Falcons OL Controversy: Who Starts at LG vs. Commanders?

Through the first eight weeks of the season, the Atlanta Falcons had started the same five players on their offensive line seven times, with the lone exception coming in Week 3 due to a personal matter for left guard Elijah Wilkinson.

However, across the four-game stretch from weeks eight through 11, the Falcons started four different players at left guard, with coach Arthur Smith mentioning the team "had to."

It began when Wilkinson suffered a knee injury in Week 8 against the Carolina Panthers; while he played every snap, he was placed on injured reserve later the following week. His replacement, backup center Matt Hennessy, started the next game - but also hurt his knee and wound up on injured reserve.

Thus, the Falcons were left to start Colby Gossett at left guard in Week 10, a rematch with the Panthers on Thursday Night Football. Gossett, who received the start in place of Wilkinson earlier in the season, did not practice the following Thursday in the lead up to last Sunday's game vs. the Chicago Bears, was replaced by former right tackle Chuma Edoga.

And by all accounts, Edoga impressed in his Falcons offensive debut, being called for one penalty and allowing a quarterback hurry but preventing no sacks or quarterback hits.

Thus, with Edoga proving he's a solid option and Gossett back at full availability this week, the question arose surrounding who'd start at left guard for the Falcons in Sunday's matchup against the Washington Commanders.

While Smith is never one to reveal such answers, he seemed to slightly tip his cap, uplifting Edoga.

"Chuma played well," Smith said. "(We'll) see how the rest of the week goes, but I thought Chuma played pretty well."

It certainly requires reading between the lines, but with Wilkinson and Hennessy both ineligible to return from injured reserve and the starting decision coming down to Edoga and Gossett, it appears that the Falcons will be sticking with the hot hand in Edoga.

The official answer will come Sunday, as the Falcons and Commanders are scheduled to kickoff at 1 p.m. inside FedEx Field.

You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft

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