Atlanta, GA
GM: Falcons hope to come out of draft with a QB
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons are out there for a quarterback.
This does not imply the crew will take one with the eighth choose within the draft Thursday and even Friday on Day 2, however normal supervisor Terry Fontenot made it clear Tuesday: The Falcons are usually not finished exploring the concept of including one other signal-caller to their room.
It will not essentially add a starter, however the crew needs to have greater than Marcus Mariota and Feleipe Franks as choices on the place.
“We’re not going to provide away what we will do at eight or another choose, however we might come out of this draft with a quarterback,” Fontenot mentioned. “We need to add to that room and we’ll see what occurs.”
Atlanta entered the quarterback dialogue extra totally in March, after the crew tried to pursue Deshaun Watson when he was being shopped and finally traded from the Houston Texans to the Cleveland Browns.
As a part of that course of, quarterback Matt Ryan, who was nonetheless with Atlanta, at first delayed the roster bonus that was as a result of him by the Falcons after which was traded to the Indianapolis Colts. The identical day, the membership signed Mariota — the No. 2 choose within the 2015 draft by the Tennessee Titans — to a minimum of change Ryan within the quick time period.
Ryan had been Atlanta’s quarterback since being the No. 3 total choose within the 2008 draft. He began 222 video games for the Falcons, finishing 65.5% of his passes for 59,735 yards, 367 touchdowns and 170 interceptions, and was named the MVP of the 2016 NFL season.
Fontenot mentioned the crew spent loads of time this yr’s quarterback class in addition to the one from 2021, when the crew didn’t choose a signal-caller and signed Franks as an undrafted free agent. Franks made the crew out of coaching camp and spent the season as a backup to Ryan in addition to experimenting with enjoying tight finish.
Atlanta had a presence at a lot of the professional days for the highest quarterbacks on this yr’s class, together with Pitt’s Kenny Pickett, Liberty’s Malik Willis and Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder.
Fontenot mentioned the primary spherical is especially robust to forecast this yr due to the questions surrounding the quarterbacks. Final yr, as an example, Fontenot mentioned he felt as if Atlanta had the primary choose within the draft at No. 4 due to the robust sense that the primary three picks could be quarterbacks, which they had been when Trevor Lawrence went to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Zach Wilson to the New York Jets after which Trey Lance to the San Francisco 49ers.
This yr has extra intrigue.
“It truly is troublesome to foretell,” Fontenot mentioned. “This can be a very distinctive draft.”
Fontenot would not particularly tackle whether or not he believes there are starting-caliber quarterbacks on this class, although he mentioned there are future starters at each place.
“Proper now we consider the gamers,” Fontenot mentioned. “In fact there’s going to be starters that come out of this class. We can’t know that till three or 4 years from now with a few of the gamers. At each place, there’s starters, there’s backups.”
He additionally mentioned Atlanta’s scouting workers has checked out courses past simply 2022.
He mentioned he’s residing “within the second” with regards to the draft whereas additionally trying on the huge image, though he mentioned the Falcons aren’t specializing in who might or might not be focused in 2023 if want be as a result of a lot can change in a yr.
Fontenot additionally mentioned he wouldn’t be disillusioned if the crew finally ends up bypassing a quarterback altogether within the 2022 draft as a result of there are different methods so as to add to the place. As an example, Atlanta signed AJ McCarron to again up Ryan on the Friday of final yr’s draft after not choosing a quarterback in the course of the first spherical.
“It might be within the draft. It might be after the draft. It might be by way of commerce,” Fontenot mentioned. “We’re not going to restrict ourselves to any risk. We will flip over each stone and whether or not it is within the draft or not, we’ll add to that room.”
Coach Arthur Smith mentioned he has extra enter on when the Falcons might or might not take a quarterback due to the gravity of the choice to the development of the crew. In the end, the choice could be collaborative between Fontenot and Smith.
“That is the one factor about soccer, particularly skilled soccer, it is such an unlimited choice to make,” Smith mentioned. “Particularly if you are going to make investments, it is an important place in skilled sports activities.
