The Falcons addressed the defensive end position in a couple of ways this offseason. They made the move to sign veteran free agent Osi Umenyiora to provide a boost to the pass rush and they used a fourth-round selection to take Clemson’s Malliciah Goodman, whose potential is as big as he is at 6-foot-4, 276 pounds.

Perhaps the wildcard, however, is Texas Christian defensive end Stansly Maponga, who pretty much spends the majority of his time on the field wherever the football is.

Born in Zimbabwe and a resident there until he moved to the United States at the age of nine, Maponga grew up playing rugby, a sport that puts as much emphasis on physicality and take-down ability as it does on endurance and stamina — and Maponga appears to have many of the aforementioned qualities.

Along with the obligatory defensive end stats, like sacks and tackles, Maponga is a standout in forced fumbles, perhaps a credit to his ability to fly to wherever the ball is at any moment learned on the rugby field. In fact, he racked up five forced fumbles in 2011 and was one of four players in the nation to rank in the top 10 in that stat and the top 20 in sacks (nine).

Maponga completed his three years at TCU with eight forced fumbles.

Quarterback Matt Ryan was on-hand at the Gwinnett Braves’ Coolray Field on Tuesday night to throw out the first pitch as part of the team’s Boston Strong Night, honoring the victims of the Boston bombings last month.

Before the pitch, Ryan joined MLB Network’s “Intentional Talk” to chat about his Boston and baseball backgrounds.

Click the image above or click here to watch Ryan’s interview.

Click here to see a photo gallery from Tuesday night.

Because we like to put our social media coordinator Morgan Andrew into awkward situations, we tasked her with taking a photo comparison of her hand with one of Goodman’s, and the results do not disappoint. See below to be amazed, and read more about Goodman’s hands by clicking here.

Surrounded by the likes of early-twenty-somethings, Falcons linebacker Brian Banks sticks out like a sore thumb. It’s not that he looks like he’s got some of his colleagues beat by six years in some cases, but rather it’s more prevalent in how he commands the field, both in his good moves and his mistakes.

Banks was signed by the Falcons before the draft to much fanfare as a 27-year-old rookie, who saw his football dreams all but crushed when he went to prison for five years for a crime he didn’t. After those five years in prison and another five on probation that didn’t allow him to give his football career a second chance, Banks was last year exonerated and now finds himself a life veteran among football rookies.

His first session on the field was spent running the defense at the middle linebacker spot, and he did so unlike what you might expect from someone who never played a snap of college football.

“It was real good today to get out there. I’ve been in film the last two weeks so to get a chance to get out there and put all the knowledge that we’ve been putting on paper out onto the field was a really good experience for the first time,” Banks said. “It was really fast-paced. I made a lot of really good moves, made a lot of mistakes, so adjustments will be made.”

There doesn’t appear to be any kind of physical or learning curve that Banks will experience with his fellow rookies, many of whom are fresh off their final plays of their college careers. Banks, who spent time with the Seahawks in camp last year, said he felt comfortable Saturday despite the lack of on-field time.

A big reason for that is Banks’ off-field training, which involves working with Jay Glazer — someone Banks credits for pushing him to the brink of his physical possibilities. From the mental standpoint, Banks has been working closely with second-year linebacker Pat Schiller in these early weeks of offseason preparation as the two have been going over film and studying together since voluntary workouts began.

“I think that he has taken so many strides forward as far as his football IQ goes, and it’s just unbelievable to me that he didn’t play in college because of his athleticism on the field and his ability to pick up the playbook,” Schiller said. “I think he’s going to be fine. He’s definitely got fresh legs.”

This weekend, the field of the Falcons’ indoor facility in Flowery Branch is dotted with wide-eyed rookies, who are getting their first taste of action in the NFL during rookie minicamp. Among them, however, are some players who were in their shoes just a year ago that are now looked at as leaders during the two-day camp.

Second-year linebacker Pat Schiller is one of those who quickly found themselves looked at much differently when he set foot on the campus of the Falcons’ headquarters this offseason.

Schiller was an undrafted free agent a year ago, so he feels the growing pains many of the 49 rookies in attendance this weekend are going through. As a player who spent all of last year on the Falcons’ practice squad, Schiller is eligible to participate in rookie minicamp, and he’s making the most of being one of only a handful of players around with some NFL perspective.

