Words cannot even describe on how I feel about this signing right now. This helps out our team in so many ways. When I was scrolling around the computer and found this news, my jaw immediately dropped.  The first words that came to my head when I saw this news were “We finally made a move to help the defense out.” It’s kind of funny to because as I was making this post, I was talking about upcoming NFL Draft for the Atlanta Falcons. (http://dirtybirdblog.com/2010-nfl-draft/) Now the draft board is going to change to! Brandon Graham is one step closer to becoming an Atlanta Falcon.

First of all, Dunta Robinson is a Georgia native. Great to have some home state flavor on the team. I consider Dunta Robinson a very “durable” corner back. At one point in his career he started 48 straight games. Dunta Robinson may not have the same speed as three years ago, but the man is a lightning bolt when he gets a hold of that ball. Any time Dunta Robinson picks off the ball, he has a chance of returning it to the house. It looks to be that the Falcons are keeping Brian Williams, so this would mean Dunta Robinson at the one and Brian Williams at the two. Unless, the Falcons are still interested in getting Kyle Wilson in the NFL Draft. But now I feel like that is a long shot right now. Brandon Graham out of Michigan is getting all the fingers pointed at him right now for the 19th pick in the NFL Draft. Graham has the talent and can play both OLB or DE.

With Dunta Robinson signed, the Falcons are looking at a lot higher expectations going into the season. Robinson will bring an immediate impact to this team. I feel this signing will be better than drafting a rookie because Robinson can push us over the hump right away. With players like Tony Gonzalez and Michael Turner being in his prime right now, winning is the only option right now. I’d love to see the Falcons pickup Graham or Kyle Wilson in the draft because it looks positive about either way right now.

If We Select Brandon Graham:
We have a defensive line man that can take the pressure off other people on the line. He is an NFL ready talent and can make a huge impact in causing mismatches on the line.

If We Select Kyle Wilson:
He is learning from the best in Dunta Robinson. If Brian Williams starts to struggle during the season, we have a rookie that can play at any time.

Either way, I love both of these options and I’m just hoping the Falcons choose any one of these. I guarantee when Matt Ryan heard the news that Dunta Robinson was coming to Atlanta, he had a smile on his face! I would to after seeing these videos!

After being 28th in pass defense last season, the Falcons went out into free agency and made a big splash in signing Dunta Robinson to a six year deal. Obviously, Robinson is one of the defensive backs in the free agency. I’d rather see the Falcons make a move like the New York Jets did in picking up Antonio Cromartie for pretty much nothing, but I can’t complain about this move at all. This is going to help out our secondary immediately and this is obviously going to affect our NFL Draft board in a positive way. Brandon Graham is one step closer to becoming an Atlanta Falcon!

More to come on this signing tomorrow.

Michael Turner’s is currently backed up by Jason Snelling and Jerious Norwood, who are set to become restricted free agents. This move could be very possible if the Falcons do not retain either one of Michael Turner’s backups. Snelling has played great and had a very good game against the Tampa Bay Bucs in the season finale. Jerious Norwood on the other hand has showed flashes of being a great football player, but just can’t seem to get out of his comfort zone at times.

As a Falcons fan, I’m very excited in what the free agency brings this year and can’t wait to see what moves the Falcons will make.

Taylor Mays should be an opening day starter. I understand, the combo may be young, but with safety William Moore and Taylor Mays. The Falcons now have a very hard hitting combo and not to mention a better coverage defense. To many times last season the Falcons lost because there defense, especially because of there coverage. The safety position is basically like a littler linebacker and I feel these guys will do very well with help stopping those long runs and controlling the flats.

Taylor Mays will join Sam Baker as the only lone Trojans on the Falcons roster. Not to say anything, but I think Sam Baker will have a surprise campaign this season. Hopefully, he will not be injury plagued because this has affected him very badly. It’s kind of surprising that the Falcons really only have one person from USC on there roster because that team is like a Pro Team in College Football let alone. Look at the way they run there offense! I can’t remember the last time I seen USC actually running an option play.

Overall, I’m very pleased with this pick in the draft and I’d hope the Falcons make a move like this with the 19th pick. The Falcons really need help on the defensive side of the ball, so we should almost forget about the offense in this draft. The Falcons have a very potent offense, now we just need to focus on the defensive side of the ball.

Falcons fans could have been cheering for the Colts or Saints in that game. I mean, I won’t lie, a little side of me wanted to cheer for the Saints because all that’s happen to the city and I have always been a huge fan of Drew Brees and his game play, even when he was in San Diego! But, the positive side out of this is that the New Orleans Saints will acquire the worst draft pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.

