[Ben E Lou]

2023 SEASON

KEY RETIREMENTS

Three very familiar names decide to call it a career. First off, there's RB Kenyon Daniels. Daniels was our 1(24) pick in 2011. I traded up from 1(31) to get this 233-pounder, and I'm glad I did. He became the primary starter from day 1, a role he held on to for the better part of 9 seasons before taking a back seat, remaining on our roster mainly as a mentor to younger backs. (He only got 86 carries total in his final three seasons.) Daniels retires as the all-time Falcon leader in rushing attempts (2,034), yards (8,430) and TD's (46).

Next on the retirement list is C Carlos McCormick, who was named Legend Of The Game. he was a 5(3) pick in 2007, and started immediately. He had some injury problems in his seasons 2-4, only playing in 25 games over those three years. He played with us for two more after that before departing as a FA to Oakland for two years, but we signed him back in 2015, and he played his final 8 seasons in Atlanta, primarily as the starter. In his 16 seasons, he compiled an NFL-Record 401 Key Run Blocks, and was named All-Pro twice.

Finally, this guy's worth mentioning even though he didn't finish up in Atlanta, but LCB Spencer Carlton hangs up his cleats for the Packers. Carlton was a 6(7) pick in '09, considered at the time to be a candidate for nickel or dime corner, and not much more. However, his ratings climbed and he became one of the best corners in the league eventually. He was a full-time starter from us from 2011-2020, during the era when we were #1 in pass defense several times. He was named All Pro in 2013, 2019, and 2021, the last time as a Packer. He's third all-time in passes defensed (168), and had 33 career INT's as well. He wasn't too shabby against the run, either.

KEY FA DEPARTURES

LDE Deron Mirkovich--Rickey Gooden is looking just about ready, so I let him go. The Cardinals gave him a 4-year deal worth $173.54M.

FL Hugh Wright--I have a nice stable of WR's now, so I let him fly. Miami inks him to a 2-year deal.

LG Jackie Samuels--Gabe Lemons is fully healed, so I save the cap room that Samuels wanted. Seattle gives him $3M/$31.67M.

LCB Colin Chryplewicz--I wanted to keep him, but I simply couldn't because of the cap. Instead, I decided to pursue a cheaper option. With the retirement of Spencer Carlton, the Packers give him a 4-year, $44.49M deal.

FB Arnie Schwartz--He was never the best run blocker, and now with a stud RB, I'm going to go with a run-blocker at this position. The Titans sign the 8-year vet to a one-year deal.

KEY FA ARRIVALS

RDE Britt Lennon--Will play in run situations. 3-year, $11.1M deal for this 11-year veteran journeyman.

RCB Les Hawk--Bennie Cobb will move over to the right side, and I'm hoping this guy will be a real ball-"Hawk." (I'm sorry.) He's *much* cheaper than Chryplewicz would have been, though.

P Dixon Lahr--Our last punter only had a one-year deal. This 4-year vet gets a 5-year contract, but with very low bonus money. I can cut him at any time I need to. He's got a very strong leg with very good hang time, but isn't very good at directional punting.

NEW LONG-TERM CONTRACTS

I extend QB Luke Ulufale's contract through 2026. I'm not going to make the same mistake twice that I made with Gus Lucas who, by the way, threw for 4,000+ yards for the Steelers last year.

DRAFT

POS	NAME	CUR	FUT	VOL	SOL	40	BP	AGI	COMMENTS	Cur2	Fut2	Cur3	Fut3
2(9)	LT Emmanuel Thompson	29	44	93	37	5.17	43	7.69	Lots to like about him.	29	46	32	52
2(30)	FB Kerry Ogden	28	64	25	28	4.65	35	7.53	Looks like a very good blocker who can tote the rock, too.	28	64	31	65
3(20)	FL Blaine Rawlings	18	38	49	30	4.51	20	7.01	I trade up 10 spots to grab this athletic Atlanta native.	19	40	22	41
4(30)	RDT Cornell Singleton	19	45	68	24	4.99	30	7.55	Useful run-stopper if he pans out.	19	43	21	42
5(30)	LDE Teddy Cooper	23	34	19	26	4.87	31	7.92	Concerned about his agility...	23	35	25	37
6(30)	SE Bill Foster	17	37	35	31	4.42	12	7.13	Needed to fill the roster spot, and this guy might have some potential.	18	38	20	41

