Falcons Seek Matt Ryan jersey 's Third Option at R

Falcons Seek[link widoczny dla zalogowanych] 's Third Option at Receiver

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. - [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]quarterback, worked over the Jacksonville secondary in a 7-on-7 scrimmage here Monday. I know, it's not fair football. It's flag football, the offense has the edge.

Still, you had to like how [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] got things done with tight end Tony Gonzalez and flanker Roddy White. Out patterns, drive patterns, down out and down patterns. The ball was on a string from[link widoczny dla zalogowanych] to his favorite targets.

Now, let's see if he can find a third option. It's something else that helps separate the Saints from the Falcons. The Saints have more options at receiver for their quarterback.

The Falcons are shopping for another starting wide receiver with Michael Jenkins sidelined four to six weeks with a shoulder injury. Jenkins is a bruiser as a wideout, a big body who really adds to the run game. But as a consistent, steady factor as a pass catcher, he has been spotty for six seasons.

Harry Douglas, who was impressive in 2008, is coming back off an injury that cancelled his 2009 season. He has skill. There is also veteran Brian Finneran, who could have been a free agent, but the Falcons wanted him and gave him a contract to come back.

Then there is Kerry Meier, the rookie from Kansas. He was a fifth-round draft pick in 2010. He has hands. He has some savvy. He has some size (6-3, 220, closer to 210) to play in the slot closer to the ball and maybe block a linebacker.

If Meier is in the slot to go out and catch a pass, the linebacker is going to get on him and muscle him because the rookie is still a little light. It happened with the Jaguars in the workout here Monday morning. The ball was snapped and the Jacksonville linebacker got both hands on Meier and he went nowhere.

The next time out, Meier escaped and came across the formation and snatched a throw high and behind him. It was a terrific catch. He had several of those.

You rub your chin and wonder about receivers in training camp. Most of them look good; they can catch the ball out here when the hits are not coming.

Meier started as a quarterback for the Jayhawks and was beat out by Todd Reesing. Instead of transferring like most college quarterbacks do when they lose their job, Meier stayed at Kansas and developed into a receiver good enough to be named second-team All-Big 12. Meier caught 102 passes last fall, a KU record.

He has storylines galore. Meier arrived at Kansas in 2005 and then had to undergo surgery for a heart condition.

Five days before he was drafted by the Falcons, his brother Dylan, a quarterback at Kansas State, died in a hiking accident in Arkansas.

Kerry has an older brother who played tight end in the NFL for six years.

Something tells me the Falcons drafted Meier in the fifth round not just because of physical ability, but also because of makeup and character. He has something else going on.

*By the way, scan down Jenkins' numbers. There is something interesting. He's lost just one fumble in six seasons.

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