Falcons sign Marty Booker
The Atlanta Falcons have some serious holes at the wide out position. Beyond Number one receiver Michael Jenkins the depth chart is very murky. #2 receiver Roddy White is not in camp because of a contract dispute, and third wide out Harry Douglas is out for the season due to a knee injury. So the Falcons have gone out into the free agent market and signed Robert Ferguson, and yesterday signed WR Marty Booker.
Booker, who was a third round pick in the 1999 draft by the Chicago Bears, once had the skills to be a number one receiver in his own right. Lately though his production has fallen way off. In 2001 and 2002 Booker could be counted on to catch 100 balls for for a thousand yards, but in the six seasons since that production has been cut in half.
Granted for four of those seasons Booker played on a awful Miami Dolphins team, but even last year back in Chicago was not all that productive for him. He played in 13 games and caught only 14 balls for 211 yards. That Falcons are betting that since Chicago wasn’t a team with a star QB that Booker can be more productive with them and QB Matt Ryan.
In every estimation that seems to be a pretty safe bet. Ryan, the first QB selected in the 2008 draft, won rookie of the year honors leading the Falcons to an 11-5 record. He through for over 3,000 yards in 2008 with just 16 TD’s. With the addition of Booker the Falcons front office is betting that those numbers can go up, but only time will tell if Booker is the answer for Ryan and the Falcons.
