Julio Jones News

With NFL training camps just around the corner, we're taking a team-by-team look at how the offseason played out and what you can expect in 2012 .

Manning went on to win a Super Bowl and four MVPs, but as Ryan readies for his fifth season as the starting quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons , you would be hard-pressed to find many who would dare mention him in the same sentence with Manning.

I know some Falcons' fans call John Abraham "the predator", but let's be honest; this nickname fits much better with Atlanta's 2011 first round pick Julio Jones.

Yes, the start of training camps is two months away, but it's never too early to consider the coming season.

It's one of the biggest currents running through many Falcons fans, some for quite a long time: is there some sort of disconnect present within the Atlanta Falcons organization? In other words, is everyone on the same page when it comes to vision and direction, namely Mike Smitoh, Thomas Dimitroff, and Arthur Blank.

Nov 13, 2011; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the second half at the Georgia Dome.

Every NFL team has a position that is extremely critical, and the success or failure of that position literally means wins and losses.

The top of the Atlanta Falcons depth chart will look remarkably similar in 2012 to last year.

UPDATE: It's not often a post I write is moot before it's even posted, but there you go.

In the 2011 NFL draft, the Atlanta Falcons decided to put a large amount of their eggs in one basket, and made a blockbuster trade by giving up five total picks to move up to the No.

First came the decision to trade five selections in order to move up in the 2011 NFL Draft for receiver Julio Jones.

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.

Going into a new NFL season, it's always easy to imagine that the teams that were great last year will also be great next year.

Welcome to this week's Falcons mailbag. I have questions from Twitter and even an email with Falcons questions from the Birdlady herself.

White aiming for more Julio, fewer drops : After being named to NFL Network's Top 100 list -- albeit not as high as he'd like -- Falcons receiver Roddy White told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that his league-leading 15 drops are to blame for not being considered an elite receiver.

Dec 3, 2011; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs tight end Aron White catches a touchdown pass in front of LSU Tigers defensive back Eric Reed and Karnell Hatcher during the first half of the 2011 SEC championship game at the Georgia Dome.

I don't know if you guys knew, but the Falcons had a State of the Franchise event with about 800 season ticket holders recently.

Matt Ryan is definitely the largest benefactor of this next group - the wide receivers.

The NFL Network just ranked Roddy White at No. 65 on their Top 100 Players of 2012 list.

The young Bengals burst onto the scene at this year's Pro Bowl, bringing 4 players all under the age of 25.