After not addressing their offensive line in the draft until the seventh round, the Falcons appear to still be on the lookout for veteran help along the line. According to Howard Balzer of The SportsXchange (via Twitter), Atlanta brought in free agent offensive tackle Joe Barksdale today for a tryout.
At the start of the free agency period in March, it appeared that Barksdale would be one of the more attractive tackles available, but he hasn’t generated much interest. While the Rams and Titans have shown some interest, other teams opted for free agents with less experience than Barksdale, who has been a starter in St. Louis in recent years.
As our Dallas Robinson observed when he examined Barksdale’s free agent stock, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked the former Ram just 48th out of 84 qualified tackles. However, his +5.6 run-blocking grade placed him just outside the top 10 in that category.