This may go down as a great draft for us. I got youngsters where I needed 'em, and several are showing encouraging early signs. It is also noting that 4th-year C Ricky Rudolph is up to 58/58. He dropped from 32/55 at the draft to 32/53, but is now on the rise. Also, SE Wendell Faulkenberry continues to show serious improvement since I made him our 4(31) pick in 2021, when he was rated 25/38. He's now up to 53/53, and will start at SE over Wes Proctor this season.

INJURIES OF NOTE

NAME	TYPE	WEEK INJURED	GAMES MISSED	ORIGINAL WEEKS UNTIL FULL STRENGTH	CURRENT STATUS(at year end))
RDT Preston Rabe	Torn Lateral Knee Ligament	1	15	15	fully healed

2023 Regular Season (13-3)				Passing	Rushing	Receiving	Attendance
Week 1	15	at New Orleans Saints	9	R.Barker 12-25-248	G.Reynolds 16-75	W.Proctor 4-110	64,500
Week 2	21	Houston Texans	16	R.Barker 18-37-273	G.Reynolds 16-71	W.Faulkenbury 4-65	63,400
Week 3	22	at Washington Redskins	20	R.Barker 16-30-252	G.Reynolds 20-105	G.Lang 6-116	66,000
Week 4	20	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	31	R.Barker 15-29-193	G.Reynolds 20-103	W.Faulkenbury 5-53	63,400
Week 5	27	at Carolina Panthers	10	R.Barker 13-23-176	G.Reynolds 20-113	W.Proctor 6-87	45,300
Week 6	24	Minnesota Vikings	17	R.Barker 22-29-261	G.Reynolds 19-97	W.Faulkenbury 7-88	63,400
Week 7	35	at Green Bay Packers	13	R.Barker 18-29-225	G.Reynolds 20-183	G.Reynolds 6-66	41,300
Week 8	13	Detroit Lions	14	R.Barker 14-28-202	G.Reynolds 16-56	G.Lang 3-74	63,400
Week 9	20	at Chicago Bears	10	R.Barker 18-29-276	G.Reynolds 19-120	W.Proctor 5-84	38,500
Week 10	47	New Orleans Saints	24	R.Barker 20-30-325	G.Reynolds 22-106	B.Foster 5-78	63,400
Week 11	Bye Week
Week 12	38	Tennessee Titans	10	R.Barker 15-27-199	G.Reynolds 21-150	W.Faulkenbury 3-55	63,400
Week 13	41	Seattle Seahawks	12	R.Barker 17-25-195	G.Reynolds 14-79	W.Proctor 7-91	63,400
Week 14	13	at Jacksonville Jaguars	24	R.Barker 18-39-284	G.Reynolds 18-49	G.Lang 7-104	53,600
Week 15	20	Carolina Panthers	17	R.Barker 17-27-234	C.Clemmons 12-81	G.Lang 3-51	63,400
Week 16	34	at Indianapolis Colts	13	R.Barker 12-19-131	G.Reynolds 23-170	W.Faulkenbury 3-46	75,800
Week 17	24	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	20	R.Barker 22-32-283	G.Reynolds 24-103	B.Rawlings 4-112	71,600
2023 Playoffs				Passing	Rushing	Receiving	Attendance
Division	20	St. Louis Rams	13	R.Barker 21-33-303	G.Reynolds 26-119	W.Faulkenbury 7-107	63,400
Conf.	38	New Orleans Saints	6	R.Barker 14-25-185	G.Reynolds 30-171	A.Dubois 5-57	63,400
Champ.	27	vs Cleveland Browns	17	R.Barker 14-30-173	G.Reynolds 22-137	B.Rawlings 5-93	50,500

