The Atlanta Falcons rolled out their "starting" lineups for OTAs this week, and as always, it was dotted with familiar names. You had Brent Grimes, John Abraham, Roddy White, and some dude named Matt Ryan. I'm guessing seeing those terrific players getting themselves ready for the season makes everybody a little happier.

Nonetheless, the sight of Sam Baker and Garrett Reynolds holding the top spots in practice was probably a little distressing for everyone. We all remember a banged-up, frustrated Baker playing poorly and Reynolds being a virtual disaster as a starter at right guard. It can be easy to get alarmed about the depth chart, even now, but that would be a mistake.

The starters simply don't matter at this point. The Falcons are letting Baker and Reynolds hold these jobs out of deference, at least at the moment. Baker's got a better shot of starting than Reynolds, but neither is guaranteed anything in the long haul. They'll have competition.

In fact, take the whole thing with a grain of salt. Lofa Tatupu is "starting" at middle linebacker because he's a veteran, not because he's locked into the job over Akeem Dent. The depth chart will shake itself out according to how these players perform in practices and pre-season games, not on the mad whims of Mike Smith at the end of May.

That said, how do you think these particular position battles will shake out?

Continuing yesterday's tradition—if you can call one day of anything a tradition—I'm opening up OTAs for commentary from you, the educated and handsome readers of this proud blog. Let's get to it.

So here's the rub: So far, we know that Julio Jones is expected to have a big year, Ray Hamilton is thrilled to have John Abraham back and is intrigued by Travian Robertson. We also know, for sure, that Dunta Robinson will be the nickel cornerback this year. Oh, and the Falcons will be awesome. Totally.

As things develop today, let's talk about them. We are football fans, after all.

Enjoy and discuss!

At this time of the year, every rookie is impressive. Coaches will talk up any young player to any reporter they can find, so you have to take everything that's said this early in the spring with a teaspoon of sodium.

And yet.

Call me a fool, a tea leaf reader or a flummoxed writer searching for topics if you will, but I believe Ray Hamilton's praise of Travian Robertson is the real deal. That doesn't mean I think he's going to win a starting job or even necessarily make the final roster, but he's clearly got some traits you just can't teach to a defensive tackle.

After the jump, find out why I'm so optimistic.

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It's the first day of actual, honest to goodness organized team activities for the Atlanta Falcons. The last five miserable, mostly football-less months are drawing to a rapid close.

This is your open thread for discussing all things OTA, though the reports will probably only trickle out at first. Discuss position battles, new schemes or whatever else springs readily to mind.

Get to it!

We've known for a while that any new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons is probably not going to be financed primarily by the team. That's just not the way these things work.

Instead, a big chunk of the cost will fall on the fans. Ticket prices will probably rise. Personal seat licenses will wind up costing fans a considerable chunk of change. Maybe that hot dog costs a little bit more than it used to.

That'll happen when the city is fronting $300 million and the team is on the hook for $698 million. It's naive to think that prices won't rise, because you are talking about something that isn't even pocket change for a billionaire owner. The price of going to a game is probably going up.

Now, could the Falcons choose to absorb that cost entirely? They could, and it would be noble enough to win headlines across the nation for a couple of weeks. But we don't live in a world where that kind of largesse makes economic sense to owners of NFL teams. We just don't. So brace yourselves.

At the risk of opening of the floodgates, your thoughts on this?

Well, according to one poll they are.

An ESPN fan survey found the Falcons to one of the bottom ten most popular teams out there today, which shouldn't surprise anyone at this point. Keep in mind that this little survey was only 1,500 people, which is hardly a representative slice of football Americana. Nonetheless, you'd be hard-pressed to argue that the Falcons have the nationwide fanbase of the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers or New England Patriots.

Now, does it matter overmuch that our beloved birds are not the most popular team in America? I'd say no. It's a little disappointing that the national fanbase isn't there, but most of those fans are—to be polite—raging bandwagoners in the first place. Winning a Super Bowl in the near future would attract more, but that's not what it's about. It's about the fans who have already begun living and dying by the team, the ones who will finally see their reward for doing so.

The NFC South as a whole didn't fare well in this poll, with only the hated Saints cracking the top ten. The Buccaneers were one spot ahead of the Falcons and by all appearances tied, while the Panthers were just below.

Given that and your own no-doubt deeply-held opinions on the matter, sound off.

Today is a good day to remember.

