Avoiding injuries will be key to the Falcons turnaround

Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY SportsSimply put, a healthier Falcons team is a better Falcons team.

The Falcons have added free agents, brought aboard a new coach, landed six new draft picks and generally approached the offseason like a team hellbent on reconstruction. Al that might not matter if the team can't stay healthy.

The early Mike Smith years were keyed in part by health. The Falcons of 2008-2012 weren't necessarily the deepest Falcons teams ever, but the team was able to rely heavily on its core starters with relatively little injury impact over those five seasons. That all changed in 2013 and 2014, when Atlanta lost a plurality of its offensive line starters two years in a row in…