NC South	W	L	T	Pct	PF	PA	Conf	Div
Atlanta Falcons	13	3	0	.813	414	260	10-2	5-1
New Orleans Saints (WC)	9	7	0	.563	292	263	7-5	2-4
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	7	9	0	.438	302	317	5-7	2-4
Carolina Panthers	6	10	0	.375	262	286	5-7	3-3

Passing	Att	Comp	Yards	Yd/Att	TD	Int
Randall Barker	458	267	3757	8.20	20	9
Team	465	270	3785	8.13	20	10

Rushing	Pos	Att	Yards	Yd/Att	TD
Glenn Reynolds	RB	309	1599	5.17	16
Chad Clemmons	RB	95	432	4.54	3
Bennie Cassidy	RB	77	339	4.40	1
Team	---	520	2559	4.92	22

Receiving	Pos	Target	Catch	Yards	Yd/Ctch	YAC	TD
Wendell Faulkenbury	SE	104	55	798	14.5	122	4
Wes Proctor	FL	89	47	754	16.0	91	2
Gus Lang	FL	78	40	809	20.2	118	3
Albert Dubois	TE	60	36	423	11.7	59	2
Glenn Reynolds	RB	54	34	283	8.3	137	3
Bill Foster	SE	34	23	388	16.8	17	5
Jessie Swope	FB	22	19	104	5.4	41	0
Team	---	462	270	3785	14.0	681	20

Defense	Pos	Tackle	Assist	Sack	Hurr	Ints	Dfnsd
Clifton Shaw	MLB	110	37	2.5	5	1	8
Harvey Quinn	SS	79	33	0.0	0	1	13
Donny Barrett	FS	74	23	0.0	0	1	10
Brett Fulcher	LDT	70	17	6.5	11	0	0
Bennie Cobb	LCB	60	16	0.0	0	1	19
Jermaine Diaz	SLB	57	17	4.5	5	2	3
Donald Hines	WLB	48	17	0.0	2	0	5
Les Hawk	RCB	44	16	0.0	0	1	10
Devin Withers	LCB	43	14	0.0	0	0	1
Rickey Gooden	LDE	35	16	8.5	20	0	1
Renaldo Blankenhorn	LCB	25	11	0.0	0	1	6
Britt Lennon	RDE	24	5	0.5	6	0	0
Korey Brock	RDE	24	11	9.0	6	0	0
J.J. Wells	FS	16	3	0.0	0	0	3
Team	---	822	266	39.0	79	8	82

Atlanta Team Rank Rushes 520 3 Rushing Yards 2559 1 Yards Per Carry 4.92 1 Pass Attempts 465 31 Completions 270 31 Passing Yards 3785 10 Yards Per Attempt 8.13 3 3rd Down Conversions 41.8 16 (T) Points Per Game 25.8 2 Turnovers 16 5 (T) Turnover Margin 0 16 (T)

Opponents Team Rank Rushes 395 3 Rushing Yards 1456 2 Yards Per Carry 3.68 7 Pass Attempts 598 32 Completions 338 29 (T) Passing Yards 3620 19 Yards Per Attempt 6.05 1 3rd Down Conversions 39.9 8 Points Per Game 16.2 5 Turnovers 16 27 Turnover Margin 0 16 (T)

YES! Another title. We defeat Brock "Buck" Rogers and his Browns for our third title, and 2nd in three years. I will soon have to deal with the QB transition from Barker to Ulufale, but not right now. Barker has one more year on his contract with us, and in all likelihood next year will be his last as a Falcon. Regardless of the QB, Glenn Reynolds is realer than Real Deal Holyfield as our running back. Barring major ratings-hurting injuries, and considering my penchant for running the football, this 83/84 guy could set some long-term records in our league.

NEW RECORDS INVOLVING FALCONS

Reynolds establishes new single-season Falcon marks for rushing yards and ypc.

Leroy Matsko's 36 FG's are a team record.

Barker now owns all the Falcon passing records.

We set team records for rushing yards and total yards this year.

ATLANTA AWARDS

K Leroy Matsko--first team--36 for 45 FG, 38 for 40 XP.

C Ricky Rudolph--second team

RT Harold Cook--2nd team

RG Shaun McCormick--League Championship MVP (7 for 9 KRB).