On this Memorial Day, we'll all take a moment to remember those veterans we knew and still know who fought, those who fell and those who came home equally. OTAs start tomorrow and thus there will be plenty to talk about on the football front, but today I'm guessing none of us are really focusing on that. It's all about paying respect to the soldiers we all know.

But those memories are incomplete. To me and to all of you, our relatives, friends and classmates who went off to war were not purely defined by that. I'll remember the way my grandfathers used to watch football games with me most of all. So today I'll take the time to think about that in between housing a small nation's worth of cheeseburgers.

I also like to take the opportunity afforded to me by holidays to thank all of you for reading. The Falcoholic has come a long way in the nearly six (!) years I've been skippering it, and that's due solely to all of you. Many, many thanks.

So I hope you enjoy your day off, your cookouts and your beer. I also hope you take a little time to remember.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone.

For those not in the know, team OTAs begin on Tuesday. It's at least something resembling the return of football, if you squint hard enough, and for that reason alone I'm thrilled about it.

I'm curious to see what you'll be following through the OTAs. For me, the short list goes a little something like this.

• Getting Lamar Holmes on the field and in action to see just how raw he is
• Seeing if Peter Konz can start to push for that starting right guard job
• Seeing how the bottom of the receiver depth chart shakes out
• How Matt Ryan's vaunted off-season lifting program is going
• Whether Mike Smith will wear a safari hat

So tell me what you'll be looking for.

One of our cherished traditions here at The Falcoholic is coming up with inane nicknames for players. Over the years, you've gotten everything from Big Snell to Cristobal Rojohombre to Optimus Grimes, and we're mighty (insert adjective) about that.

So it's time to turn our eyes to the incoming rookie class and figure out the best possible nicknames for all of them. Perhaps some, like Charles Mitchell, will be difficult to come up with. No matter. You guys are clever enough to overcome those meager challenges.

As always, you can vote with your Rec buttons. Come up with your best submissions in the comments.

To answer my own headline, probably.

Knowshon Moreno was a first round pick who has not lived up to expectations, primarily because of his injury history. The former Georgia running back has played only 36 out of a possible 48 games over his first three seasons, and when he's been healthy he hasn't always been a starter.

That said, he's only 24 years old. He's got a 4.1 yards per carry career average and 9.0 yards per catch, proving his versatility. The only major problems with Moreno is that he is clearly not the elite talent people expected him to be, and he gets hurt too often. Those are issues, yes, but not a great reason to dump a player entirely.

Yet the Broncos are on the cusp of doing so. After using a first round pick on the guy, it's hard to blame them for thinking he's been a disappointment. If they're cutting him or letting him go, there's probably a dozen teams in the NFL who could find a use for him.

Are the Falcons one of them?

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It's a cliché as old as the cosmos. Every year, there's at least one player who proclaims himself to be in the best shape of his life. Sometimes an amazing season follows said proclamation, while other times nothing is different. It's a poor bellwether for a great year, I'll say that.

Still, it's kind of a fun storyline to follow. That's particularly true since the Falcons have a healthy mix of older dudes (John Abraham, Matt Bryant, Todd McClure) and heretofore unproven players (Lawrence Sidbury, Spencer Adkins, Dominique Franks, etc.) Someone among that group is going to show up for training camp looking like he Hulked up, and my guess is that it will be one of the guys from the latter list. When you've got something to prove, it helps to at least look the part.

While it may be great sportswriter fodder, it's also

Place your (meaningless) bets, ladies and gentlemen.

How could a team with huge regular season success over the last four years and no playoff success be underrated? Shouldn't they be overrated, you ask?

No, I answer. Let me tell you why the Atlanta Falcons are actually being undersold.

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The first time we tried this, the clear winner was HappySour, who compared Julio Jones to a column of fire. Not that far-fetched.


We're at it again. Come up with your best caption for the photo above—please don't be wildly inappropriate—

Remember to vote with your Rec buttons. And...go!

If there's one major defensive change we'll see in 2012, it's the increased rollout of nickel packages on defense. Bank on that.

Okay, it's not that major. It's not like Brian Van Gorder never rolled three deep at cornerback, or that he wouldn't occasionally get James Sanders on the field. It will happen more often under Mike Nolan, and it will typically involve trotting out Brent Grimes, Dunta Robinson and Asante Samuel at the same time. That's pretty devastating.

