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11 things to watch for in preseason opener

11 things to watch for in preseason opener

It’s been over seven months since the Atlanta Falcons last played an actual football game, but the drought ends Friday when they take on the Detroit Lions in their preseason opener.

With new faces on both sides of the ball and several positions still up for grabs, this matchup has slightly more intrigue than your typical preseason game. Here are 11 things to watch for on Friday.

11
Starters to play?

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Both the Lions and Falcons will reportedly play all of their starters, which is unusual for the first preseason game. When you consider where these two franchises are in their rebuilding processes, though, it makes some sense. Neither team is a Super Bowl contender, and both have more roster questions than answers. Still, I’d expect to see very little of Kyle Pitts, A.J. Terrell and other key players.

10
London debuts in Detroit

(Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

Drake London will likely enter the season as Atlanta’s No. 1 wide receiver, but the rookie was listed as the seventh receiver on the team’s unofficial depth chart. As we learned last season, Arthur Smith likes to make rookies earn their playing time, and this is clearly another example of that. London had 88 catches for 1,084 yards and seven touchdowns last season for USC in just eight games. If he can stay healthy this season, he could be the team’s second consecutive rookie to crack 1,000 receiving yards.

9
Feleipe Franks playing tight end

(AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Franks has survived for a full season by being a versatile athlete. Originally signed out of Arkansas as an undrafted free agent in 2021, Franks has been getting reps at tight end as well as serving as the team’s third quarterback. With great size (6-foot-6) and speed (4.59 seconds in the 40-yard dash), Franks could be a potentially good fit at tight end. He made several plays throughout the first two weeks of camp. Keep your eye on the Falcons’ utility man Friday and see if he can make more plays like this.

8
New inside linebackers

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Falcons defensive coordinator Dean Pees recently said he didn’t understand why the Titans let LB Rashaan Evans walk in free agency, but Atlanta is happy to have the former first-round pick on the roster….

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