3 Falcons who played their way off the roster in preseason finale

It's safe to say that the Atlanta Falcons did not end the preseason how they would have liked, as they fell on Friday night in a 31-0 rout at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars. No, most of their starters did not play, but still. You never want to lose 31-0.

Atlanta went 0-3 this preseason, and proved that they don't care at all about games that don't count based on how much their starters played. Even rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. played in only one of their three games. Valuing health is important, but reps are important too.

While benching the starters isn't fun for viewing purposes, it did give those fighting for the final open spots on the 53-man roster more time to show their worth. These three players failed to come through in their final chance, and might not find their way onto Atlanta's Week 1 roster as a result.

3) Dylan Drummond, WR

The opportunity for competition was a bit more prevalent in Atlanta's wide receiver room in large part due to the season-ending injury suffered by Rondale Moore. Spots for Drake London, Darnell Mooney, Ray-Ray McCloud III, and KhaDarel Hodge were set in stone, but Atlanta still entered the final preseason game with one or two openings at the wide receiver position.

Casey Washington always had a leg up since Atlanta recently took him in the sixth round of this past NFL Draft out of Illinois. The fact that he led the team in receiving yards on Friday (albeit with only 31) likely locked in his spot. Chris Blair didn't do much in Friday's game, but he was clearly Atlanta's best receiver in each of their first two games. Unfortunately, Dylan Drummond did not do enough to make Atlanta think about a down game from Blair.

Drummond played in one game for the Detroit Lions last season and seemingly had a chance to make Atlanta's Week 1 roster with a strong preseason. Unfortunately, he totaled six receptions for 19 yards over the three games and had one reception for two yards in Friday's loss. On the contrary, Blair had two receptions for 18 yards on Friday, after racking up 136 receiving yards in their first two games.

Neither one of these players were drafted, but one clearly outplayed the other in the preseason.

2) Carlos Washington Jr., RB

The Falcons are as set as any when it comes to their starting running back, as Bijan Robinson has a chance to break out away from Arthur Smith in his second NFL season. Tyler Allgeier is locked in as his primary backup. The only questions to ask now are who ranks after those two on the depth chart and how many running backs would Atlanta be willing to carry?

Avery Williams hasn't done much as a running back in his two years with the Falcons, but is a reliable return man who should be fine as a third or fourth stringer. It feels as if the Falcons do only carry four running backs, which is the norm, it'll be between Jase McClellan and Carlos Washington Jr.

In this case, it'll likely come down to draft pick history. The Falcons just selected McClellan in the sixth round of this past draft. Chances are, they picked him because they view him as a player who can help them out. Rodriguez, on the other hand, was undrafted.

The Falcons thought enough of Washington to have him on their practice squad last season and did look good in their second preseason game, but with an opportunity to make things interesting, he came up short in Friday's game, rushing for just seven yards on four attempts. If it's between McClellan and Washington, chances are, McClellan's draft positioning should help his case.

1) Taylor Heinicke, QB

You can (and probably should) criticize how Atlanta went about constructing its quarterback room. Guaranteeing Kirk Cousins $100 million only to turn around and take Michael Penix Jr. in the top 10 of the draft is really hard to defend. With that being said, though, the talent in their quarterback room is tough to ignore.

Cousins is the unquestioned starter, at least for now, and all the Falcons had to see from Penix was part of one game to determine that he's ready to be Atlanta's backup. Now, the Falcons have to decide if they want to carry a third quarterback or not.

If they do, Taylor Heinicke is a good bet to be on the team's Week 1 roster. He's been an NFL starter before, and has familiarity with the Falcons organization. If they don't, though, Heinicke will be wearing another uniform come Week 1. He didn't exactly play his way onto the roster on Friday or this preseason at all.

Heinicke completed 8 of his 17 passing attempts for 81 yards in Friday's loss. With a roster spot potentially on the line, that's not good enough, and that's after his subpar play last season. The Falcons might choose to keep Heinicke around with Cousins and Penix having some injury concern, but assuming Atlanta does not want to carry three quarterbacks, Heinicke feels like obvious trade bait at this point.