“You’re more familiar, and that makes you a little bit more comfortable,” said Schiller, better known as the silent, sunglassed rookie linebacker on the popular AtlantaFalcons.com Web series D-Block. “Coming in here to a rookie minicamp and having a year under my belt, you get relied on by the rookies to help them out now. You’re flipping roles from where you were last year.”

That role reversal came naturally for Schiller, who was a team leader at Northern Illinois before being picked up by the Falcons after last year’s draft.

During the first of two minicamp sessions on Saturday, Schiller looked comfortable and confident playing the linebacker spots, taking on the responsibility of calling line shifts and reading the offense with relative ease.

Going through a similar transition in college from freshman to sophomore, Schiller feels that huge step forward that having a year of experience allows.

Of course, much of that has to do with the offseason work Schiller has put in, which has been substantial. A regular during voluntary workouts at the Falcons’ facility since they started two weeks ago, Schiller has focused much of his offseason time on on football and getting better both physically and mentally.

From focusing on body health to the little things that make a linebacker better, Schiller has taken advantage of the time off. Along with standard football training in the gym, Schiller has incorporated yoga and body massages into his regiment to promote flexibility.

“Being on the practice squad, I’ll have a chance to go out there and fill a spot at linebacker on the active roster,” Schiller said. “On the other side, I could also get cut, so I have to work harder than anybody.”

The 2013 NFL Draft came and went without the Falcons using one of their 11 selections on a linebacker, but that doesn’t mean Schiller is expecting to just waltz to a spot on the 53-man roster. He’s getting an up-close look at his competition at the spot this weekend with rookies like Brian Banks as well as college free agents Joplo Bartu from Texas State and Boston College’s Nick Clancy.

There are no guarantees for Schiller, but he’s feeling good in the preparation he put himself through after the season and in the experience he gained from last year.

“They brought in a bunch of great free agents and I look at those guys as how I was last year, and they’re hungry,” Schiller said. “There’s no foot in the door just because they didn’t draft a linebacker. You definitely look at it as, the opportunity is there and it presents itself for you to go in there and take advantage of it and take a spot on the active roster, but by no means am I thinking that it’s a shoo-in, because these young guys are talented, talented players.”

This blog needs very little introduction. The videos speak for themselves. Part 2 is especially moving as cameras were on hand in Washington when Desmond Trufant received the call from the Falcons to inform him that he would be their selection at No. 22 overall.

It’s definitely worth the few minutes to watch the two videos below.

Falcons wide receiver Roddy White will be holding his annual Football ProCamp June 17 and 18, open to all boys and girls in grades 1-through-8 at Lassiter High School in Marietta, Ga.

Kids will have a chance to learn from and interact with White as each day they’ll experience various stations specializing in fundamental skills of football. Individual groups will be small to ensure that each camper gets plenty of attention from top football coaches in the Atlanta area.

Along with games and competition, White will have daily talks highlighting the points of the game, during which parents and guests will be able to listen in.

For more information on the camp and to register, visit www.procamps.com/roddywhite.

With just two days to go before teams go on the clock in the 2013 NFL Draft, we take one final look at the mock drafts around the Internet in this week’s Mock Monitor.

But we do so in a much different way than normal — by looking at all 12 weeks of results from both the sampling of mocks we’ve used throughout the Monitor as well as all your votes for who you want the Falcons to select at No. 30 overall.

Click here to view the 2013 Mock Monitor

Let’s start, however, by taking a closer look at this week’s mocks. If the projections are any indication, the final week before the draft should yield the most accurate guess as to who the Falcons will select, right? If that’s the case, the Falcons will no doubt be selecting Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert, as he supplants Washington cornerback Desmond Trufant as the majority pick this week.

Eifert earned five projections from the mocks this week after Trufant held the biggest lead of the year last week with seven total votes from the mock drafts.

Looking at the bigger picture, however, fans have a much different idea of where the Falcons will go at No. 30. Let’s first take a look at the position groups.