It will mean some basic changes to how this defense functions compared to previous incarnations over the last four years. While none of these will be remarkably profound, we'll hopefully be left with a defense that's simply better than it used to be.

After the jump, my take on more nickel.

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It's time to guess again. Because if there's one thing we love doing here at The Falcoholic, it's making wildly inaccurate guesses and then pretending we never made them when we see how wrong we are. It's as American as apple pie, no?

Today we're going to take a crack at guessing who will be recognized as Pro Bowl players for the Falcons in 2012. This is particularly tricky because the Falcons don't tend to get too much recognition, and some of their best players ('Spoon, Ryan) play at positions where there are flashier options for fans to vote for. Good times.

Please note that this is not an endorsement of the Pro Bowl or whatever honor the NFL eventually chooses to replace it with. It's hardly a meritorious achievement at this stage of the game, but if the Falcons do well, I wouldn't mind seeing them get the recognition.

My guesses after the jump.

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Roger Goodell is a cagey politician. When he encourages a team to do something, it's almost as sinister and nebulous as when he drops his mighty hammer upon a team like...oh, I dunno, the Saints.

So bear that all in mind as I bring you the knowledge that in the event of a new stadium, Roger Goodell would "encourage" the Falcons to go ahead and apply to host a Super Bowl. New stadiums have a long and noble history of playing host to the NFL's biggest game, so this isn't a surprise. But it is noteworthy, nonetheless.

Why? Because the Falcons have not hosted a Super Bowl in a dozen years, despite offering up a nice domed stadium in a major Southern city. The reason for that, for those of you who remember 2000, was an ice storm that crippled the city leading up to the Super Bowl that year. It was enough of a problem that it scared the NFL off, and the Georgia Dome hasn't gotten any younger in the intervening years.

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The earlier today post about Kellen Winslow (and I scheduled this last night, so I hope no one has ripped anyone apart in that thread) got me thinking about the team's depth throughout the roster. At some positions, they're so deep the ocean be all jealous. At others, they're comparatively thin.

I'd like to take a closer look at those thin spots today, in my favorite hail-of-bullets style. Indulge me, if you will.

• Quarterback. I'm sorry, but Chris Redman and John Parker Wilson don't exactly inspire confidence at this stage of their respective careers. Dominique Davis has promise but clearly isn't ready to play today. That's enough to make you a little nervous, even though Matt Ryan has been remarkably durable thus far in his career.
• Tight end. The most obvious choice. Tony Gonzalez is all-world even in his old age, but there's only Michael Palmer and question marks behind him. The Falcons are mighty thin here, and have to hope Gonzo stays healthy all year long.
• Outside linebacker. Sean Weatherspoon and Stephen Nicholas are terrific starters. At the moment, though, they're backed up by Robert James and Spencer Adkins. You can't be strong at every position, of course, but that's hardly awe-inspiring.
• Safety. Behind William Moore and Thomas DeCoud, the Falcons are carrying only rookie Charles Mitchell and special teams whiz Shann Schillinger. That's not a lot of experience, even if you add in the possibility that Dominique Franks or Darrin Walls could function as a fifth safety.
• Punter. You're not going to carry three more punters behind Matt Bosher? C'mon!

Where do you think the Falcons can least afford to lose a starter?

UPDATE: It's not often a post I write is moot before it's even posted, but there you go. Winslow's been traded to the Seattle Seahawks for a seventh round pick.

When a player of some renown is released by a team in the Falcons' division, I feel like I should note it. When that player is an option for the team at a weak tight end position, however remote the chances of a signing may be, I feel like I should pump it through a boombox.

Yes, Kellen Winslow is probably going to be released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers very soon. He'll enter into a market where most teams have their starting ends in at least heavy pencil. There will be plenty of competition for his services, but he's not guaranteed a starting job.

And that's where the Falcons come in. The team has all-time great Tony Gonzalez atop the depth chart, but after him it's Michael Palmer and a variety of practice squad types. An injury to Gonzo would leave the team woefully thin at the position, with

Signing Winslow gives the team the option of a two tight end set, gives them a skilled pass catcher to take over if Gonzo does go down and significantly bolsters a weak depth chart. With Julio Jones, Harry Douglas, Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez and Winslow running routes in an empty backfield set, this becomes a truly unpleasant team to face.

