Pro Dawg of the Week

I'm bringing back an old feature.

This week has to go to Todd Gurley. In only his second game as a pro, Gurley rushed for 146 yards on 19 carries. He also caught two passes for 15 yards. Finally, Gurley showed that not all running backs need their quarterback to tell them when to go down (I'm looking at you, New York Giants). Oh yeah, and this is all coming off of a torn ACL suffered on November 15th.

You can check out Todd's highlights from the NFL's YouTube channel here: Todd Gurley Highlights (Week 4) | Rams vs. Cardinals | NFL

You can also follow Todd Gurley on Twitter: @TG3II

Finally be sure to follow the official Georgia football account on Twitter to get weekly updates on great NFL performances from Pro Dawgs.

Week 4 | #DawgsInTheNFL #CommitToTheG pic.twitter.com/2wTceP4SdR

— Georgia Football (@FootballUGA) October 6, 2015

Updates from The Deaner

The Deaner sent me a couple things that I wanted to make sure everyone is aware of.

First up, I saw this tweet from George Foster the other day:

Let da Mrs. pray for me, now hittin da road, jack. Journey begins. #Indy

— George Foster (@GeorgeFoster72) May 28, 2012

I assumed that meant Foster was heading to the Colts, but the Deaner confirmed it by passing this along:

Roster move,signed free agent offensive tackle George Foster and waived fullback Ryan Mahaffey.

— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) May 29, 2012

It also sounds like Rennie Curran has a pretty good shot to make the Bucs roster this year. From the Tampa Bay Times:

Though it could be temporary, LB Rennie Curran often has been running with the first team during practices, continuing his attempt to restart his career. The 2010 third-round pick of the Titans spent last season on the sideline after Tennessee cut him. The former Georgia standout is 23 and seems a good fit at weak-side linebacker, where he is lining up. Rookie Lavonte David, on second team, could eventually assume the starting role.

Milner Signs

Former Falcon and Bulldog tight end Martrez Milner signed with the New York Giants as a member of their practice squad. If he makes it up to the team, he'll be reunited with former teammate Danny Ware who took Saturday's loss worse than I did apparently...

Falcons Cut Milner

The Falcons cut Martrez Milner today. I'm not surprised by this at all. I noticed him on the sidelines in street clothes on Sunday, and I knew it wasn't a good sign. He was inactive for the first two weeks. These comments from the AJC sum the decision up:

Milner fell out of favor with the new coaching staff after injuring his leg and ankle and missing most of training camp.

In the new offensive system under offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, tight ends are required to block a lot.

Milner, a fourth-round draft pick (133rd overall) in 2007, was selected as a pass-catching tight end to fit former coach Bobby Petrino’s system.

So it sounds like the coaches want a big blocker, which Martrez is not. The injury comment makes it sound like the coaches think he's soft.

Personally, I think it's Falcons tight ends coach Chris Scelfo still trying to get back at Georgia for firing Jim Donnan. Ok, not really.

NFL News

Lumpkin to start?
With injuries to Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson, K-regg was running with the first team in practice today. Sounds like he should at least play this weekend even if he doesn't start.

Free Fall Continues for Martrez
Things have not gone well for Martrez Milner this year for the Falcons. It looked like he might start this season when training camp began. He is now third team on the depth chart.

Surgery for Sean Jones
Sean Jones is having surgery on his knee and will be out for a month. When I had my knee scoped, I was out for more than a month. What's up with that?

Terrence Moore Wants Shockley

Generally speaking, I disagree with Terrence Moore of the AJC. But I love what he has to say today.

Now let’s say folks do what they always do, and that is, scream for the backup quarterback. Actually, in this case, let’s say folks bark themselves red and black for the backup quarterback.

You don’t stick with the $72 million man as your starter. You switch to the guy who can help you fill all of those empty seats you’ll have this season.

And then we get this gem of a quote from D.J.'s dad.

“I’m going to tell you right now, man,” said Don Shockley, the proud father who coached his all-state son at North Clayton High School. “Bottom line is that, if D.J. ever gets a chance to take over this thing, he’ll set the town on fire.”

