Falcons Scrimmage Report

I was not able to be present this morning for the scrimmage, but I just listened to Coach Baber's presser and here's what we know.

First, Coach is not going to be open about injuries, as Clawson was.  He accused John Wagner of wanting to give everything away to WKU.  Today, DJ Lynch and Travis Greene did not practice, but he says they will be ready for the WKU game, which is, I guess, all we wanted to know.  Somebody named Brandon was injured.  There are two Brandon's on the roster, I assume it was RB Brandon English.  Whoever it was was walking around and Coach seemed to think he would be OK.

There will be a scrimmage this week between the 2s and 3s.  Coach says that the team needs to solidify who the backups are, and that scrimmage will be a big day for those guys.

After that, they will start to prep for the Hilltoppers.

No news from the NCAA on the eligibility of Rhodes and Brown.

Coach is no longer going to comment on the refereeing because they are on a "fixed budget" and he doesn't want to get fined.

They ran 151 plays.  And it was ridiculously windy.

Alex Bayer Shines in NFL Pre-season debut

Alex Bayer is the only member of last year's MAC Champions to have a shot at a UDFA slot in an NFL training camp.  I think there seems to be some idea that he has a shot....it is certainly a long shot, but you never know.  Make it or not, he's a Falcon Forever.

He led the Rams with 7 targets, 5 catches and and 71 yards.  He had a 42-yard reception (game long for the Rams) and a 14.2 average, all of which is very good stuff and typical of what we saw of him for BG.

Now, the caveat here is that this was the first pre-season game.  You face worse players as the game goes on.  He caught one pass in the 2Q, one in the third (both from SMU rookie Garrett Gilbert) and then 3 in the 4th from Austin Davis.

Bayer is listed in a group of 3 among the TEs on the Ram depth chart, behnd the 1-2-3 strings.  Anyway, bears watching, and we are proud of him no matter what.

Chris Jones Injured Last Night

The worst thing about the ridiculous NFL pre-season is the injuries.  That fact came home to the Falcon Nation last night when former MAC Defensive Player of the Year Chris Jones sustained an ankle injury that will likely keep him out of the rest of the pre-season.  Here is ESPN Boston's take on the injury, which could have been more serious.  Best of luck for a speedy recovery.

Tidbits from the start of Fall practice...

I've already shared with you that Chris Gallon will miss the season with an injury.  Coach Babers has an interesting quote in The Blade where he says that with the new surgery (having it done "correctly") he can rehab, learn the offense and then come out "smelling like a rose."

In other news, The Blade reports:

William Houston is not practicing.  Coach says he is not allowed to talk about Houston's situation.

Sophomore LB Coy Brown has left the program.  Coy was a highly ranked RB/LB that BG moved to the defensive side of the ball.  He was an early enrollee, played as a true FR, showing up on the depth chart at MLB.  He played 14 games for BG and made 11 tackles.

The other news was that Coach has moved the practice onto the grass practice fields.  His reasoning is that the grass is heaving and more difficult to run on, which makes it good for training.  In theory, you'll feel really fast on the grass once you get out there.

Finally, Coach says that all their wives will be glad to get the coaches into practice and out of the house.

New football verbal

His name is Eddy Wilson, and he's a DT from West Bloomfield, MI.  According to to this post from Hustle Belt, he had offers from BSU, UT, and EMU before picking BG.  There isn't a ton of info on him that I could find...but, Lembo and Campbell are two of the MAC's top recruiters and I think Creighton at EMU knows what he is doing...so that's a vote of confidence right there.

The D-zone (a Detroit recruiting site) says that Wilson 6'4" 260 lbs and played inside in HS, but has the speed and tenacity to play on the edge as well, projecting that he will be a "nightmare" for opposing coaches.

He is the 9th defensive verbal for the Falcons.

Welcome to BG, Eddy.

Chris Gallon to miss season....

There has been a ton of chatter out there about an injury to Chris Gallon. I didn't want to run anything until there was actual information, and that came today when Coach Babers confirmed in his post-practice presser that Gallon would miss the entire season with a knee injury.

This is Gallon's second serious injury and I am sure he was heartbroken when it happened.  I wish him only the best as he battles back yet again, and wish him a speedy return to health.

Even though the team has good depth at WR, he will certainly be missed.

Falcon Football Lands Another High-Profile Transfer...possibly eligible immediately

Full credit to Hustle Belt, where I first saw this...

Malik Brown was a highly-touted D-lineman when he signed to go to Tennessee a couple years ago.  He's from Dwyer HS in the Palm Beach area--the same school that brought BG Darrell Hunter, Mike Minns and Clint Stephens to BG.  The Falcons offered him out of HS but he went to be a Volunteer--suffered an injury and didn't see the field, so he's looking to be a Falcon.

For some reason I don't understand, he apparently might be eligible this year, which would be huge for the BG defensive line.  He is in BG right now awaiting word.  He's 6'4" and 251, which is good size for a defensive end.  Coming out of HS, he was a 3-star player on EPSN and the #63 DE in the country.

Anyway, this guy has the potential to be a game-changer for a team that is already the defending champion and for whom one of the few holes is a lot of graduation loss on defense.

Welcome to the Falcons, Malik.

Update:  NBCsports.com says Brown considered a transfer to Syracuse.