The only downsides? Winslow has his character concerns from years past, for one. The second is that he's really not much of a run blocker at this stage of his career, which means the Falcons would likely be carrying a top three set of tight ends who are, to state it accurately, fairly marginal blockers. That could be an issue.

On balance, I don't think it's remotely likely to happen, but that's more of a function of Kellen Winslow wanting to be a starter than it is anything else. Character concerns aside, he'd be an excellent backup for this football team, if the front office could somehow convince him to sign.

Do you agree?

The Atlanta Falcons should have myriad options when they get into the red zone in 2012.

What I'm interested in hearing for this afternoon's discussion-based post is who you think will be the team's best options when they get inside the 20. My guess is that a handful of players will hog most of the opportunities, even with a talented set of offensive options.

Personally, I see Matt Ryan's top read being Julio Jones, for obvious reasons. With another year of work and the confidence that comes with it, the tall, strong and crazy-leaping second-year pro should be the team's best red zone option.

The two after that? Also receiving options. Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez, both wily veterans and guys who have a history of success in the red zone.

Michael Turner will still get his touchdowns, obviously, but I think the Falcons will look to pass first unless they're only a yard or two away. They have the weapons and they damn well better be looking to use them.

So name your best guess for the three guys who are going to find the end zone the most often in 2012. Go!

Over and over this off-season, I've heard chatter about the Panthers.

Pundits and fans alike are concerned about the Panthers taking a big leap forward in 2012 from their 6-10 record and two embarrassing losses against our beloved Falcons. A merely decent secondary, Cam Newton's growing pains and their usual brand of fun injuries definitely held the team back in 2011, and they had a successful draft. I just think some are getting a little carried away here.

The Panthers have not, in my mind, visibly improved the secondary. They picked up promising young cornerback Brandon Hogan in the draft, but he's probably not an immediate impact player. Ditto Joe Adams, the Arkansas wide receiver who will likely be a special teams ace in his first year. They had what I consider to be a fine April, as I mentioned above, but that doesn't translate into immediate success.

For that reason, I don't expect this team to take a major leap forward unless Newton does. He's got all the tools necessary to succeed at the NFL level, but he made enough mistakes with the ball his freshman campaign that I don't expect him to eliminate them all in one year. Failing that, the Panthers are a team with a dangerous ground game, a quality front seven and enough big play potential to win against almost any team in the NFL. Does that make up for turnover issues and the aforementioned meh secondary? I don't believe so.

That doesn't mean they're not dangerous. The Panthers have a dynamic if inconsistent athlete in Newton at quarterback, one of the finest running back groups in the NFL today and the always terrifying Steve Smith. The Falcons should be afraid of them because the Panthers can wreak havoc in any number of ways, and they would have taken our favorite team down last year if not for one of the most ridiculous rallies you'll ever see.

In short, you'd be be foolish to sleep on a team as rich in talent as the Carolina Panthers, and they'll be a major force in the NFC South before long. I just don't think 2012 is the year where we're going to start wringing our hands over them. Look for them to win more games than they did last year, either way.

But what do you think?

I'm blatantly piggybacking off of my earlier post. In the business world, they call that synergy.

The Atlanta Falcons have roster spots for five cornerbacks, and have at least six quality corners competing for those roster slots. Dunta Robinson, Brent Grimes and Asante Samuel are the easy picks for one through three, and as I mentioned earlier, I think Dominique Franks' combination of decent size, ability and special teams value will more or less lock him in as the fourth guy.

Barring a surprising UDFA type, that leaves Chris Owens versus Darrin Walls. Owens would appear to have the advantage here, given that he's been with the Falcons for years now, has contributed before and can do a little bit of everything. He'd be nice veteran insurance for a Falcons team that will roll out a lot of defensive packages featuring extra defensive backs.

Then there's Walls. The 6 foot corner has an intriguing mix of athleticism and ballhawking skills, which he got to flash in limited snaps in 2011. He's got enough potential to make him a candidate to climb the depth chart down the line, but he's probably not as adept a corner as Owens in the here and now. Given his size, he could also potentially get a little time as a fifth safety, so that versatility could help him out.

Who do you think wins this particular battle, Owens or Walls?

As I see it, there's a handful of players who are definitely on the roster bubble now, about a month before any of them will actually get the axe or even have a chance to practice. Life's unfair like that.