“For higher or worse, the NFL and that place, it is extraordinarily vital to make this factor go, so yeah, you are it. It is an enormous funding.”
Atlanta, GA
MLS apologizes for falsely announcing Atlanta United transfer
Major League Soccer apologized Thursday for publishing a story on its website that identified the wrong player as having transferred to one of its clubs, Atlanta United.
The league’s website, MLSSoccer.com, published a story Wednesday that falsely reported that Celtic FC and Japan forward Kyogo Furuhashi had been acquired by Atlanta. The article was quickly removed.
“Major League Soccer’s website mistakenly posted an article that named the wrong player as having signed with an MLS club,” the league said in a statement to The Athletic. “The article was immediately removed and corrected. MLS extends its sincere apologies to the impacted parties.”
The false report is no longer available, and the link now directs to an error message.
The mistake appears linked to Atlanta’s transfer hint for another player, US-born Cayman Togashi, a former Japanese youth international who spent his entire professional career in Japan. Atlanta teased on social media the arrival of a Japanese player, fueling those rumors even more.
The club later announced it signed Togashi through the 2025 season with an option for 2026. The 31-year-old signed on a free transfer from Sagan Tosu in Japan’s top flight.
Last month, the Daily Mail reported that Atlanta submitted a $12 million bid for Furuhashi. The club also recently named Ronny Delia, a former Celtic manager, as its head coach. Around the time of the false report by MLS, Furuhashi played in Celtic’s 2-0 win against Dundee United, coming on as a substitute for Adam Idah in the 62nd minute.
(Photo: Craig Foy / SNS Group via Getty Images)
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta Hawks vs Phoenix Suns: Spread and Final Score Predictions For Tonight’s Game
The Atlanta Hawks are wrapping up their six game road trip tonight in Phoenix with a matchup against the Suns. It has not been the best road trip for the Hawks, as they have gone 2-3 on it, but they have been playing most of the trip without star forward Jalen Johnson. That is going to continue tonight as the Hawks will be without Johnson for the third straight game and the fourth time in the last five games. It has not been pretty for the Hawks without Johnson, but they are going to be facing one of the most disappointing teams in the league tonight.
Phoenix came into the season with title hopes and after a hot start, it looked like the hire of former Hakws coach Mike Budenholzer was paying off for the Suns. It has not gone well though. This team is currently outside of the top ten in the Western Conference, Bradley Beal is now coming off the bench, and Devin Booker is not playing up to his usual All-NBA level. This team has talent, but they have not shown it on a night-to-night basis, as evidenced from their loss to Charlotte on Tuesday. Even without Johnson, the Hawks have a chance tonight due to the Sun’s inconsistency.
Coming into tonight’s game, the Hawks are 6th in the NBA in PPG, 14th in FG%, 17th in 3PA, 19th in 3P%, 5th in FTA, 24th in turnovers, and 6th in rebounding. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 15th in points per 100 possessions, 18th in effective field goal percentage, 19th in turnover percentage, 8th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 9th in free throw rate.
Currently, the Hawks rank 28th in PPG allowed, 22nd in field goal percentage allowed, 30th in three-point attempts allowed, and 30th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 19th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 28th in effective field goal percentage allowed.
Phoenix comes into this game ranked 17th in PPG, 12th in FG%, 14th in 3PA, 7th in 3p%, 11th in free throw attempts per game, 25th in rebounding, and 10th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Suns are 13th in points per 100 possessions, 10th in effective field goal%, 13th in turnover percentage, 27th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 6th in free throw rate.
Defensively, Phoenix ranks 19th in PPG allowed, 14th in FG% allowed, 15th in 3PA allowed, and 21st in 3P% allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Phoenix is 23rd in points allowed per 100 possessions and 15th in effective field goal% allowed.
With Johnson out tonight, it is going to be on the shoulders of Trae Young to try and lift the Hawks to a win. Young had another 20-point, 20-assist game on Tuesday vs Utah, finishing with 24 points and 20 assists. Phoenix will likely try to guard him with rookie Ryan Dunn, who is a very solid defender, but Young is a different test entirely.
