FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Three players will be competing for the Atlanta Falcons' extremely important starting right tackle role, according to head coach Raheem Morris -- and more could be in the mix.
The fact starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is left-handed means the right tackle will be protecting his blindside.
The Falcons placed Kaleb McGary, their starter at the position since 2019, on injured reserve Tuesday with no designation to return. He will be out for the year with a leg injury sustained in practice Aug. 20. McGary's backup, swing tackle Storm Norton, will also start the season on IR, as he had ankle surgery this summer on his ankle and will be out for six to eight weeks.
Morris said Thursday that three players who have been with the team will get a shot at filling the role left by McGary, a former first-round pick and potent run blocker. Elijah Wilkinson replaced McGary in practice after the injury, while Brandon Parker, another veteran, will join rookie Jack Nelson as part of the competition.
The Falcons also added three tackles to their roster over the last few days. They sent a conditional 2027 seventh-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks for Michael Jerrell and signed Carter Warren and Ryan Hayes, formerly of the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins, respectively.
Morris said all three could eventually vie for that starting role, once they begin to learn offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford's zone-blocking system.
"It's really just finding out, hey, what's going to be the best five that gives us the best opportunity to go out and lets us be the best offense that we can be this year," Ledford said.
Jerrell started three games as a rookie last year in Seattle, including one against the Falcons when he played well. Warren started six games with the Jets over the last two seasons.
Wilkinson has the most experience. He started 19 games at right tackle with the Denver Broncos in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, and was actually the Falcons' starter at left guard for nine games in 2022. Wilkinson appears to be the front-runner to start in Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Ledford said he'd be "comfortable" with that.
"[Wilkinson has] got great length, he's athletic and we've used him a lot in training camp at tackle, so I like what I see there with Elijah there as an option for us," Ledford said.
Jerrell, Ledford said, was a guy that "definitely grabbed our attention" coming out of college. Ledford said specifically that Jerrell could be "an option" to start in Week 1 and the competition right now could include three to four players.
"[Jerrell is] a pro, he's been in the league, he kind of understands the urgency behind it and it's now trying to catch him up as fast as you possibly can there -- the verbiage, the lingo, all that's going to be a little bit different and it's just trying to get him as comfortable with our system as fast as we can," Ledford said.
But the Falcons are leaving no stone unturned. Morris said the team even considered moving standout left guard Matthew Bergeron to right tackle, which he played in college at Syracuse, and added that possibility is still on the table.
"You always have to have that on the table," Morris said. "Bergeron is one of those guys that if something were to happen in a game when you don't have all the guys up and one or two injuries happen, that's always got to be something that's in consideration. It's always going to be something that's thought about and we know he can do it."
Ledford said if that were to be the decision, he would feel very comfortable with Kyle Hinton stepping in at left guard. Wilkinson, of course, also has experience at that position. Continuity is of the utmost importance to Ledford and the Falcons offensive line, and both of those players have been with the team for years.
"The good thing about it, too, though, some of the backups that we've had here, Kyle Hinton, Elijah, they've been here, they've been in this system, they've been here with those guys, so a lot of continuity there as well," Ledford said.