It's simple mathematics. The Falcons can only carry so many players on their roster, have brought in some young talent and have a handful of players who have developed slowly or not at all over the last several years. These players may not be cut, but let's just say I would be far from surprised if all of them were gone by the time the season rolls around.

After the jump, the players that jump most readily to mind.

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It's a traveling Saturday for me, which means it's time for a thought exercise. Get those headbands and track shoes on your brains.

Paint me a scenario. This scenario can be anything you like as it pertains to the Falcons, but it must be a scenario in which the Falcons win the game every time. For example, every time Michael Turner runs for 100 yards and Matt Ryan throws for 300 yards, the Falcons win. This is for the 2012 season only, so don't go projecting when Darrin Walls starts.

I think it will be interesting to see what you come up with. Let's get to it.

The Atlanta Falcons have not had such an effective running back rotation since the days of Warrick Dunn and T.J. Duckett. Bank on it.

That may seem to be an unusual thing to say, given that the components of this particular rotation are a 30-year-old Michael Turner, a diminuitive Jacquizz Rodgers and jack-of-all-trades Jason Snelling. That's not a murderer's row, but it ought to be an effective group.

Why? Because of the disparity between the three backs. Turner is a ridiculously hard to tackle head of steam who can get into open space and cause a ruckus, and is capable of putting a hurting on those foolish enough to tackle him. He's not a classic, short-yardage power type, but he's a damn load and a fine feature back.

Rodgers, on the other hand, offers a hard-to-find height, excellent lateral agility and a little pop. It's an interesting package for a shorter back, but Rodgers is jacked and can handle the change-of-pace role with aplomb. The lack of breakaway speed means he's no Jerious Norwood, but he should be more durable and has the pass-catching chops Turner does not.

And then there's Snelling. Decent as a runner, adept as a pass-catcher and useful as a blocker, he can be used wherever and whenever he's needed. That versatility will allow him to step in and give Turner and Bradie Ewing breathers when needed.

The only dimension missing from this rotation? A true home run hitter, also known as a guy with difference-making speed. The Falcons may keep a guy like Antone Smith around for that purpose, but he'll get relatively few carries, to say the least. Given the strength of the three-man rotation, they don't really need it. If they want to swing for the fences, they'll air it out.

What do you think of the Falcons' running backs?

The Falcoholic roundtable has returned! It's like King Arthur's roundtable without the brawn, or the Algonquin Roundtable without the wit.

I turned to three of our writers to come up with their choices for the UDFA most likely to make an impact for the Atlanta Falcons. While your answer may be "none of them," the Falcons have a habit of taking at least one UDFA a year and turning him into at least a semi-useful player. For previous examples, see Michael Palmer, Brent Grimes, and Darrin Walls.

Our measured, intelligent picks can be found after the jump.

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The concept of a window is overrated, in my opinion. Most teams do not simply break down, all at once, and turn from a championship contender into a pile of arthritic limbs and stiff knees. When a car up and dies, it's usually one piece, one component, not the whole car collapsing at once. You replace the affected pieces and you move on.

In the last decade or so, there's only been a handful of teams that I've seen definitively have their window shut. The old and Barry Bonds-less San Francisco Giants were one of them, as were the ramshackle Detroit Pistons. But that was caused less by age and dumb luck than by the willingness to sell off pieces, to start again, to destroy a working continuity.

The Atlanta Falcons have spent the last four years experiencing that kind of continuity, changing only a handful of pieces a year. That led to a franchise-record run of success but didn't do much for the team come playoff time. Now the team has re-tooled slightly by bringing on new coaches.

This is one case in which a window applies. This team will be more or less intact save a handful of players from 2012-2013, and presumably will have the same coaching staff unless a disaster strikes.They have very few impact free agents in 2013—William Moore, Jonathan Babineaux—and a nearly full slate of draft picks. Assuming this team takes even a modest step forward thanks to the new coaches, these Falcons should be able to contend and contend strongly these two seasons.

Does that mean the Falcons will be bad in 2014? Definitely not. But this is one hell of an opportunity to win while the team has its prized core in place, players like Matt Ryan are still under 30 and John Abraham is still playing, period. The time is now.

What are your thoughts on the next two seasons?

Just a little friendly wagering for your Thursday afternoon, with no actual prizes involved. Crazy, I know.

I'm curious to see when you think Drew Brees' epic holdout will end. The Saints aren't willing to give him $25+ million a year and Brees, despite his stated interest in not having this drag out, isn't willing to accept a whole hell of a lot less than that. That's led to a standoff that doesn't seem close to resolving itself.