The funny thing is that D.J. Sr. is totally right. If D.J. starts a game, the Dome will be packed with Georgia fans. They won't have to worry about potential blackouts anymore.

Falcons Swap Tony's

In a completely random move, the Falcons released Tony Taylor today and signed Tony Gilbert. At this point in their respective careers, I would think that Tony Taylor is the better player. Don't get me wrong. I love Tony Gilbert. All he did was rack up tackles at Georgia, but he has been pretty much a special teams player in the NFL.

I guess this just stems from the fact that Gilbert played for both Brian VanGorder and Falcons head coach Mike Smith in Jacksonville.

In other news, the Falcons signed Brandon Miller to the practice squad. Over the past few seasons, Falcons defensive ends have been dropping like flies during the season. So you never know, he could be activated at some point.

Shockley Makes Falcons!

The Falcons announced their 53 man roster this evening. This announcement was good and bad for the Dawg Falcons. D.J. Shockley beat out Joey Harrington for the third string quarterback job. I'd love to say I predicted it, but I really didn't. I said I thought Shockley should get the job, but I wasn't sure he would.

Also making the team was Martrez Milner. In a very surprising move, the Falcons release recently signed Marcus Pollard. On a side note, Jason Rader also made the team. You may recall he played at Georgia prior to transferring to Marshall.

As expected, Brandon Miller was cut. I'm still thinking he may get added to the practice squad.

Finally, Thomas Brown was not cut, but he was added to the injured reserve list. This means his season is over. That really, really stinks as it looked like he was going to be the number one kick returner. According to the AJC, Brown has a "torn abductor muscle near his groin." Here's to a speedy recovery.

Falcons to Finalize Roster

The Falcons must set their 53 man roster by 6pm tomorrow. The question everyone wants to know is, will D.J. Shockley make the team? We'll address that last. Let's walk through the other Dawg Falcons.

Brandon Miller - I just don't see Brandon making the 53 man roster. He is still learning the defensive end position, and I don't believe he got much playing time there during the pre-season. He played a lot of special teams, but I don't think that is enough. Look for Miller to remain with the Falcons as a practice squad player.

Martrez Milner - Wow. What a fall Martrez has taken. Early in pre-season, he looked to be the starter as the Falcons' only pass catching tight end. After injuring his ankle Milner missed multiple games prior to returning for last night's finale against the Ravens. With the signing of Marcus Pollard, it looks like Martrez may not even make the team. I don't have a good feel for this one. We'll just find out tomorrow.

Thomas Brown - I really think Thomas is going to make the team. He's looked solid both as a back and a kick returner. He had a 50+ yard return last night that was called back on a hold, but it still was pretty nice. Unfortunately he hurt his groin in the game as well. I think he'll make the cut, and maybe the bigger question is will he be healthy enough to contribute.

Tony Taylor - Duh. The question isn't if Taylor will make the team, it's if he'll start. I don't think he will, but look for him to be a key reserve on the defense.

D.J. Shockley - Last but not least, we have D.J. It's pretty remarkable how much talk there has been about D.J. Shockley vs. Joey Harrington for the number 3 QB spot. I almost want to say that has been a more popular topic on local sports talk in Atlanta than Matt Ryan starting. If you watched the game last night, you saw that D.J. flat out moved the offense better. He threw a nice touchdown pass to Brian Finneran, and he just brings another dimension to the offense.

Let's say that D.J. and Joey grade out equally. Shockley is cheaper, and he is a marketable player. I'll repeat that. He is a marketable 3rd string QB. To me it's a no brainer.

NFL Update

Lumpkin Looking Good
Kregg Lumpkin's chances of making the Packers are looking very good. Check out this article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. This was written prior to Lumpkin rushing for 39 yards and a touchdown in Green Bay's 27-24 win over Denver on Friday. At this point, K-regg leads the Packers in rushing for the pre-season with 126 yards on 28 carries (4.5 ypc). I'm really not surprised by his success thus far. The guy was a beast when healthy in college. I wonder if he still does the "you can't see me" celebration...

