Atlanta Falcons 2020 Season Preview: John Wetzel

John Wetzel hopes to continue being a versatile depth player on the Falcons offensive line.

Many teams have that one player that they cut and re-sign multiple times during the season.

For the Falcons last year, it was John Wetzel.

With the offensive line having numerous injuries throughout the season, Wetzel was picked up for depth purposes if something was to go wrong.

The line was also one of the worst during the first half of the season, and it only made sense for the Falcons to make some changes to see if anything would work.

2019 Recap

Wetzel was signed by the Falcons early last offseason. He was brought in due to his versatility playing both left and right guard. He was also capable of playing right tackle.

Unfortunately, even with the ability to be a plug-in for multiple positions on the line, Wetzel failed to make the team and was cut during training camp.

Throughout the season, players on the offensive line suffered injuries that could keep them out for a long period of time.

Chris Lindstrom was placed on injured reserve, and Jamon Brown suffered a hand injury.

This gave Wetzel the chance to come back and sign with the Falcons and be a reliable depth player through games.

When Matt Ryan went down with an ankle injury, Wetzel was cut so that they can bring in quarterback Danny Etling.

A few months later, he was re-signed again due to James Carpenter suffering a concussion and Ty Sambarilo nursing a hamstring injury.

Though the Falcons suffered many injuries on the offensive line during the season, Wetzel only appeared in two games. He was strictly used just for emergency situations.

On March 2, the Falcons let go of Wetzel again to sign other players to the team.

Two days later, the front office brought him back and he was signed to a one-year contract.

2020 Outlook

With the Falcons offensive line at full strength for now, Wetzel may just continue to be a depth player for the team.

He still offers a variety of skills that you can’t find in many linemen, so if he was cut again, expect him to be back if the line suffers an injury or two. 

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