterson
The Falcons’ ground game has been non-existent for quite some time and last year it averaged just 3.7 yards per carry on over 409 attempts.
They added running back Wayne Gallman to their roster last week, but it looks like they will be rolling with Mike Davis and Cordarelle Patterson vs. the Eagles.
Davis played a big role for the Carolina Panthers last season after stepping in for the injured Christian McCaffery as the team’s No. 1 option. The 28-year-old had his best season yet, rushing for 642 yards topped with 373 yards receiving and eight touchdowns. As the Falcons lead running back, Davis will have plenty of opportunities to have his best season yet.
As for Patterson, who enters his ninth NFL season, he’s still new to the running back position. Up until last fall, Patterson played primarily as a receiver. Then in 2020, he took 146 snaps as a running back with the Chicago Bears, which was the most he had seen at any position and finished the year with 64 carries for 232 yards.
Expect the Falcons to run the ball a lot with first-year head coach Arthur Smith in charge, who is responsible for Derrick Henry’s success in Tennessee.
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