The Falcons are a strong bet to improve on their disastrous four-win campaign of last season for two reasons:
One, they've added size and depth in the trenches to both sides of the ball. Two, wide receiver Julio Jones is back in the mix.
At least, he will be come training camp, according to Falcons coach Mike Smith, who told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that both Jones and linebacker Sean Weatherspoon won't be "doing a whole lot" during the team's offseason conditioning program or full-squad minicamp later this month.
"Our focus is strictly on getting them ready to go for training camp (in late July)," said Smith, who told reporters in April that his star wideout was ahead of schedule.
Jones was placed on injured reserve last season after suffering a Week 5 foot injury that required surgery. Weatherspoon sat out Atlanta's final two games of the year with a knee injury, saying last month that he was still at roughly "80 percent" health.
A revived Jones never has been more critical for a Falcons squad that will lean heavily on three-wideout looks after erasing Tony Gonzalez's "move" tight end position from Dirk Koetter's offense.
The latest "Around The League Podcast" plays the post-draft version of the game "What's More Likely" and breaks down all the latest news.
