FanHouse TreyLewis

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.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

On the heels of a nightmarish 2007 season, the Falcons were predicted to go 0-16 by some pundits. But not even the most optimistic Falcons fan would have expected a playoff spot, and even fewer would have seen Matt Ryan going from rookie to franchise quarterback before the season's halfway point.

But now here comes the hard part: The Falcons have never managed to put together back-to-back winning seasons. Whenever the Falcons have broken through with a playoff appearance, it's always been followed with a quick crash back to Earth.

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.