Given that the two sides remain far apart and Drew Brees just raised the gray flag of criticism once more, I'll say this one pushes right up against the July deadline. It's in both parties' best interests to get it done, but there's plenty of posturing left to do.

If nothing else, surely we can enjoy the fact that this is not in any way helping the hated Saints? They'll still be a good team in 2012, so it's worth soaking this in while it lasts.

What say you?

Earlier this off-season, I speculated that this might be William Moore's finest season in the NFL to-date. He's in a contract year, he has loads of physical ability and it's not like anyone is breathing down his neck for a starting job.

Now he's getting a vote of confidence from one of the most important people he possibly can: Secondary coach Tim Lewis. The third-year coach thinks Moore is due for a big season in Nolan's scheme, what with his ability to hit like a train, rush the passer and pick passes:

"He looks good right now this offseason," Lewis said. "He’s ready to roll. He’s learning a new system, as we all are. I think it’s going to benefit him. This system will aid William. You’ll see him more often that you have in the past."

Moore's the kind of player every defensive coordinator would like at strong safety. The key for him this season will be to stay healthy and embrace the philosophy changes that are certainly coming, and I imagine he will. Remember that he has all the incentive in the world to, given that this is a contract year, he's got even more than the usual number of reasons to prove he's an excellent safety.

Also interesting? How much direction Thomas DeCoud apparently gives the rest of the defense. Lewis said that DeCoud is instrumental in getting the D lined up on most plays, which lends a little more clarity to why the Falcons consider him so valuable. Team leader who picks passes? Okay then.

What do you expect from the safety duo this season?

Okay. Listen. You guys know Maurice Jones-Drew, right? So he's like, totally unhappy in Jacksonville. I know this because he hasn't reported to Jaguars camp yet, and Mike Mularkey's all like whatever. But you know he's hurting inside.

So here's my proposition: Let's trade for Maurice Jones-Drew. Seriously, let's do it. It's time for this football team to stop pussyfooting around with this whole idea of passing for a lot of yards. I'm not sure Matt Ryan's arm is even attached to his body, given his totally lame deep ball passing ability. Also, Michael Turner? More like Bicycle Learner. Because he's lame.

Trading our first round picks for the next three seasons to pick up Maurice Jones-Drew would solve all of the Falcons' problems. Need a quick yard? MJD can do that, and he'll only cost the team a hojillion dollars and a dozen draft picks. Want a pass-catching back? MJD can do that, and then you don't have to waste time on those other backs on the roster. Shortage of towels in the locker room? MJD will buy them in bulk and personally deliver them to the Georgia Dome from the back of a unicorn, unlike whatever buttmunch is running the facilities right now.

Some people will try to tell you that running backs are the most fungible assets in the NFL, and haven't we wasted enough time pining for players who will never come to Atlanta because they're ridiculous pipe dreams/old as the hills/have literally peed on their teammates? Well, shut up, losers. You can't spell fungible without fun, can you?

It's time we stopped pretending that a brand new coaching staff paired with a promising team is going to be enough to get these Falcons to the playoffs. Clearly, the answer is a different running back than the guy who has helped the Falcons win dozens of games and run for thousands of yards. It's his fault they haven't been Super Bowl champions by now, and MJD will arrive to an angelic fanfare and a ray from heaven itself to deliver us unto the promised land. Totally.

C'mon, you guys.*

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We're going to start off today with a discussion post about a player that has gotten a little lost in the shuffle in recent months. I am, of course, referring to linebacker Stephen Nicholas.

Nicholas is a bit of an unusual case. He's a capable outside linebacker who does many things well and nothing spectacularly. He was overshadowed by Curtis Lofton and more recently Sean Weatherspoon, but he's signed for the long haul and is more or less guaranteed a starting job in 2012. Yet for all that, he's somewhat of the forgotten man of the linebacking corps, if not the defense.

I actually expect this to change in 2012. No one's going to confuse Nicholas with a pass-rushing specialist, but he's got enough chops to make things interesting, as evinced by his 2009 three-sack campaign. He's also solid enough in coverage, a technically sound tackler and a guy with pretty good athleticism. Mike Nolan should like that combination of skills and natural ability, and I expect Nicholas to have a nice year in 2012.

But it's not a discussion post without your input. What are your expectations for Nicholas?