Credit to The Deaner on the Lumpkin story.

Mixed News for the Bulldog Falcons
D.J. Shockley didn't even play in the Falcons' victory over the Titans on Friday night. Not good. Again, I just hope he makes the next round of cuts and gets to start the finale. Maybe he can make something happen with the first team and stick around.

Also not so great news is that Curtis Lofton started at middle linebacker over Tony Taylor. Taylor started the first two games. One of the announcers on the broadcast said Taylor "hasn't played poorly. He just hasn't made anything happen." Ouch. I haven't watched enough of the games to agree or disagree. Whatever happens, Taylor is going to play. As the linked AJC article says:

With Lofton and Taylor, the Falcons were comfortable enough to move Brooking back to his preferred position of weakside linebacker, where he was named to five pro bowls.

With the nerd playing another position, Taylor will see the field much more often.

It wasn't all bad news for the Bulldog Falcons though. Thomas Brown rushed for 29 yards and a touchdown on 7 carries. He also had 2 receptions for 3 yards, and returned 2 kicks for 43 yards. Jason Snelling, Brown's competition to back up Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood, also had a good night rushing for 46 yards on 9 carries. I'm not sure if the Falcons plan on keeping 4 backs or not. Hopefully Brown's ability as a kick returner makes him less expendable.

Not Looking Good for Shockley

According to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the AJC, it is looking more and more like D.J. Shockley is the fourth man in a three man quarterback race. I agree it doesn't look good that D.J. has been the last QB to come off the bench in the first two games. Add to that his 2 interceptions and abysmal QB rating, and you see that things aren't going so well for Shockley.

I'd like to say that D.J. hasn't looked all that great because he's been running for his life, playing behind an offensive line of guys that will be cut. But I doubt he'll get any more meaningful playing time in the game on Friday. Word has it that Matt Ryan will play into the third quarter.

At this point, I just hope D.J. makes it through the next round of cuts to play in the final pre season game. If he does, he should be the starter. But at that point, you hope that he gets to play more than a few series. We'll just have to wait and see, but it isn't looking good for him to make the team at this point.

Shockley to Start, But Not Yet

Chris Redman will get the start in Atlanta's pre-season opener in Jacksonville on Saturday. No surprise there. Redman finished last season strong (as strong as you can be on a team that bad), so I was expecting that.

However, check this out from the AJC's Steve Wyche:

Smith did not disclose the rotation for the remaining three quarterbacks — Joey Harrington, D.J. Shockley and No. 3 overall draft pick Matt Ryan — who are in an open competition for the regular-season starter's job and two backup spots. In fact, Smith did not mention any of them by name.

He did say that each quarterback would start one of the four exhibition games.

Maybe this really is an open competition? I still think Shockley is competing for a roster spot with Joey Harrington, but who knows?

Also, if the Falcons have any marketing savvy at all, D.J. will start in a home pre-season game. That will sell tickets.

Milner Injured, Taylor to Start

Martrez Milner will miss the Falcons pre season opener on Saturday at Jacksonville with an ankle injury. Apparently this has the Falcons concerned as he is their only pass catching tight end. There's a joke there somewhere...

On a brighter note, Tony Taylor will get the start at middle linebacker against the Jaguars. I don't know if he'll hold off Curtis Lofton or for how long, but it sounds like Tony should get a lot more playing time on defense than he did last year.

Finally, the Falcons QB rotation has not yet been determined for the game. I assume they are going to want to get a good look at Matt Ryan. My guess is Redman starts but doesn't play much. Next in is Ryan, and he gets more snaps than anyone. What will be interesting is if they give Shockley or Harrington more playing time. If it's Shockley, and he plays well, that's a huge step toward earning the number 3 spot over Harrington.

Quick Dawg/NFL News

Quincy gets another shot...with Parcells of all people. So far so good for Shockley. And last but not least, Thomas Brown sat down to chat with Matt Moore on FalconCast.

Chris Clemons Leaves Practice in Ambulance

Former Dawg and current Philadelphia Eagle Chris Clemons had to leave practice today due to dehydration and over heating.

