FanHouse D.j. Shockley

ATLANTA, Ga -- Everyone loves last-second touchdown passes to win games in the NFL. It doesn't matter if it happens in the preseason.

The Atlanta Falcons' first-team offense moved the ball well in the first half, but quarterback Chris Redman and the second- and third-string units stole the show on Saturday night, as the Falcons beat the San Diego Chargers 27-24 on a touchdown pass from Redman to Eric Weems with nine seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Redman, who came into the game in the third quarter, completed 15-of-19 passes for 134 yards and compiled a 113.6 quarterback rating. He threw the game-winning pass, but also ran for a 10-yard touchdown earlier in the game.

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.

Depending on your perspective, today has been really, really good or, well, pretty craptastic. NFL rosters have to be trimmed to 53 and there are already plenty of examples of big names getting the boot.

There's plenty of room on the FAIL list, and next up is former Lions third-overall pick, quarterback Joey Harrington who, by all accounts, is a swell guy, but has had a mesmerizingly dreadful six-year NFL career. Part of that has to do with the circumstance -- it's hard to have much success in Detroit, Miami or Atlanta -- and I'm guessing Harrington was a delightfully deplorable person in a previous life and is being paid back accordingly in this one.

Whatever, he, along with scores of other guys, is looking for work right about now.

As for the Falcons, they'll go into the season with another third-overall selection, rookie Matt Ryan, under center. Chris Redman, who was out of football for a few years before Bobby Petrino summoned him from the real world, will serve as Ryan's backup, and D.J. Shockley, a project in the works, will be the third-teamer.

All is not lost, however; Mittens has beaten the odds and somehow made an NFL roster. Keep your head up, Joey. Your NFL fortunes can change is a split second.

One of the big questions over at ajc.com is whether D.J. Shockley or Joey Harrington will be the Falcons No. 3 quarterback. The proper answer will be none of the above.

With Matt Ryan set as a the team's quarterback for years to come, what the Falcons should be looking for is a quarterback who could eventually become a solid No. 2. And if he can develop into a potential trade chip down the road (a la Matt Schaub) that''s all the better. Neither of the two candidates fit that role.

Joey Harrington deserved better than the treatment he got from coach Bobby Petrino. But at this point, there's no real reason to keep him as a No. 3 quarterback. He's a completely known commodity, who could be a reliable backup in a best-case scenario, but gives no real advantages as a No. 3. If the Falcons were forced to turn to Harrington, it means the season is already in the tank--with Matt Ryan and Chris Redman hurt. And at that point, there's not that much difference between Harrington and some of the QBs the Falcons could find looking for work.

Great news for Falcons fourth-string quarterback D.J. Shockley: head coach Mike Smith says the starting job is wide open. Of course, that's what every coach currently without a bona fide starter is saying, and realistically, Shockley has about as good a shot at the gig as Joey Harrington has of being traded to the Lions and taking them to the Super Bowl. Which, at about a million to one means there's still a chance.

"We'll have a rotation so that all of our quarterbacks have an opportunity to work early," Smith said. "That's something that we want to do, to give every guy an opportunity to compete for the starting job."

Matt Ryan, the team's first-round pick and next franchise quarterback, offers his thoughts on the process:

"I think there's no right or wrong way to do it. If it were an exact science, then everybody would follow the same protocol. As a competitor and a player, I think that you want to be out on the field and you want to have the ball in your hands."

As JJ Cooper pointed out yesterday, this is basically a two-horse race: Ryan vs. Chris Redman. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that Harrington and Shockley are each "in a battle for his NFL life", which sounds about right. However this shakes out over the next month, come December, there's a good possibility Ryan's under center for the duration. I don't like to make predictions, but I'm guessing his career ends up a little less gruesome than his predecessor's.