On Drake London expectations, Arnold Ebiketie and the Falcons pass rush, fixing the offensive line and more

Flavius Hobbs from Augusta, Ga.

I look forward to your answers and other articles as well as your podcast. Now, having been able to see the team in off season activities, what do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of this new team?

Bair: Appreciate the kind words. I enjoy the heck out of these mailbags and the pod. Talking about football ain’t half bad. Tori and I came away with 10 top takeaways after watching this team develop over the course of the offseason program, most of them positive. Expectations for this team are low. That’s no secret. There’s a real chance to exceed them, however, with some talent at the skill positions and in the defensive backfield. There are issues, if we’re talking weaknesses here, along the fronts. The offensive line has question marks at center, left guard and right tackle.

The defensive front simply must improve rushing the passer and containing mobile quarterbacks, an issue falling on Lorenzo Carter, TaQuon Graham and a rookies like Arnold Ebiketie to solve. That’s a difficult situation for young players, but they’ll have an opportunity to grow and develop by doing. It should be said, however, that this is a multi-year project. It won’t get fixed overnight. They’ll need another round of talent acquisition to fortify the front with enough talent to run Dean Pees’ scheme as it should. I would bet, however, that they’re in a better spot that they were a year ago.

Norm Brothers from Atlanta

Why has Atlanta struggled to develop a good offensive line? We have invested top draft picks but can’t seem to hit (with the exception of Matthews and Lindstrom). Is there something about the college game’s move toward spread offenses that makes these guys ill-equipped to transition to the pro game—yet other teams seem to be able to develop later round picks into solid starters? Makes me wonder why we don’t focus more on established players in free agency with our poor draft record. Thoughts?

Bair: The Falcons have invested a good deal in the…