Here’s a look at the number of picks each position received among the experts (out of 207 picks that didn’t include trading the selection):

And here’s how you, the fans, had the positions selected (out of a total of 29,002 votes that didn’t include trading the pick):

So, while the experts are more even near the top as far as the three biggest positions of need — tight end, defensive end and cornerback — the fan vote shows that you’re overwhelmingly in favor of selecting a defensive end at No. 30 overall.

But which one?

During the past six weeks, one defensive end has been on a steady rise among Falcons fans and he barely edged out Eifert as the most popular pick throughout the 11 weeks we solicited fans during the Mock Monitor — Florida State defensive end Bjoern Werner.

Werner made his first appearances on the monitor on March 12 and stayed steady for a few weeks before dipping significantly and then rising sharply in the last two weeks. He finished ahead of all other prospects among the fanbase with 12 percent of the total vote.

After him, however, the fans went with the experts by giving Eifert 11.6 percent of their votes and Stanford tight end Zach Ertz 10.4 percent. A popular selection among fans before the signing of Steven Jackson, Alabama running back Eddie Lacy earned 9.5 percent of the votes.

On the experts’ side of things, Eifert and Ertz were heavily favored, earning 18 and 14.9 percent, respectively, of the votes from the mocks. Washington cornerback Desmond Trufant came in third with 10.7 percent of the mock votes. Werner earned just 5.6 percent from the experts.

Here’s a complete look at all the votes among the fans (out of 31,913 total votes):

*10 prospects received less than 1 percent of the total vote

And here’s how the experts had them ranked (out of 214 total votes):

*15 prospects received less than 2 percent of the total vote

Here’s your last chance to have your voice be heard:
View This Poll

With players reporting for voluntary workouts today, the Falcons will hold media availability Tuesday with two players.

Quarterback Matt Ryan and defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux will hold press conferences to discuss the start of offseason workouts and the state of the Falcons going into 2013.

AtlantaFalcons.com will carry both press conferences live — Ryan is scheduled for noon ET, Babineaux at 12:45 p.m.

Once again, the NFL will have 32 legendary alumni, one representing each team, announcing the second and third-round picks for teams on Friday, April 26 during the NFL Draft from Radio City Music Hall.

Cornerback Deion Sanders — a Pro Football Hall of Fame and Falcons Ring of Honor member — will do the honors for the Falcons.

Former linebacker Jessie Tuggle announced the Falcons’ third-round pick (Akeem Dent) in 2011 and former tight end Alge Crumpler called Peter Konz’s name in the second round last year.

Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff will field questions from the media at 3 p.m. ET Thursday at the Falcons’ training facility in Flowery Branch.

Among the topics Dimitroff will likely speak on is how the Falcons are viewing the potential options available at the No. 30 overall selection.

AtlantaFalcons.com will stream Dimitroff’s news conference live Thursday.

The release date for the 2013 NFL schedule has been set and the announcement will come at 8 p.m. ET Thursday, April 18, per NFL spokesperson Greg Aiello’s Twitter account.

The Falcons are set to play a slate of opponents with a combined 107-99-2 record in 2012, including the entire AFC East and the NFC West, North and East champions.

The NFL announced the preseason schedules for all 32 teams last week.

As we currently stand just more than a week away from the start of the 2013 NFL Draft, the picture on the Mock Monitor is becoming more and more clear. If it’s any indication of what the Falcons are looking to do in the first round, it means they’ve got their eye on a certain cornerback from Washington.

Desmond Trufant is running away as the majority pick among the mock drafts, earning seven selections from the sampling of mocks we took from around the Web this week.

Click here to view this week’s Mock Monitor

The cornerback position as a whole has been more popular lately around the mocks when it comes to the Falcons. Along with Trufant, Mississippi State’s Johnthan Banks, Boise State’s Jamar Taylor and Houston’s D.J. Hayden are all projected as players of interest for the Falcons, who are currently thin at the position.

Defensive end and tight end hold as strong possible options for the Falcons should they decide to go another route at the No. 30 overall pick. Florida State DEs Bjoern Werner and Tank Carradine remain popular choices among the mocks while Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert and Stanford’s Zach Ertz — two players with the most projections to the Falcons since we started keeping track of the mock drafts Feb. 5 — are still holding strong among some experts.