Dyson Daniels was overshadowed a bit by Young’s performance and game-winning shot, but Daniels flirted with a triple-double on Tuesday night. Daniels scored 16 points, had seven assists, and six rebounds on 7-12 shooting. He can be the lead guard and playmaker whenever Young goes to the bench and has done a decent job of that. Daniels will also be tasked with guarding Booker tonight (which is not an easy task) and trying to limit his scoring.
Zaccharie Risacher had one of his better performances this season on Tuesday night vs Utah. He scored 14 points on 6-14 from the field and pulled in six rebounds. With Johnson out, it might be Risacher guarding Kevin Durant tonight, though the Hawks could use Vit Krejci to do that.
Krejci had a solid game for Atlanta on Tuesday, scoring 13 points and shooting 3-4 from three and I would expect him to get the start with Johnson out again.
Clint Capela had a monster game on Tuesday, shooting 9-11 from the field and scoring 18 points. He finished at the rim well and also had three blocks and Phoenix is not a good rebounding team. If the Hawks win, I would bet that Capela is very key in making that happen. With Onyeka Okongwu questionable and Larry Nance still out, it might be the first time for Dominick Barlow to play an actual role on this team as the backup to Capela. If Okongwu plays, Barlow is unlikely to see minutes.
The bench will be led by De’Andre Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Garrison Matthews (as well as whoever is the backup center). Until the fourth quarter, Bogdanovic and Matthews were having a poor shooting night, but Bogdanovic nailed two big shots to keep the Hawks in the game. Combined, they shot 4-15 from three and it is tough for Atlanta to win when two of their best shooters shoot like that. Hunter bounced back from a pair of rough games and scored 17 points and hit four of his seven three-point attempts against the Jazz. The bench will have a huge role tonight in helping the Hawks to earn a victory.
How the Hawks are able to guard Durant might be the biggest mismatch in the game. Durant is close to unguardable, but the Hawks don’t really have a great option in the starting lineup and I would expect to see Hunter get a lot of minutes on him when he comes off the bench. Atlanta could not guard Lauri Markkanen on Tuesday due to his size and shooting combination and they could struggle with Durant for the same reason.
According to Fanduel Sportsbook, the Suns are 6.5 point favorites tonight and the total is set at 238.5.
This is going to be a tough matchup for the Hawks without Jalen Johnson. The Hawks struggle to replace his versatile skillset when he is out and that is going to be a problem tonight against Durant and the Suns. Phoenix is inconsistent and can lose on any given night, but I like them to squeak by the Hawks tonight.
Final Score: Suns 120, Hawks 115 (Hawks +6.5 and Under)
Hawks vs Suns: Game Preview, Injury Report, Betting Odds, Projected Starting Lineups For Tonight’s Game
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Atlanta, GA
Atlantans prepare steep driveways for winter weather
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Winter weather on the horizon has people living in metro Atlanta with steep driveways preparing for ice.
Steep driveways are a common sight in Sandy Springs and there are solutions to not being stuck during the storm.
Amit Gambhir is one driver with a steep driveway. “It hasn’t been too bad. That we’ve seen. I know we’re thinking that could be the case in a couple of days,” said Gambhir.
“I want to say it was eight hours. I was one of the lucky ones it wasn’t overnight but it was a long time,” said Gambhir.
Gambhir doesn’t plan on being stuck in his car again.
“I do not plan to be out and about very much Thursday night through however long this lasts,” said Gambhir.
“If you do need to get out of your house and out of the neighborhood, probably Ice Melt, so you can get your car where it needs to go. So snow shovels or Ice Melt,” said Andy Jones, a manager and owner of Intown Ace Hardware.
Ice Melt is a chemical substance that melts snow and ice by lowering the freezing point of water.
“It essentially melts the ice and then that melted ice will run off your driveway so it won’t refreeze and you’re not slipping,” said Jones.
Salting driveways is another option.
“Go ahead and pull down to the street and park your car on the street the night before,” said Jones.
“I think we’re just going to hold steady here and play it safe,” said Jones.
Copyright 2025 WANF. All rights reserved.
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