MVN - Most Valuable Network

News and notes from Falcon HQ

With all the attention given the recent trade of DeAngelo Hall to the Raiders, a couple of really nice signings were kind of overlooked here at Flyin High.  The Falcons continue to make smart calculated moves within free agency and the signing of former Denver kicker Jason Elam is yet another one.  Elam signed a 4 year 9 million dollar deal with 3.3 million guaranteed.  Elam spent the last 15 years in Denver and is 6th in points all time among kickers.  Jason has scored at least 100 points in each year of his career and shares the NFL record for longest field goal (63). 

Elam replaces Morten Andersen, the NFL’s all time points leader.  Mort still has the accuracy but his range is nowhere near what it used to be.  With Elam the Falcons get younger (from 47 to 38) and stronger at the PK position.  While expensive, this signing shores up a positional need for the next few seasons and gives the Falcons one less thing to worry about.

Offensive tackle Tyson Clabo signed an exclusive rights offer from the Falcons and will be with the team at least through the 2008 season.  Clabo played tackle and both guard spots last year due to injuries across the entire offensive line.  Depending on who the Falcons draft next month, Clabo could find himself starting in 2008.

The earlier moments of free agency had the Falcons snatching up some players to strengthen depth and plug holes created by recently departed players.  Former Tennessee Titan Ben Hartsock is one of those players.  Hartsock is expected to help fill the void created when Alge Crumpler was released and subsequently signed with the Titans.  For a better idea of just who and what type of player Hartsock is we have some guest commentary from Andrew Strickert, writer extraordinaire for the Titans page here at MVN:

Ben Hartsock was near the top of my list of Titans who I hoped would stay in Tennessee. Unfortunately, the Titans’ offer to him wasn’t enough and they were outbid by the Falcons.

Hartsock was drafted by the Colts, where he played behind Dallas Clark for two years. He had a hamstring injury his third year and missed the first part of the season before the Colts released him and the Titans had the good fortune to pick him up. 

We’ll miss Hartsock in Tennessee, especially for his great blocking. If it was third and short or a goalline situation, you could count on Hartsock to be on the field and deliver a good block.

Hartsock won’t be confused with Gonzalez, Gates, Witten, Clark, Shockey or Crumpler for his receiving ability, but he’s no slouch either. He can’t go and make a play on the ball or get open the way the aforementioned tight ends can, but he has decent hands when thrown a catchable ball. He is a big body who will make a big target for the Falcons’ quarterbacks this year, if Atlanta chooses to utilize him in that role.

You can definitely count on the Falcons taking advantage of his blocking ability. The Titans’ loss is the Falcons’ gain, and though I hate for the Titans to lose Hartsock, I wish him well and have no doubt he’ll be a quality asset for the Falcons.

Sounds like we got a pretty good replacement for a TE who was pretty much a football god over the last few years in Atlanta.  I would like to thank Andrew for his commentary and if you need any info that is Titan related, be sure to head over to his page, http://mvn.com/nfl-titans/

One month and two days until the draft which is shaping up to be one of the most exciting in Falcon franchise history.  Stay tuned!

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 23rd, 2008 at 11:52 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.