What’s your take?

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello took to the social networking app Vine on Monday to make that statement clear.

No date has been set for the schedule release, but Aiello told ProFootballTalk.com that it could come within “the next week or two.”

See Aiello’s Vine post below or click here to view it:

The NFL announced the preseason schedule for all teams last week, but kept a few dates ambiguous. Those dates and times have been set and are as follows below.

Week 1: 8 p.m., Thursday, August 8, vs. Cincinnati
Week 2: 7:30 p.m., Thursday, August 15, at Baltimore
Week 3: 8 p.m., Saturday, August 24, at Tennessee
Week 4: 7:30 p.m., Thursday, August 29, vs. Jacksonville

Falcons running back Steven Jackson joined 790 The Zone‘s Mayhem in the AM on Tuesday morning to share with Steak Shapiro, Chris Dimino and Nick Cellini his goals and hopes for the 2013 season and beyond in Atlanta.

His first time speaking to the Atlanta media since his introductory press conference last month, Jackson sounded confident in his ability to make a difference in the Falcons’ run game, so much so that he hopes it will make him and the Falcons champions one day.

“You will not get anyone on the market — in the draft or free agency — that’s more hungry than I am and that has more to prove than I do,” Jackson told 790 The Zone. “I want to go out on top.

“Let’s be frank: I didn’t come here to make it to the playoffs. You guys have done that consecutively over the years. I’m here to help be a part of the puzzle, be a part of something that you guys have built over the years. I’m just a hope and a dream, but we frankly have the same hope and dream.”

Click here to listen to Steven Jackson’s full appearance on 790 The Zone

If anyone knows the team that knocked the Falcons out of the postseason well, it’s new running back Steven Jackson.

Spending nine years in the same division with the San Francisco 49ers as a member of the St. Louis Rams, Jackson has some keen insight into how to view the Niners, particularly when it comes to how the team prepares from a defensive standpoint.

Click here to listen to Steven Jackson’s full appearance on 790 The Zone

Joining 790 The Zone’s Mayhem in the AM on Tuesday morning, Jackson told the crew that the running game can be a great weapon against a San Francisco defense that wants to exploit a team’s weaknesses.

“When you play the San Francisco 49ers, they’re a bully. They want to hit you. They’re going to intimidate you,” Jackson told 790 The Zone. “Patrick Willis and that defense, they study football. They know the game and they know what you cannot do. They’re going to exploit it.

“So, when you fight a team like that — I say fight because, as a Ram, we went into that game thinking it was a heavyweight bout — when we went into that game, we knew that we were going to have to run the ball, we were going to trip the clock, and between the two of our offenses, who both like to run the ball, whoever has the ball last is going to win the game.”

The Falcons were just 10 yards away from a winning touchdown against San Francisco in the NFC Championship game in January that would have sent them on to the Super Bowl.

The Falcons will face the 49ers in San Francisco during the 2013 season.

Newly signed linebacker Brian Banks appeared on the KTLA 5 Morning News on Tuesday to speak about the five years he spent in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, his eventual exoneration and signing a contract with the Falcons last week.

Click here to watch Banks’ entire appearance on KTLA.

Tune in to ESPN at 7 p.m. ET Thursday night and you’ll find Falcons wide receivers Roddy White and Harry Douglas doing a bit of a crossover themselves.

The two are slated to be judges for the annual college basketball slam dunk contest, which will also be accompanied by a 3-point contest. Twenty-four college basketball products will be participating in the contests.

If you’re in the Atlanta area and would like to attend, the event is being held at Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion and tickets are $10. For more information, visit collegeslam.com.

Jackson tweeted the picture below, of him deadlifting what looks to be more than 400 pounds.

It’s also important to point out that this is the first time we’ve seen Jackson wearing the Falcons logo. And it looks great.

When the Falcons selected Southern Miss offensive tackle Lamar Holmes in the third round of last year’s NFL Draft, more than a few heads among the fanbase were scratched. Seemingly a depth move, Holmes was projected by experts and analysts to be a starting caliber option at tackle.

With Tyson Clabo’s release Thursday, Holmes now looks to be the man to take his place.

