FanHouse Trey Lewis

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- The Atlanta Falcons finished the 2008 season ranked 24th overall in team defense allowing 347.9 yards per game. In response to this lackluster performance, the Falcons used all but one of their 2009 draft choices on the defensive unit. That's brought a lot of youth and energy to training camp this week and it's created a different kind of atmosphere.

Third-year cornerback Chris Houston answered affirmatively as to whether or not the defense has a chip on their shoulder announcing they were, "hungrier than hungry".

Rookie cornerback Chris Owens spoke about linebacker Mike Peterson's monumental ability in the locker room to get the Falcons' defensive unit fired up before practices. Peterson, along with veterans Erik Coleman and Houston, has been, "getting in our ears, especially the rookies", Owens said.

(Update July 30, 2009): Peria Jerry has signed with the Falcons. The financial terms were not disclosed, but the contract was reported as being a five-year deal.

Peria Jerry was a driving force in making the University of Mississippi's run defense the fourth best in the country in 2008. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jerry is on the verge of signing with the Falcons, instantly upgrading their shaky defensive line.

The Falcons and first-round pick Peria Jerry are expected to reach a contract agreement later Thursday, according to his agent James "Bus"Cook.

Jerry has made it a point since the draft to show that he wanted to sign prior to training camp. If the deal gets done today, he'll make it just in the nick of time as camp opens Saturday morning August 1st.

When Thomas Dimitroff took the Falcons general manager job last year, he was given the job of rebuilding one of the league's worst rosters. So we knew that Dimitroff would be making some serious changes.

But it's pretty impressive how much of a turnover he's given the team so fast. As Dimitroff comes out of his second draft, nealy half of the Falcons projected starters this season will be players that he has brought in since taking over the team. That's 10 starters in two years.

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

Last year the Falcons proved what an excellent draft and a couple of free agent signings can do to a previously awful team. First-round picks Matt Ryan and Sam Baker and second-round pick Curtis Lofton all became immediate starters while free agent signee Michael Turner turned into the team's best back since Jamal Anderson was in his prime.

There's less riding on this year's draft than last year's, but Atlanta needs to add depth to what's still a pretty thin roster. There is not nearly as much need for immediate starters this year, but there are still a lot of positions where the Falcons could use a talent upgrade.

Falcons defensive tackle Trey Lewis looked like a nice find during his rookie season. It's too bad that he might not get a chance to make a encore appearance in 2008.

While simply walking down the stairs, Lewis tweaked his knee, re-injuring his ACL and putting his 2008 season in doubt. Lewis had first hurt the knee during the Bucs game last November.

For a sixth-round pick Lewis played very well last year, jumping into the starting lineup when coach Bobby Petrino stupidly waived Grady Jackson. Jackson then latched on with the Jaguars, where he played pretty well. Considering the Falcons gaping hole at defensive tackle (Jonathan Babineaux is the only other true DT on the current roster), could the Falcons bring back Grady Jackson? Obviously this is just speculation, but with so few options at defensive tackle, Jackson looks like a decent fit as a spot player, even if Atlanta goes out and nabs an early round defensive tackle to start.

Obviously there were some people in Atlanta who didn't like Jackson, but most of them have fled town now. If Smith had a good feeling about Jackson from their time together in Jacksonville, he is a solid free agent looking for work. Atlanta shouldn't be looking to lock up any old players for the long term, but as a stopgap there are worse options than Jackson.

When the Falcons face the Colts, you would not expect to be more worried about their running game than their air attack. But with Marvin Harrison, Anthony Moorhead and potentially Anthony Gonzalez out, the Colts passing game is pretty banged up while Joseph Addai has been running wild all season.

And the Falcons' defensive line is even more banged up than the Colts receivers. The Falcons placed starting defensive tackles Trey Lewis and Rod Coleman on injured reserve yesterday. Throw in Bobby Petrino's stupid decision to waive starting tackle Grady Jackson last month and the Falcons will go into the rest of the season with their No. 4 and No. 5 defensive tackles, Montavious Staley and Jonathan Babineaux as the starters and street free agents as the backups.