After a long day of groomsman responsibilities at his teammate Brandon Anderson’s wedding, former UND linebacker Will Ratelle got the call he was waiting for late Saturday night.
Ratelle signed with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent. The Falcons have Ratelle slotted as a fullback, at least initially. He will report to their rookie camp in May.
Per the Herald article, Ratelle, 5’10”-250, had about five free agent offers on the table. But, the key to deciding which offer to take is examining the potential team’s roster for depth and offensive style.
In the Falcon’s case they run a traditional style of offense that employs a fullback throughout the game. Their current starter is Patrick DiMarco, 6’1″-234, who is in his 5th year out of South Carolina.
I really hope one of the coaches gets curious about Will at LB. Either that or injury to LBs will give him a chance to show that he’s not a FB but a hidden gem at LB.
Good comment. We were thinking the same thing. He can play LB. Like you said, hopefully, somehow it works out to where he ends up at LB for one team or another.
I believe I read that Atlanta drafted the Northwestern fullback whose pro day numbers were similar to Will’s. This guy has 4 years of fbs experience playing the position. That part of Ratelle’s choice of teams I don’t like so much.
Oops, the guy I was thinking of from Northwestern was picked by Tampa.
No worries! Will is going to have his work cut out for him but if there was every a guy to overcome the odds, its him.
Falcons FB was first team all pro last year fwiw. I just don’t see Will getting wasted at FB.
I do not believe Ratelle will make a roster playing fullback, but hope I am dead wrong. I believe his only route is as a depth linebacker who plays on every special team.
With the right team and situation, there is no question that he can succeed in that scenario and make a roster.
I agree. For Will to make the Falcons, he will have to put together some highlight special teams’ plays, which he fortunately is very capable of.