While their coordinator jumped to become the 49ers head coach, the Falcons brought back almost all of their starters on offense from last year’s trip to the Super Bowl.
One exception was at right guard. Chris Chester retired after the season came to an end, leaving the team to pit Ben Garland against Wes Schweitzer in a battle for the starting job to kick off the 2017 season. Coach Dan Quinn announced on Monday that Schweitzer won that competition.
“It was so close,” Quinn said. “We went through the whole thing. More consistency at times. If you just went solely on the games, you could have batted it either way.”
Schweitzer’s debut as a starter will also be his regular season debut. He was a sixth-round pick last year, but never made it into the lineup during his rookie season. Garland will provide depth behind center Alex Mack as the top interior reserve in Atlanta.