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When Brian Van Gorder was the Georgia Bulldogs defensive coordinator, he had a very versatile weapon in linebacker Odell Thurman, a talented, if troubled linebacker who combined big plays and plenty of off-field problems. Now Van Gorder is the Falcons defensive coordinator, and he has the opportunity to take another chance on Thurman, who was released by the Bengals on Monday.

In some ways, it would seem to be the perfect marriage--Thurman would be coming home to a team who has his old college coach. And he'd immediately become one of the most talented members of a rebuilding defense.

With Van Gorder on staff, Atlanta has an edge in inside info on figuring out whether Thurman is worth taking a chance on. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution speculates on whether Thurman could be coming home.

If the team wasn't just getting out from under the Michael Vick era, they could maybe take a chance on a linebacker who could definitely improve the team's talent level. But this isn't a team who can add headaches, especially one who would be only a hundred or so miles from his hometown in Monticello--Thurman's problems seem to increase the closer he gets to home. There's a chance that Thurman will stay on the straight and narrow now that he's seen the possibility that his football career will end before it ever really got started, but Atlanta doesn't have the leeway to take that chance.

So expect to see draftee Curtis Lofton at middle linebacker this year, while Thurman will be causing ulcers elsewhere.