Herzlich Willkommen » Fact: John Wetzel invented The Electric Slide"

The Falcons committed this off-season to a wholesale re-tooling of their offensive line. We expected that following head coach Dan Quinn’s declaration heard ‘round the world. In short Stephen Denmark Jersey 2019 , as of early January, everyone not named Jake Matthews or Alex Mack was potentially on the chopping block. Falcons owner Arthur Blank doubled down on that promise in February. So when the Falcons parted ways with Ryan Schraeder and snatched up James Carpenter and Jamon Brown in mid-March, none of us were surprised. A month later, the Falcons added Adam Gattis as additional interior OL depth. Fast forward to Monday, when the Falcons inked a deal with veteran OT John Wetzel. He started 5 games for the Cardinals last season before suffering a season-ending neck injury which ultimately led to his foray into restricted free agency. Wetzel won’t be the starter, but he’s sure to make Matt Gono anxious as Gono looks to retain the swing tackle gig in 2019. It’s worth noting that Wetzel took over at right tackle for Andre Smith in early September last year, and instead of hedging his bets, Steve Wilks told the media “I feel great about Wetzel.” As recently as February, Walter Mitchell from SB Nation Cardinals site Revenge of the Birds raved about Wetzel’s downfield blocking ability and versatility. I’m rambling now, but the bottom line is this: Wetzel was a well-respected, quality backup in Arizona. But for the regime change there and his season-ending injury in 2018, he’d still be in a Cardinals uniform. As a former undrafted free agent, Wetzel parlayed his size (6’7 and 328 pounds) and surprising athleticism into his first NFL contracts with the Raiders, Cowboys, and Colts. He toiled on practice squads until 2016, when he became a starter in Arizona. Since October 2016 Cheap Stephen Denmark Jersey , Wetzel has started 24 NFL games. That’s a significant amount of snaps as a starter. (More on that later.) To be clear, I’d rather he not be forced into a starting gig in Atlanta. But if the need to spell Ty Sambrailo arises, he’s a good guy to have around. Sample size is everything, but in 5 games last year, Wetzel earned a grade of 55.0 from PFF. (72nd among qualifying tackles and “average,” according to their metrics.) His pass blocking was slightly below average while his run blocking was average. In 2017, Wetzel was an above-average run blocker and a below average pass blocker. The same was true in 2016. So if you ask me what to expect from Wetzel, my answer will be straightforward and I’ll be confident giving it: the kid is going to run some defenders over in the running game and might be an occasional liability in the passing game. If we’re talking about a potential swing tackle, I’ll take a guy with his versatility and that kind of established track record any day. If there’s a scenario where Wetzel suddenly becomes a complete non-factor, it’s the Falcons drafting an offensive tackle at 14. But again, his experience is invaluable. Wetzel has played at guard and both tackle possessions in actual NFL games. He’s racked up over 1,900 regular season snaps. In that time, he’s allowed 10 sacks, 25 QB hits, and 83 hurries, which is a little disconcerting Youth Dan Hampton Jerseys , if you’re talking about a starter. But as depth signings go, especially if he’s making the veteran minimum (around $730k for a player with 3 years of accrued service), Wetzel made a ton of sense. We’ll have to see how his contract details break down, but for now, Thomas Dimitroff deserve a lot of credit for finding this diamond in the rough. The home crowd still loves Ryan Tannehill, even if lately he hasn't given Miami Dolphins fans much to cheer about.Tannehill's wife recently gave birth to the couple's first daughter, Stella. They also have a 2-year-old son, Steel."We're settling in nicely to a family of four," Tannehill said after practice Wednesday. "I put a lot of time and energy and effort into what I do here. But whether it's good or bad, I go home and my little guy runs up to me — 'Daddy! Daddy!' — and it definitely warms your heart and puts a smile on your face."That's in contrast to the frowns Tannehill's play has elicited lately, and he knows it. He performed poorly in ugly losses the past two weeks, inspiring hopeful talk among his many detractors that 2018 will be the final season for the Dolphins' Tannehill era.To quiet the critics, he'll need a dramatic turnaround Sunday for Miami (3-2) against the Chicago Bears (3-1) and their No. 2-ranked defense. And he might not have a lot of help up front, with two linemen out for the season and left tackle Laremy Tunsil limited in practice after suffering a concussion in Sunday's loss at Cincinnati.Tannehill's offense has scored only one touchdown in each of the past two games. To go with the sputtering attack, he had three turnovers in the second half against the Bengals , with two of them returned for scores."I have to play better Youth Joel Iyiegbuniwe Jerseys ," Tannehill said. "I have to take care of the football. That's what it comes down to, eliminating the turnovers. You eliminate those and we'll be in good shape."Doing so with the offensive line so banged up will be a challenge, because a longstanding knock on Tannehill is that he's prone to poor decisions when facing pass-rush pressure.This year it has been a problem for Tannehill only recently, coach Adam Gase said."I thought we were good the first three weeks," Gase said. "He had some touchdown passes when he had pressure. We just had a couple of bad choices, this last game especially."Gase has been Tannehill's staunchest defender since becoming coach in 2016, and there's no sign of his loyalty wavering. The backup quarterbacks are journeyman Brock Osweiler and the unproven David Fales, so there has been no speculation Tannehill might be benched.But his salary cap hit in 2019 is $26.6 million, which is sure to influence the Dolphins' decision about whether to bring him back next year.There's still lots of time to salvage this strange season, which has the Dolphins tied for the AFC East lead even though they have been outgained by 472 yards. Tannehill said he can lead a turnaround by tempering his tendency to be too aggressive at times in his decisions."That's what got me in some trouble last week," he said. "It's hard, right? You want to stay on the attack. You want to be the aggressor. It's kind of anti-intuitive to come off the gas and have a big-picture mentality. That's something I have to work at and will get better at."After 82 career starts, Tannehill's still pledging to improve.