But, who knew? Peyton Manning would be the game changer in that kind of way. I kind of thought the Colts still where going to win that game late, but Tracy Porter (Signed, Sealed, and Delivered) had reservations for six.

Tony Gonzalez was named to the All Decade team this past week and I must say this is a very remarkable honor for him and the Falcons organization. Obviously, nobody puts in more effort and hard work than Tony Gonzalez, he brings a huge heart for every game and the guy is a flat out leader in the locker room. For all the seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, this award finally shows recognition to the man, Tony Gonzalez. Even in the down spiral years, Tony Gonzalez would always bring his best game and leave the business side of football out of the equation.

Gonzalez was nominated along side Antonio Gates, the standout tight end on the San Diego “Super” Chargers. Everybody has heard the story about Antonio Gates and how he was originally a basketball player, but each one of these players on this All Decade roster has a great story to tell about how they made there journey come to this stop.

Peyton Manning, Dwight Freeney, and Darren Sharper made the All Decade roster. This seems like a star studded Super Bowl now! I can’t wait for this game to get started, the announcing of these rosters only excited me more.

Congrats Tony Gonzalez!

I must say I was very shocked to even see this news. I was looking around the web for some rumors and boy did we hit the jackpot. It is rumored that the Carolina Panthers might let Julius Peppers go into the free agency this year.

Surprising? Much.

Would the Carolina Panthers even want to see a glimpse of Julius Peppers in a Falcons uniform? That would be very scary for the Carolina Panthers to see there former player in division rival jersey. I’m shocked I’m even hearing this as a rumor because this could be the answer to some of the Falcons problems, notice how I said, SOME.

The secondary still needs some work and the Falcons should be able to improve on that with the NFL Draft or in the free agency process. Our offense is fine and can score at will, we need to focus on our defense this off season because it killed us heavily this season.

The only thing I can say is that there are multiple sources confirming that the Falcons are interested in Peppers and that it would be a very logical spot for him to end up in Atlanta. Can’t wait to see the details of this story unfold.

The feel good story has officially ended for the New York Jets, but nonetheless they have had a very good season. Mark Sanchez showed his weaknesses during the playoff game and it kind of understandable because he is a rookie. But, what about Peyton Manning? He played very well in this game and sometimes it seems that Peyton Manning could take a regular guy off the street and can turn him into an All Pro wide out. You think, was Marvin Harrison really that good or did Peyton Manning make him look that much better? I must say, even though the Jets lost, Rex Ryan, you proved me wrong. Mark Sanchez, I thought you would be a bust, but you proved me wrong. Darrelle Revis, I consider you one of the most elite defense men in the league. Many people were throwing around this week that Darrelle Revis may be the best corner back of all time? Quite possibly, but I wouldn’t go that far as of yet.

The saga continues and Brett Favre will be asked the dreaded question, are you coming back next season? I must say, Brett Favre plays very hard and he was getting handled by that Saints defense, but Favre kept on getting back up and playing the game. I guess, it was just destiny for the Saints. All those fumbles, something just went wrong that day for the Vikings. Everybody feels that the Vikings should of won that game, but I think the Saints earned that victory. Drew Brees has been outstanding for New Orleans and Reggie Bush is starting to come a long. The only bad part, is that the New Orleans Saints are in the same division as the Atlanta Falcons.

As of right now, I’m trying to set up something with the Falcons news. Considering that we will have a very big gap over the off season, I’m going to think of some new ways to get some Falcons news in the mix because after all this is a Falcons blog. Either way, I will let you, the reader, know which direction we are going with this in the coming days.

Credit – ESPN

Turn on the Jets is doing a great job in covering the pesky New York Jets. I suggest you guys go check out that blog because it is a great piece of work.

In all, I won’t lie, I wish the Falcons had another shot at the playoffs because I was really disappointed on how this season ended. The injuries plagued us and it really hurt our chances in getting to the playoffs. Watching Mark Sanchez out there, really reminds me of watching Matt Ryan because he just has that certain type of demeanor.

Another sad note, we all may have witnessed yesterday the last game of LaDainian Tomlinson as a San Diego Charger. It all but seems that the future is on the shoulders of Darren Sproles, but this may not be a bad thing for Mr. LT. The changing of scenery, may be best for both parties because this relationship hasn’t worked very well. Tomlinson used to be one of the best runners in the game and now it feels like he is holding back the Chargers from something bigger and that is ultimately a championship.

As I have been searching through the internet these past few days for new sites. I came across this site called www.StadiumJourney.com – This site is terrificly run by Paul Swaney and I encourage you all to stop by and check it out.