Holmes, 6-foot-6, 333 pounds, had a solid Combine in 2012, running a 5.3 40-yard dash and recording 22 reps on the bench.

He played two seasons at Southern Miss after transferring from Itawamba Community College following the 2009 campaign. He was named a team captain by his teammates after transferring from junior college because of his work ethic. As a senior, he earned first team All-Conference USA honors after paving the way for the Golden Eagles to post more than 6,000 yards of total offense for the first time in school history. Holmes protected QB Austin Davis’ blind side, helping the quarterback throw for 3,496 yards with 30 touchdowns, and blocked for a rushing attack that averaged 205.1 yards per game.

In his first season at Southern Miss, Holmes played in 12 games with five starts and helped Davis earn second team All-Conference USA honors after throwing for 3,103 yards. He also played two seasons at Itawamba Community College, where he earned NJCAA Preseason All-America honors prior to the 2009 season and was a first-team MACJC North pick during his freshman campaign. Rivals.com ranked Holmes as a four-star performer and the number 18 junior college player in the nation. Prior to arriving at Itawamba, he was a standout performer at Huss High School in North Carolina.

Holmes came in to Falcons offseason training activities with a setback, injuring his foot during a workout before rookie minicamp. The injury kept him out of veteran minicamp, as well, and his first on-field work with the team was during training camp.

He looked to pick things up quickly, and saw some playing time in the preseason after then-backup tackle Will Svitek was lost for the season with an arm injury.

Not to be overlooked with the open position now is Mike Johnson, who has been cross-trained at guard and tackle during his three seasons with the Falcons.

A third-round draft pick by the Falcons in 2010, Johnson has seen a good amount of on-field work, even serving as the team’s jumbo tight end last season.

If things remain as they are, this will be one of the biggest position battles to watch in training camp.

Earlier today, defensive end Osi Umenyiora announced his brand new jersey number on his Twitter account, saying that he’d be wearing No. 90 with the Falcons.

Now, four other players have followed suit.

As expected, running back Steven Jackson will wear No. 39, his number his whole career with the St. Louis Rams.

Newly signed linebacker Brian Banks will wear No. 53.

Safety Shann Schillinger, who previously wore No. 39, will now wear No. 29.

Cornerback Dominique Franks, who wore No. 29 last year, will go back to wearing No. 24, which was his jersey number before last season.

New defensive end Osi Umenyiora will wear jersey No. 90 with the Falcons. He previously wore No. 72 with the New York Giants.

Umenyiora told me last week that he was mulling the idea of wearing 45, 99 or 90, in honor of former Falcons defensive end Chuck Smith.

Umenyiora tweeted the following to make the announcement:

Follow Brian Banks on Twitter @BrianBanksFREE

Watch the trailer for Brian Banks’ Kickstarter documentary film about his life

From Fox in Los Angeles, Brian Banks talks about his family being reunited after his exoneration:

CBS’s 60 Minutes recently profiled Brian Banks’ story. Watch here.

Brian Banks was a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

More Links on Brian Banks

• Brian Banks’ Wikipedia Page
• California Innocence Project, which played an integral role in his exoneration
• Video message on the California Innocence Project website
• Brian Banks appears on CNN in May 2012 to talk about his NFL journey
• Brian Banks tells Today Show that he wants another shot at NFL the day after his exoneration
• Learn more about Long Beach Polytechnic High School, Brian Banks’ alma mater, also home to Eagles WR DeSean Jackson, Eagles OT Winston Justice, former Patriots LB Willie McGinest and former Chiefs WR Stephone Paige

Falcons wide receiver Kerry Meier will be one of 23 NFL players — 13 active and 10 former — participating in the new NFL Business Management Entrepreneurial “Investment for Impact” program in mid-April at Notre Dame.

Speakers for the program will include former Falcons running back and current limited partner Warrick Dunn, as well as academic experts and corporate executives.

The program will include a business planning workshop, a session matching players with faculty mentors and a trip to the annual Notre Dame Blue-Gold football scrimmage.

The program was developed by Notre Dame graduates and NFL players Brady Quinn and Jeff Faine, along with NFL Player Engagement.

