Falcons rookie watch: Takeaways from preseason win over Colts

The Atlanta Falcons have won their second preseason game of the year, taking down the Indianapolis Colts on the road by a score of 34-6. More important than the final score is evaluating the young players on the roster, though. Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski was pleased with what he saw from Atlanta's young talent.

"You saw a bunch of examples of young players playing really fast today," Stefanski said after the game. "I think that's a great combination of them understanding what to do and just having great effort."

With that in mind, here's how several key rookies performed against the Colts.

Undrafted rookie Jack Strand came in for Cooper Rush with five minutes left in the second quarter and played through until the end of the game. He looked very sharp on his first drive, completing his first four passes for 51 yards to four different receivers, the last of which was running back Cash Jones, who ran it in for a touchdown. Emboldened by his hot start, Strand came out in the second half like a flamethrower, delivering perfect strikes for 21 and 36 yards, followed by a a 16-yard scramble for a touchdown to make it 31-6. Strand finished the outing 12/17 for 212 yards, 1 TD and an excellent 132.5 passer rating.

As far as rushing goes, Tyler Goodson now has a stranglehold on the RB3 spot for the Falcons' depth chart. Cash Jones managed to flash as a pass-catcher and return specialist, at least. With less than a minute to go before halftime, Jones caught a play action pass from Strand and scampered in for a touchdown. That was just the beginning, as Jones wound up posting a a game-high 62 receiving yards on four catches. Jones also posted 23 yards on a kickoff return and 41 yards on seven carries.

It took just one touch for Branch to outgain his production from his preseason debut last week, totaling 15 yards on the first target of the game from veteran QB Cooper Rush. Branch only saw two other targets, though - and didn't manage another yard. Branch also had five yards on a punt return but was outshined by Dylan Drummond.

Another rookie receiver who stood out was undrafted free agent Vinny Anthony II out of WIsconsin. Anthony’s first catch of the day came on a crossing route early in the second quarter, going for 17 yards. In the end he totaled 43 receiving yards on four catches plus 28 yards on a kickoff return.

A standout from the first preseason game, Daniels made a physical statement to end the Colts’ first drive, stopping a run by Seth McGowan before he could reach the sticks. Daniels tied DeMarco Hellams and JT Bertrand for the team lead with three tackles in the first half.

This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Falcons rookie watch: Takeaways from preseason win over Colts