FanHouse Robert Ferguson

The Atlanta Falcons are in St. Louis tonight to take on the Rams in week two of the NFL's preseason. Friday night is going to be a pivotal game to begin answering many questions that the Falcons have about depth chart issues and final 53-man roster considerations.

Here are three scenarios to keep your eye on.

Who is going to end up being the third wide receiver?
When Harry Douglas went down with a season-ending ACL tear, the Falcons had immediate openings for a punt returner (see later comments) and a third wide receiver. The team signed veteran free agents Robert Ferguson and Marty Booker soon after the Douglas injury and they are now competing with Brian Finneran and Eric Weems for that No. 3 spot.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Roddy White and his agent have been quiet during the first nine days of training camp, preferring not to comment publicly on negotiations. The holdout is over and on White's first day in camp, he's making noise.

"We'll have a lot of big, explosive plays this year out of our offense," White said after his first practice with the team.

As you can tell, White is excited to be back in camp, back with the team and back in the huddle. Head coach Mike Smith is just happy to have him back.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- In the aftermath of the Harry Douglas injury, the Atlanta Falcons made multiple roster moves on Thursday as the team added two receivers, cut an undrafted free-agent rookie, and lost another rookie to injury.

Thursday morning started with the addition of unrestricted free agent Robert Ferguson, who signed a one year contract. Ferguson is a seven-year veteran of the NFL, most recently with the Minnesota Vikings. He only had three receptions last season but over his career has 151 receptions and 13 touchdowns.

The Minnesota Vikings have re-signed wide receiver Robert Ferguson, meaning they will keep the nucleus of their receiving corps from last year intact, and gain a solid starter in Bernard Berrian.

If you're a Vikings fan looking at the offense heading into the 2008 season, you have to like a lot of what you see. Berrian, Ferguson, Bobby Wade and Sidney Rice could make for some very threatening four-receiver formations. Stretching the field with those receivers should open up some room for Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor to run. The offensive line is one of the best in the league.

And that brings us to the quarterback, Tarvaris Jackson. It's baffling that the Vikings appear perfectly content to head into the 2008 season with Jackson, who had a 70.8 quarterback rating last year, as their unquestioned starter. Barring some kind of surprise move in the draft, or a major trade, Brad Childress will had his offense to Jackson.

And handing this offense to Jackson is like handing the keys to your Ferrari to a 15-year-old with a learner's permit. Maybe he'll be a good enough driver to trust him some day, but is it worth the risk that he'll crash and burn?

Taking into account that it's the preseason, many of the players sitting on the sidelines tonight would normally be on the field if it was a meaningful game. With that said, I'm sure most fans would like to know who they should expect to see this evening. For that reason, I've done by best to create an accurate injury report -- official reports are not posted until week one of the regular season.

Green Bay Packers:

Out: Quarterback Paul Thompson (no injury) and running back Vernand Morency (knee).

Doubtful: Fullback Brandon Miree (stinger) and guard Tony Moll (stinger).

Questionable: Running Back DeShawn Wynn (quad), cornerback Al Harris (back) and cornerback Charles Woodson (hamstring).

Probable: Wide receiver Greg Jennings (hip), tackle Chad Clifton (knees), tackle Orrin Thompson (back), tight end Bubba Franks (cornea) and wide receiver Robert Ferguson (foot).

According to a report by Tom Pelissero of the Green Bay Press Gazette, in addition to tight end Bubba Franks, the Green Bay Packers could release defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and wide receiver Robert Ferguson.

Gbaja-Biamila (KGB for short) had an awful year last season and apparently the Packers are going to show him no patience. From 2001 to 2004 he was arguably one of the better defensive ends in the league but has slipped significantly since then.

Robert Ferguson seems like a more risk-less release. He's played in fewer games each of the last five seasons and his ability has dwindled with the playing time. That culminated last season when he managed to play in only four games while collecting five catches for 31 yards and a single touchdown.

Along with Bubba Franks and strong safety Marquand Manuel, who may also be released, the four take up around 11% of the Packers entire salary.

Note: While I am no G.M., I think the Packers would be better off if they attempted to trade KGB and Manuel before releasing them. Even if they only managed to get a late round draft choice, it's better then nothing.