How Chris Blair made a compelling case for a spot on the Falcons' 53-man roster

Each team must trim its 90-man roster to 53 players by 4 p.m. ET Tuesday, and the Falcons must decide if Blair will be on the team.

Related: Falcons 53-man roster projects Part I | Part II

Blair understands this, he is already familiar with life in the NFL. The receiver came from Alcorn State, a Southwestern Athletic Conference school in Mississippi. He played his last college season in 2019. In August 2020, he first trained for the Green Bay Packers before finally joining the team in January 2021. He spent the 2021 season on the Packers' practice squad.

After a season off, Blair got another chance with Atlanta in 2023. He made his regular season debut in Week 12 against the New Orleans Saints. He failed to catch a single pass and played most of his snaps on special teams, an area where Blair has tried to carve out a role for himself.

“When you don't get drafted, you have to find your role on the team,” Blair said. “For a lot of guys, it's special teams because you have guys like Drake London and Darnell Mooney on offense who have pretty much secured those spots. Now you're battling for the fourth and fifth receiver spots on the roster.”

As Blair mentioned, London and Mooney are set. Ray-Ray McCloud probably falls into that category as well. Casey Washington also belongs in that discussion as he is highly valued as a 2024 draft pick by the Falcons, and veteran KhaDarel Hodge is a top-notch special teams player and backup.

So is there room for Blair? Last season, Atlanta had five wide receivers on the original 53-man roster. The Los Angeles Rams, who Morris and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson will coach in 2023, had six. The loss of Rondale Moore to the injured list also creates another opportunity for Blair to fit in.

Regardless of what Morris and Co. decide, Blair has already made his name known.

“Kids like that always make things difficult in these times,” Morris said.