In a move that has become commonplace in the NFL, yesterday the Atlanta Falcons signed RB Josh Vaughan to their practice squad leading up to their game Sunday against the Panthers. Initially it's easy to shrug this off as a mediocre player move, but lest we forget that Vaughan was issued a copy of Carolina's 2012 playbook prior to being cut on August 27th.
Vaughan will make a few thousand dollars for supplying the Falcons with information, and will probably be cut in a few weeks; not bad work if you can get it. It's hard to know how much the running back can give Atlanta on what makes the Panthers offense tick, but at the very least he'll know their blocking schemes, and some of their packages.
There's a common misconception around the NFL that Carolina are a pass-heavy team, but the truth is that the big-play, vertical passing game branches off the run. Against the New York Giants we saw a team unable to run the ball, and in turn the pass broke down. Hopefully Josh Vaughan is unable to give the Falcons any clues, but it will be interesting to see if Atlanta look more prepared to stop the run on Sunday.