As Wes Schweitzer watched his rookie season dwindle away without a single snap played, the Atlanta Falcons offensive lineman never got too discouraged.

He knew he had a veteran in front of him in starter Chris Chester. He knew he had elements of his game he needed to improve, namely pass blocking. And Schweitzer knew, as a sixth-round draft pick out of San Jose State, he wasn't exactly the member of the 2016 draft class expected to make an immediate impact.

But as Schweitzer prepares for his second season, an opportunity exists. The retirement of Chester means the starting right guard spot is wide open.

"I'm just preparing myself the best that I can," Schweitzer said. "I look forward to the competition in the fall. I expect it to be a good competition, and I'm pretty excited about it."

Falcons coach Dan Quinn previously expressed confidence in Schweitzer and Ben Garland, the two right guard competitors returning. The 29-year-old Garland, who showed versatility in playing center, guard, and defensive tackle a year ago, has played in 24 career games through three seasons with 87 offensive snaps. Schweitzer, who turns 24 on Sept. 11, was inactive for every game as a rookie.

Then the Falcons signed veteran Hugh Thornton, a guy who has battled injuries and concerns about his toughness but has 32 career starts and 2,139 offensive snaps under his belt. Plus there has been plenty of talk about the Falcons possibly targeting an offensive guard with a higher pick in the draft. ESPN's Todd McShay has them selecting Indiana guard Dan Feeney in the second round in his latest mock draft.

However it all unfolds, Schweitzer is consumed with taking steps to makes himself better each day. He's worked out religiously alongside starting right tackle Ryan Schraeder this offseason at the Falcons' facility. And Schweitzer made the trip to Miami this week for workouts organized by MVP Matt Ryan.

Not to mention he leans on lessons learned from Chester.

"He was an extremely smart player and extremely athletic," Schweitzer said of Chester. "We would take rides together to the stadium sometimes on game day. He just has so much knowledge from playing for so long. He was such a great guy, and I just really appreciated learning from him.''

Adjusting to a position switch has been quite the transition for Schweitzer. He played exclusively left tackle in college then lined up at both guard and center during practices all of last season.

"Going from playing just left tackle to playing on the interior was a big jump, for sure," Schweitzer said. "I'd probably say by Week 10, it really started to feel comfortable. It was another chance to show that you can play in this league, and I'm open to any challenge."

The 6-foot-4, 310-pound Schweitzer is known as a highly intelligent player who is quick off the ball and a solid run-blocker. But, as mentioned before, his pass protection needs to improve before he can be relied upon to protect Ryan on a regular basis.

"You can understand that left tackles, you're going against speed guys and you're trying to get back faster," Schweitzer said. "When you're playing on the interior, it's real short, choppy steps. You make contact almost immediately. So that's a big jump from college to the NFL from not having done it before.

"For me, I meet with my O-line coach [Chris Morgan] and make a plan with the strength coach and work on increasing my strength, in that regard. All of that stuff has been a major focus this offseason. It's the core [strength] and sitting down with your hips because in college, you can get away with being high with your stance. But in the pros, you really have to play with your hips down."

We'll see if improving those elements gives Schweitzer a leg up on the competition.