Falcons Down to 53

The Atlanta Falcons made their final cuts in preparations for next Sunday's season opener. Here is the list of the following players who were cut; Running backs Ronnie Wingo and Patrick DiMarco, Wide receivers James Rodgers, Darius Johnson and Martel Moore, Offensive linemen Jacques McClendon, Phillipkeith Manley, Theo Goins and Alec Savoie, Defensive linemen Adam Replogle, Neal Huynh, Micanor Regis, Linebackers Robert James, Brian Banks, who was mentioned before, and Pat Schiller, Cornerbacks Jordan Mabin, Terrence Johnson and Peyton Thompson, Safety Charles Mitchell and Kicker Jeremy Shelley.
The only surprises on this list were Johnson, Manley, James and Mitchell. Johnson had a strong showing in camp and did fantastic in the preseason games, so it was interesting that the Falcons didn't want him on the roster. Manley was doing good in games during the preseason and with little depth at the offensive line position, it didn't make sense to see him cut. James led the Falcons' special teams in tackles last season, he will be hard to replace but look for Paul Worrilow and Joplo Bartu to do a good job of that. Mitchell was a strong special teams player last year as a rookie, but the Falcons kept a few new rookies at the position this year so someone had to go.

Robert James makes a tackle in the Falcons' last preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars last week, he was the biggest surprise of the Falcons' cuts on Saturday.
Photo Courtesy of Yahoo! Sports