The Falcons also have quite a bit of competition at fullback with Bradie Ewing, Mike Cox and Lee Meisner all competing for the roster spots.

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They often mean who has a job.

Many times, the losing player in a competition ends up being cut from the roster. The team either doesn't want his salary or his presence. 

Who are the candidates to lose their spot and job in 2012?

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Now the NFL is walking a tight rope when it comes to player safety. In one respect, the league wants to maintain their blood, sweat and tears image. On the other hand, there must be something done to ensure players the ability to live life after the final whistle has blown.

Football is a game that is constantly compared to war. The game is a battle between warriors, won in the trenches—and so on. With all due respect, the NFL's attitude toward its former players mimics society's toward soldiers.

Like soldiers, young players leave home and are thrust into a different world, many times coming out a different person on the other side. It's that person that is often overlooked and forgotten about upon return to civilization. 

Veterans of the armed forces are said to be heroes forever, but our heroes on the gridiron are only labeled so until that brand is replaced with "injury prone," followed by "washed-up." Like soldiers, NFL players often sacrifice their lives on the battlefield. While the country honors its fallen soldiers with memorials, the only NFL players to be enshrined reside in the Hall of Fame.  

One hero that will forever be remembered on both fronts is former Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman. As many fans remember, he gave up his life in the NFL for the US Army and was killed in action in 2004.

His death mirrors the NFL of today. Initially said to have been killed by enemy fire, it was actually friendly fire that ended Tillman's life. While his death was certainly an accident, NFL players continuously take hits from the "enemy," but in actuality every player plays the game under the same shield. 

Fans love the NFL because it's the embodiment of the country's identity. The idea is that when 53 hardworking, blue-collar men unify under the same colors and logo anything can be achieved. Another identity that the NFL should adopt is "Leave No Man Behind." The league makes billions of dollars of annual revenue at the expense of its men. It's time these players get fair compensation.

While the league is taking the necessary measures to establish player safety from a young age, the damage to past and present players has already been done. It has been said that taking a good lick in football is like being involved in a car crash. Think about how many "crashes" a 10-year NFL veteran has taken in his life. 

Yes, the equipment will only improve with time, but what NFL commissioner Roger Goodell needs to do is implement a top-notch retirement plan for the league's players. From physical therapy, healthy nutrition and even meetings with therapists, the league's warriors need this help.

When NFL rookies come into the league, it's mandatory that they attend meetings pertaining to life in the NFL. Goodell needs to see to it that NFL veterans go through a similar exit strategy. For many of these players, football has been the only thing they've ever known.

The fact is, football players know what they're getting themselves into when they put on the pads.

However, many NFL players have been highly publicized since their days in high school, and turning down the game is merely impossible. Post-career, life without football is suddenly foreign to them as many lives unravel. The league needs to monitor its men to guarantee their health after their days on the field are done. 

While it's undeniable that people will always tune in to the sport, as new knowledge becomes available pertaining to injuries induced by contact sports, fans may begin to watch with one eye open. 

As fans, we love the NFL so much that we can't turn our back on it, but we know things must change for the better. The fate of the NFL and its players is now in the hands of Goodell and the league's owners to make the only pragmatic decision there is. 

After all, football is a game, not war. 

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Just kidding 49ers fans. They will still be a good team, but the 49ers will regress next season.

The 49ers were the surprise team of 2011. They went from a losing record to 13-3 and almost making the Super Bowl. A lot of the credit has to be given to their rookie head coach Jim Harbaugh. 

In 2012, the 49ers are going to have a tougher time succeeding. There's no denying that they have one of the best defenses in the league. Patrick Willis is an absolute beast and will continue to lead that defense.

Their real problems are on the other side of the ball.

For one, their quarterback is still Alex Smith. Smith improved a lot under Harbaugh's system. He was able to do just well enough to lead them to 13 wins. 

However, Smith's time is up. Teams are going to be able to figure him out now that he had his one year under Harbaugh's system. There is a reason why this guy has not been successful in the NFL. It is simply because he is not that good.

A lot of people will think he is turning the corner because of his one game against the New Orleans Saints in the playoffs. Sure, that was a great performance, but it was against the Saints' defense. They had one of the worst defenses in the NFL in 2011.

Still think that Smith is the answer and will turn the corner?

Then explain to me why the 49ers thought about signing Peyton Manning this offseason.

Even Harbaugh knows that Smith is not the answer. He is waiting to find the right quarterback. The Manning drama is definitely going to get to Smith's head. He is not a proven player in this league and knows that he is on the hot seat.

