It's the dog days of the off-season and we've missed some Falcons news that is worth talking about but maybe not worth three or four separate articles. Let's catch up on some Falcons news together.....

When we last left off we covered the Falcons defensive tackles. Now it's time to take a look at one of the positions that has received the most scrutiny this off-season, the defensive ends. 

The Falcons have announced they have signed four of their eight draft picks. Clemson's Malliciah Goodman, Notre Dame's Zeke Motta, TCU's Stansly Maponga and UCF's Kemal Ishmael will now shed their college colors as they become Falcons.

When we left off, we finished up our offensive look at the 2013 Falcons as compared to the 2012 squad. We went through the RBs, QBs, WR/TE and offensive line. The biggest jump in talent is at the RB position with the addition of Steven Jackson and the biggest concern is on the OL with the departure of Tyson Clabo and Todd McClure. Now let's start our defensive look by focusing on the defensive tackle position.

The Falcons rushing game took a step back in 2012. Some of that was because the Falcons were more dedicated to the passing game under new offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter. The Falcons ran the ball 75 less times (or around 4.6 times less per game). The Falcons also decreased in yards per carry from 4.0 to 3.7.

After taking a look at where we stand right now at WR/TE and on the offensive line, it's time to take a look at the field general. In 2012, Matt Ryan was the only QB to throw a pass last year for the Falcons and he was very prolific throwing 615 times and completing 68.6% (a career high) of those for a career high 32 TDs. 

Yesterday we started out our "State of the Falcons" series going position group by position group and seeing where we feel the Falcons roster is at now versus the 2012 roster. On paper, with the loss of Tyson Clabo and Todd McClure, the offensive line looks worse than it was in 2012. Now let's take a look at the wide receivers and tight ends.

It's very quiet in Falcon land as the draft is over and the next big thing on the agenda is signing the draft picks and getting an extension done for Matt Ryan. Signing the draft picks will probably have to wait until Tyson Clabo's numbers come off the books in June. There is also talk of adding another veteran around that time as well. ESPN's Pat Yaskinskas says Richard Seymour is a possibility. We explored that earlier this off-season and definitely wouldn't be against it.

Last week we took a closer look at Falcons draft picks Malliciah Goodman and Zeke Motta. This week we take a look at fifth round pick TCU DE Stansly Maponga. Maponga had a great sophomore season with 55 tackles, 13 TFL, 9 sacks and 5 forced fumbles. As a junior Maponga stats regressed as he finished with 26 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 4 sacks and 2 forced fumbles.

After John Abraham was released by the Atlanta Falcons this March, he said that he was not considering retirement. After visiting several teams but not striking a deal with any, it looks like he may have changed his mind. Things can often be mis-read on Twitter but John Abraham's last two tweets make it seem like it could be the end of the road for a great NFL player.