“The opportunity to play in the NFL has provided a platform to have an impact on our communities,” said Quinn, a six-year veteran, in an NFL press release. “It is my hope that through the Notre Dame Entrepreneurial program, attendees may learn how to invest with an impact for the greater good.”

Last year, Falcons guard Garrett Reynolds, along with now-former Falcons Will Svitek and Lawrence Sidbury, attended a business program at Stanford.

Falcons defensive end Kroy Biermann and alumni wide receiver Brian Finneran will get the first pitch honors at Thursday night’s Gwinnett Braves home opener.

The two will be a part of the pregame tradition before the Gwinnett Braves take on the Charlotte Knights.

Click here for more information and how to get tickets

Conan O’Brien is in Atlanta this week filming his late night show for TBS, and he spent one of his segments Monday sucking up to Atlanta sports fans.

That included donning a Matt Ryan jersey and exclaiming, “I love the Falcons!”

Click here or the image above to watch the clip from the Conan show.

Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff got an early start Thursday morning, less than 12 hours after news that defensive end Osi Umenyiora had agreed to terms on a two-year deal with the Falcons, as he joined 790 The Zone’s Mayhem in the AM to discuss the brand new move.

Here’s a bit of what Dimitroff had to say to the 790 The Zone crew:

“We’re excited about having Osi join us. It was a long, drawn-out process — not painful at all. We had a lot of things to work through and we’re pleased that we could take care of it last night. … I think it’s the whole package with Osi. Osi brings to the table a lot of experience. … Here’s a guy who has a few championships in his portfolio so to speak and he’s a guy that can get up and around the corner. He’s got the ability to speed the power rush. He’s a real hard-nosed, competitive guy, and I think it’s gonna be good for our team. He’s a piece, as we’ve talked before. Any of the moves that we’ve made in free agency or in the draft, this is not about one person. We’re excited about having Osi on board and I’m sure he’ll fit into this scheme well.”

Asked if there was the potential to add another pass rusher, namely former Falcon John Abraham, before the draft, Dimitroff said, “As you guys know, we do never say never. It’s always about making sure that we look at how the team is coming together and so, yes, I would say never say never.”

The popular question after every signing seems to be, “What number is he going to wear?” Sometimes that answer is easy to come to, if the number is available; in other cases, not so much.

As we’ve seen with Steven Jackson earlier this month, there’s some negotiations that need to take place with safety Shann Schillinger before he can own No. 39. In new defensive end Osi Umenyiora’s case, he already knows what route he’s going to go.

Because tackle Sam Baker wears Umenyiora’s pro number of 72, Umenyiora will wear a brand new number in Atlanta. He hasn’t decided on one yet, but he’s been thinking about it.

“Obviously, 72 is out of the question because of Baker. He’s a great football player,” Umenyiora told me this afternoon. “For me, I’m just going to find a different number, probably number 45 if they allow me to wear that. I think that would be a good number. If not, either 90 — old school Chuck Smith — or, if not, number 99.”

Numbers between 20-49 are reserved for running backs, cornerbacks and safeties, so a number in the 90s is likely the best bet for Umenyiora.

Watch the full interview with Osi here.

Here’s a look at some of the numbers surrounding new Falcons defensive end Osi Umenyiora. (And view some photos of Umenyiora’s career here).

• Minus-140: Number of yards he racked up on 25 sacks while a defensive end at Troy State
• 2: Number of Super Bowl rings Umenyiora owns, winning Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI with the Giants.
• 224: Number of fumble return yards Umenyiora has racked up in his career, good enough to be No. 1 in that category among active players.
• 75: Number of career sacks Umenyiora has racked up, which is ninth most in the NFL since 2003.
• 6: Number of sacks Umenyiora had in a single game, a 2007 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. It still stands as a Giants franchise record.
• 32: Number of forced fumbles Umenyiora has been credited with in 10 years.
• 10: Number of forced fumbles Umenyiora was credited with in 2010 alone.
• 3: Number of career touchdowns the defensive end has in the NFL.
• 4.78: Umenyiora’s 40-yard dash time in 2003.
• 2: Number of Pro Bowls Umenyiora has been voted to.
• 1: Number of times Umenyiora has been named a first-team All-Pro.
• 7th: Umenyiora’s rank in Troy University history in total sacks.