Some people may say that Smith had no legit wide receivers to throw to. Do you really think Mario Manningham and Randy Moss are the answers?

Manningham had that great catch in the Super Bowl, but besides that he has always been a No. 3 wide receiver. He is not a game-changing receiver.

Moss is not the same player he once was. He was so horrible two seasons ago that he had to step away from the game for an entire season. 

It is great that they added depth to their receiving corps, but the fact is Smith does not have the ability to get the ball to them. The 49ers took a risk adding Moss, and he will blow up on them if Smith cannot get him the ball.

Last season was a cake walk for the 49ers when it came to NFC West division games. This season, they will deal with much more competition because the rest of the teams in the division improved during the offseason.

The Seattle Seahawks brought in Matt Flynn and should have a healthy Sidney Rice. The Arizona Cardinals made their passing game better by drafting Michael Floyd. Even the St. Louis Rams got better by bringing in Jeff Fisher as their head coach.

When it is all said and done, the 49ers will still be a good team because they have an elite defense. However, don't expect them to go 13-3 and make it to the NFC Championship game again with Smith leading their offense.

His time as the starter is up. Harbaugh knows it, and after the 2012 season, everyone will know it.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

This year, training camp rosters were extended to 90 players to allow more players shots at their respective teams. 

This series will take a look at all 90 players for the Atlanta Falcons on 2012's training camp roster. We'll take a unit-by-unit look starting with the quarterbacks and will make our way through all the way to the specialists.

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Never again will the NFL see a player like the (generous) 270 lb Levon Kirkland roaming the middle of defenses. Stopping the run isn't the top priority of defensive coordinators anymore, and because of this, pro football demands a new breed of linebacker.

Luke Kuechly is that breed.

As the Patriots showed us all in 2011, tight ends are a deadly weapon to be used in the passing game. Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez led the Patriots to the Super Bowl and were virtually unguardable by opposing defenses.

With the ninth selection in the 2012 draft, the Panthers chose Boston College's all-time leading tackler in Kuechly and grabbed possibly the most complete defensive player in this year's draft.

In three years with the Eagles, Kuechly accumulated over 500 tackles, seven interceptions and 17 passes defended.

Kuechly also got some high praise from many of the top talent evaluators.

Per NFL Network's top draft analyst Mike Mayock, "I've had several general managers tell me he's the single cleanest player in the draft," Mayock said. "I think he's the best pure zone-drop pass linebacker I've ever seen on tape."

Considering Mayock has been doing this a long time, describing him as the best zone-drop linebacker he's ever seen is a pretty lofty statement. But his tape doesn't lie. 

Kuechly grades out considerably well and compares favorably to Bears' All-Pro linebacker Brian Urlacher, who was a safety in college. 

The pick bodes especially well for the Panthers, who play in a division that knows how to use those tight ends in the passing game. Tony Gonzalez, Jimmy Graham and Kellen Winslow Jr. are all elite pass catchers from the position and can do damage to opponents' secondaries. 

Kuechly neutralizes the NFL's new favorite weapon and adds a dimension to the pass coverage game that most inside linebackers didn't have to worry about in the past. 

Think about some of the great middle linebackers in this league's history. 

Dick Butkus, Ray Nitschke, Jack Lambert, Mike Singletary, Ray Lewis. Not exactly known for their finesse and grace. 

Kuechly represents the new breed of NFL linebackers. These players must first and foremost be able to tackle and then cover. Playing the is something that can be done by two-down linebackers, but when you need a player to lead your team and make a play, that player can be Kuechly. 

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Each week during the offseason, I'll be taking questions from Twitter (#MillerMailbag) and answering them in a weekly mailbag column here. Special thanks to those who asked questions and allowed them to be featured here.

On to the mailbag...

#millermailbagHow would you rank Robert Woods compared to Blackmon, AJ Green, J. Jones and Dez Bryant?

— Tobias Bundgaard (@TobiasBundgaard) May 15, 2012

USC wide receiver Robert Woods is an interesting prospect. He doesn't have the size that made A.J. Green, Julio Jones or Dez Bryant stand out from the crowd, but his route-running is on par with any of the four receivers you mentioned here.

At 6'1" and 190 lbs., Woods is closer to Justin Blackmon in terms of size, but he's faster on the field and has better consistency when extending to catch the ball going across the field. Woods' route-running technique trumps Blackmon's. In ranking the five, Woods would come in at No. 4 for me at this time, followed by Green, Jones, Bryant, Woods and then Blackmon.