Eagles defensive end Chris Clemons scared teammates and coaches when trainers had trouble bringing down his his body temperature, after Clemons left the morning workout with dehydration symptoms.

The article has this from Donovan McNabb's reaction...

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb theorized that Clemons, 26, a free agent signee from the Raiders, was unaccustomed to the brisk pace of Eagles workouts. "We're kind of adjusted to it," McNabb said at his scheduled news conference, minutes after Clemons was whisked away. "This is his first go-round."

Easy there Donovan. Didn't you throw up in the Super Bowl?

Tony Taylor Featured on AF.com

AF.com has a feature story up on Tony Taylor today. J. Michael Moore talks to Tony and his coaches about his progression in the NFL.

Apparently Tony has been running with the first team at times this off season. The common opinion is that Curtis Lofton is going to take over at middle linebacker with Brooking moving to his natural weak position...I mean weak-side position. I don't necessarily think Taylor will start this year. But, I do think he'll play a lot more defense this year, whereas he played mostly on special teams last season.

There's some quotes I want to grab from the article. This was a funny one from Tony...

"I was trying to trim my baby fat off and, at the same time, build muscle," he [Taylor] said. "I feel like I'm a step further than I was at this time last year. It's hard not to eat Zaxby's all the time but every once in a while you've got to leave that to the side."

Come on Tony. Zaxby's? Guthrie's is where it's at.

Then there was a trend from the coaches...

"I think he's a guy that's very sharp mentally," linebackers coach Glenn Pires said. "That's what's allowing him to continue to grow. He understands the game and is a very good instinct guy. (With) those instincts he keeps getting better and making good decisions."

"Tony has done a nice job," [Head Coach Mike] Smith said. "He's a very intelligent football player and has played extremely well for us. Tony doesn't necessarily have all the measurables you look for but there are a lot of guys that have been successful in this league that don't have those measurables. Tony has done a really good job; he's a good communicator and gets us lined up."

It's nice to see these comments made about a black player for once. If you watch the NFL draft, it's amazing how all of the black players have raw talent and natural ability. On the other hand, white players are often described as being intelligent and maximizing their potential. It's refreshing to hear coaches not following the stereotypes that the so-called experts always seem to go by.

Falcons Sign Thomas Brown

Thomas Brown signed a contract with the Falcons today. Look for The Thomas Brown Affair to be returning kicks in the fall...

Latest Dawgs/Falcons News

J. Mike over at AF.com has a story up on Martrez Milner. From the article...

The current roster seems right for Milner to make his move. With the departure of Dwayne Blakeley and Alge Crumpler, Milner is the only tight end on the team with game experience from 2007. Thus far he's worked opposite veteran tight end Ben Hartsock, who was signed in free agency.

I couldn't agree more. The Falcons have been signing "blocking tight ends" left and right during the off season. I'm looking for Martrez to lead tight ends in receptions this season for the Falcons.

In other former Dawg/current Falcon news, Steve Wyche of the AJC tells us that...

D.J. Shockley has been medically cleared to take part in all football-related activities and even ran some sets with the first-team offense at Wednesday's offseason workouts.

I love that he's already getting to run with the first team some. I already feel like this coaching staff is giving D.J. more of a shot than Petrino's did.

We'll continue to follow Shock's chances on staying with the Falcons in the coming months.

J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Musa!

Muuuuusa signed with the New York Jets on Tuesday. The Jets already have Thomas Jones, Leon Washington, and Jesse Chatman at tailback. I mean, obviously Musa is better than these stiffs. Last season, Jones was not the back from Chicago's Super Bowl run. If that stays the same in 2008, and Musa can avoid the injuries that have plagued his NFL career, maybe he can do some damage. If not, the Jets can always rely on their great draft picks...or not.

Watch Shockley's Live Chat

If you missed D.J.'s live chat today on AF.com, you can catch the whole thing here.

The topics of discussion range from rehab to where D.J. sees himself on the depth chart (which he kind of dodges) to "Georgia homers" that want him to start to Georgia's high expectations this upcoming season.

It's worth watching. Enjoy!