Individuals are fighting for roster spots. Who stood out when the Friday night lights were the brightest?

Tori McElhaney

ATLANTA Sometimes preseason games don't give us much information to work with. That was not the case in the Falcons' first preseason game against the Detroit Lions Friday night.

The game was ultimately cut short because of a serious injury to Lions safety Morice Norris at the start of the fourth quarter.All reports from the Lions organization are that Norris is doing welland avoided anything serious, which is the best news anyone could have hoped for following the incident.

With that said, prior to the incident, we were learning quite a bit about where the Falcons' roster finds itself at thestart of the preseason. With so many individuals vying not only for roster spots but for starting spots, there were players who were moving and shaking their way through the roster in the aftermath of Friday's play.

Tori McElhaney takes a look at those who she believes made the biggest jumps on the roster both up and down it as joint practices loom with the Tennessee Titans this week.

Movin' on up

DeAngelo Malone

Since being drafted four years ago, Malone is someone who has struggled to find a good fit. He was drafted under the guise of being a versatile piece, but whether it be the changes in defensive scheme every year, or coaches finding it hard to place him anywhere defensively, he's gotten lost in the shuffle. He's still done well for Atlanta on special teams, but the value beyond that was questionable.

Friday's game showed, however, that there is more value to Malone than what was previously established. Since the tail end of last season, Malone began cross training as an inside linebacker along with still getting a few traditional edge looks. His ability to step into the inside linebacker position is not only good for him, but good for the Falcons.

Last season's injuries to the inside linebacker corp created the necessity to build depth at the position. Lingering injuries to Troy Andersen and injury history of JD Bertrand has carried that notion into this preseason. Enter Malone, who took all of his first-half reps at inside linebacker alongside Josh Woods. Though Woods had the green dot and was calling the defense, Malone held his own at the spot. He finished with five combined tackles, slightly behind Woods on the defensive team leaderboard.

By the start of the second half, the Falcons had moved Malone back to the defensive front, coming off the edge. His versatility and the way the Falcons are deploying him through practice to get reps at both positions skyrockets his importance on this 53-man roster, in my opinion.

DeMarcco Hellams

Hellams returned with a vengeance, didn't he? After a year off the turf because of an injury sustained in last season's first preseason game against Miami, you couldn't miss Hellams on Friday night. He was everywhere, showcasing the physicality thatearned him the nickname "Bamm-Bamm" by his teammates.

As we have discussed all throughout training camp, Hellams is well in the fight for a starting job alongside Jessie Bates III. He's actively competing with Jordan Fuller and Xavier Watts. And of the three, it was Hellams who had the loudest and most notable performance Friday. How does that shake out the competition? If anything, I think it makes it even more heightened as joint practices get underway this week. For this specific position battle, this week may be the one we turn to when discussing who solidified themselves prior to Week 1.

Easton Stick

When Raheem Morris announced that neither Michael Penix Jr. nor Kirk Cousins would play in Friday's game, I will be honest that I didn't think much of the quarterback situation beyond that. And that was my mistake, or maybe, it just left me pleasantly surprised by Stick's performance in the first half Friday. I dubbed it a "sneakily solid outing," because all of a sudden I looked up and we were in the waning minutes of the second quarter and Stick's stat line was pretty dang good.

He finished his evening 15-of-18 through the air, accumulating 149 passing yards and tossing one touchdown. Perhaps because the run game never got going (more on that later) I assumed too quickly that the entire offensive performance was a wash. That wasn't the case. In fact, looking back, Stick was impressive in his reliability. He managed a very clean operation something that is difficult to do in a preseason setting. All of this knowing that in the week leading up to the first preseason game, Stick got very few reps. In Wednesday's scrimmage, he got a couple series to get into a flow. The bulk of his workload I would argue in total came in Friday's first half. The fact he managed a performance so clean and without many errors is a testament to him and what the Falcons have in him.

If there was a doubt whether the Falcons would carry three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster, I think Stick won me over Friday to keep a spot open for him.

Needs a shake up

Second-team offensive line

I am not going to lie, the Falcons' struggle to run the ball Friday night concerned me. And yes, I know this wasn't the starting offensive line out there, nor was Bijan Robinson or Tyler Allgeier running the rock. And yes, I also know the game was cut short.

Still, I expected more consistency from a group that actually had a few pieces returning to it.

In total, the Falcons ran the ball 11 times for 22 yards an average of two yards per carry. The longest run came from Emory Jones, which was a 9-yard scramble. While I don't think a shortened, singular preseason game is enough to warrant absolute concern for the group, I do think it gives me pause.

I guess the counterargument to that is that the pass game particularly with Stick in was churning a bit more production. And for the most part, Stick was protected well. The bread and butter of this team throughout the last few years has been its ability to consistently run the ball. Not seeing the second-team be able to do so against the Lions Friday is something that deserves monitoring.

Clark Phillips III

I will preface this section by noting Phillips is hurt and hasn't practiced since taking a hard hit in Tuesday's indoor practice. That said, even before his injury I was concerned with how little I was talking about him and how much I was talking about Natrone Brooks.

Brooks has been a standout in camp, so much so that even someone like Kaden Elliss said Brooks is the player who's embodied Jeff Ulbrich's "heart, mind, fist" mantra. Brooks continued to show value in the live looks he got as one of the second-team corners. Between Brooks and Lamar Jackson, is Phillips getting lost in the shuffle?

Earlier in the spring, Raheem Morris said the Falcons planned on moving Phillips to nickel. Well, we're weeks into training camp and I don't think I have seen Phillips take one snap from the slot. That's Dee Alford and Billy Bowman Jr.'s race. Heck, even Mike Ford has gotten some looks at the spot.

So, where does that leave Phillips? At this point, I am not sure, and I am starting to get concerned about what his spot and role on this roster truly looks like.

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