The Atlanta Falcons’ initial 53-man roster did come with a few surprises yesterday, and earlier today The Morning Shift explained why they think the biggest surprise is the Falcons only keeping three safeties on the roster.
“Essentially they’re telling you that they think [DeMarcco] Hellams can play either spot because he’s essentially the backup to both, and it also tells you that they think Billy Bowman Jr. in a pinch could fill in and play the other. That’s what I took away from it.” Beau Morgan said
Mike Johnson also mentions that he thinks Mike Ford could also be a guy who can play a multitude of positions in the secondary if need be.
This is called the initial 53-man roster for a reason, it’s going to keep changing and evolving throughout the season, so just because there are three safeties now doesn’t mean there won’t be more on the roster later, but it’s still surprising because it does show the Falcons are confident in the guys they do have at safety.
Obviously Jessie Bates III is an All-Pro and a Pro-Bowler, so the Falcons obviously have a ton of confidence in him, but the confidence they are showing in rookie Xavier Watts and a player in DeMarcco Hellams who is coming into his third year in the league, but has only physically played one season due to injury says a lot about what they think of those two guys as well.
