By: TJ Hartnett

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The only team from the NFC South that has made the playoffs the last two seasons, the Falcons are locked and loaded to make another run at that elusive Super Bowl victory.

They will face plenty of challenges from the rest of the improved division but they have the tools to be a force in 2018.

They have some questions as well. With training camp rapidly approaching, let’s take a look at where the Falcons stand now.

First off, the biggest news of the offseason was Matt Ryan’s massive contract extension. Matty Ice inked the richest contract in the history of the NFL to the tune of $150 million. That kind of contract tends to come with an added level of pressure.

However, as his nickname suggests, Ryan will likely be able to go about his business without it weighing too heavily on him. He’s still the elite quarterback the Falcons need to lead their charge.

On less sturdy ground at the moment is Julio Jones. He has been a no-show at all of Atlanta’s offseason preparation events so far in 2018, due to an ongoing contract dispute.

While there is no real reason to doubt that this will be an issue that blows up to the point that Jones ends up in a different jersey, there might be cause for concern with all the time he’s missing.

He may be the best wide receiver in the NFL right now but he also had a year in which he only scored three times and that was after missing significant offseason time with an injury.

A player of his caliber might not necessarily need the practice reps to be good to go for the season but you have to wonder how well he’ll be used if he’s not around to train.

From that we come to Steve Sarkisian. Sark was the scapegoat for a lot of people who saw the Falcons underperform the year after a Super Bowl appearance and it is certainly true that the record-breaking 2016 offense took a step backward.

Despite a lot of noise calling for his head, Sark is going to get another chance to move the stellar offensive pieces he has at his disposal into position in which they can win.

Coaches, and especially offensive coordinators, can get too much blame when things go badly and too much praise when things go well. Sark has got too much talent on his hands to not be overly praised for their success in 2018.

Something to keep an eye on at training camp and the season draw closer is the health of Devonta Freeman. Two concussions and an injury to his knee took their toll on him last season and to put a cherry on top he tore his MCL and PCL in the last game before going into the playoffs.

All signs point to him healing quickly and being ready for the start of the season but having such an injury-plagued campaign in 2017 is concerning and something to be monitored.

On the other side of the ball, drafting Calvin Ridley did not shore up the defense, and the lack of depth at linebacker is still a concern.

De’Vondre Campbell and Deion Jones are a strong duo but beyond the two of them are question marks on question marks.

Duke Riley will likely start the season’s early games and he showed last year that he was still a work in progress.

The defensive side of the Falcons’ game as been a concern for a while now and while the offense can shoulder a lot, the issues of stopping the other teams will likely continue.

There is plenty to be excited about as the end of July nears, especially for a Falcons team that expects and should be expected to make the playoffs a third consecutive time.