What does the addition of former Giants RB Wayne Gallman do to the Falcons position group?

In a surprising move, the Falcons cut Qadree Ollison and signed former Giants running back Wayne Gallman after being cut by the 49ers this week. A fourth-round pick out of Clemson in 2017, Gallman is a native of the Atlanta suburb Loganville. He had a career-best 682 yards and six touchdowns in his last season, which isn’t eye-popping but surely enough to play a role behind Mike Davis.

Gallman joins the group of Cordarrelle Patterson and Davis but surely will get carries coming off a career year. He proved to be a reliable backup after Saquon Barkley went down last year. In his career, Gallman has totaled 1,444 yards on the ground and nine touchdowns in 53 games. The versatile back also caught 80 of his 112 targets for 498 yards and two touchdowns.

Gallman is certainly an upgrade over Ollison, but you have to feel for the former fifth-round pick; he never really got a shot. Hopefully, he will stick somewhere else. Still, this year’s running back room looks much more formidable than last year’s. Talkin’ Birdy’s Matt Karoly illustrates this point with their PFF grades.

I know PFF grades aren't everything but here were last year's grades for the #Falcons retooled backfield:

1. Mike Davis – 75.1
2. Wayne Gallman – 71.1
3. Cordarrelle Patterson – 70.1

Looking at Atlanta's RB grades from last year:
1. Smith – 59.0
2. Hill – 57.9
3. Gurley – 54.8

— Matt Karoly (@mattkaroly) September 3, 2021

Like Davis and Patterson, Gallman is reliable catching the ball out of the backfield but is closer to Patterson than Davis in terms of running style. He’s a bit more physical than the gadget player in Patterson, but he’s still a slashing type of running back. This fits perfectly with what Arthur Smith wants to do. Davis will still carry most of the workload, so I think this move impacts Patterson more than Davis.

I believe it might be difficult to learn the entire playbook in such a limited time span, but in the long run, Gallman’s carries will be taken away from Patterson, not Davis. Eventually, it could be a one-two punch of Davis and Gallman. Still, this improves the depth and is an underrated signing. He’s coming off his best season as a pro and only seems to be ascending. Even as a third running back, Gallman will push for carries.