#Do you think Nick Perry will make the transition to linebacker in time for the season opener? #millermailbag

— Grant Ritchie (@GrantJRitchie) May 15, 2012

The Green Bay Packers definitely think so. Nick Perry was their first-round pick due to his amazing athletic ability as a pass-rusher off the edge for USC. Perry isn't quite ready to be a good run-stopper or coverage linebacker, but in the Packers' scheme, he doesn't have to be.

More than any other team, Green Bay will unleash their outside rushers to go get the quarterback this year. Perry's size and speed will make the transition to standing up full time much easier. It's also worth noting that he did stand up in a two-point stance at USC in certain packages.

#millermailbag What do you expect from Prince Amukamura if he stays healthy?

— RJ King (@RJKing56) May 15, 2012

I was a big fan of Prince Amukamara coming out of Nebraska in the 2011 NFL Draft. He's a physical cornerback with good—not great—change-of-direction skills in coverage. If healthy, and he should be, Amukamara has the tools to be the best cover man on the Giants' roster. He has rare size and body control, allowing him to keep pace with bigger receivers and stay in the hip pocket of faster players going deep. My expectations are high for Amukamara this season.

#MillerMailbag accd'g to Cincy, Marvin Jones looks like Robin to A.J.'s Batman. What is Sanu looking like?

— FluentInSarcasm (@mikeinfante75) May 13, 2012

Would this make Mohamed Sanu a Commissioner Gordon candidate? That analogy may be for humor, but it's also fitting. Sanu's job, if he's lining up in the slot, will be to draw attention from the edges with quick routes over the middle and in the flat.

Sanu and Jordan Shipley will be asked to occupy the thoughts of safeties and nickel cornerbacks, which will free up A.J. Green and Marvin Jones to find one-on-one coverage down the field. It's a scary proposition for AFC North defenses.

@nfldraftscout which teams do you think will be looking to upgrade at quarterback next offseason? #Vikings? #Jaguars? others. #MillerMailbag

— Justin Wall (@jwalluww) May 13, 2012

It's very early to say this, but Jacksonville will definitely be in the mix if Blaine Gabbert struggles this season. I expect him to be on a very short leash with Chad Henne there to take his spot. Don't rule out teams with older quarterbacks and no clear-cut successor in place—like New Orleans.

Depending on what happens with Drew Brees' contract, the Saints are a team that could be a dark horse looking for a young quarterback in 2013.

To be safe, let's throw the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys in here, too.

@nfldraftscout Does Colt McCoy have what it takes to be an NFL starter, or was the Weeden pick the final nail in his coffin? #MillerMailbag

— Erik Frenz (@ErikFrenz) May 13, 2012

Great question. Based on his mechanics and traits, Colt McCoy has the makeup to play quarterback for a long time in the NFL. The issue is his performance on the field.

McCoy has started to look gun-shy at times, failing to step up in the pocket to deliver strikes and otherwise fading back from the pocket when pressured. My biggest concern right now is how McCoy will respond when he's hit again. The talent is there, but the ability to stand in the pocket under fire and deliver may not be anymore.

We'll learn a lot about McCoy this year in watching him battle with Brandon Weeden for the starting job. He is a tough kid, but he's not had to battle for a starting job in a long time.

Thanks for the questions this week. Next week, I am on vacation, so the mailbag will return May 30. In the meantime, feel free to follow on Twitter.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Throughout the years, these players have dazzled us on the football field with brilliant plays and breathtaking games. But that doesn't mean they haven't been endorsed ridiculously, found themselves on the bottom of a funny-looking pile or let their emotions get the best of them.

Thankfully there was a camera in place to capture these hilarious yet embarrassing moments, and in the words of Daniel Tosh, "for that, we thank you." These are the most embarrassing photos of NFL players.

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Problem spot—the term in relation to football is an opinion based on observation. In medical terms, it’s a candy-coated synonym for unforeseen horror.

The Lions have made tremendous strides in their still unattained goal of becoming the newest franchise to make their inaugural trip to the Super Bowl.

Improvements can be seen everywhere—the front office, the coaching staff, the players. Hell, I bet the ball boys are even better under the Schwartz regime. But the team is still far from perfect and I’ve highlighted five areas of concern. Some are oldies but goodies and some may ruffle a few feathers…  

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In order to avoid the same fate as last season, Green Bay focused on improving its defense through the draft.

As always, though, there will be some shake-ups at other positions. Shake-ups mean everyone's favorite preseason topic: position battles.

Due to the expected emergence of several players and the infusion of young talent through the draft, there are five main position battles that Packers fans should keep an eye on when training camp comes around.

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