The offense is leagues ahead of the defense in terms of talent and potential. They're sporting one of the most competitive young backfields in the league, a receiving corps that features a budding star in Roddy White and a ton of young talent in guys like Harry Douglas and Laurent Robinson. The o-line is very young (except for McClure) and very hungry. In fact, all the units are pretty young and still have a lot of room for growth.
I'm skeptical about the offense that Mike Mularkey is implementing and the concepts that he's emphasizing, but I will say that the week 1 victory against the Lions really represents what that staff sees as the best-case scenario for the Falcons offense - not just in establishing the run and dominating at the line of scrimmage, but in keeping Matt Ryan out of situations where he has to win FOR you or situations where he isn't able to win. When he did pass you saw a lot of max-protect play-action, some rollouts with half-field reads, and they allowed him to pass on first down instead of waiting for third and long; all designed to keep the game from overwhelming your franchise player. It was good stuff, but my concern is about future games against much more competitive defenses (Detroit has to be fielding the worst defense in the league, without a doubt - Sims is their only player worth a shit) - this is a team that will not have the luxury of playing with many big leads in the second half, nor will their defense give them much support in protecting those leads. When the running game is ineffective, the QB is burdened with carrying the offense, and carrying the offense becomes much more difficult when you don't have a running game to ease the pass rush and provide play-action opportunities. Forcing your rookie QB to throw into the teeth of cover-2, to win games with his arm against defenses that are specifically keying in on him (as opposed to stuffing the run and getting the ball back as soon as possible) is not a position where you can expect him to succeed. And if you can't put him in situations where he has little chance of winning, then you probably shouldn't play him at all.
Also, cut it the fuck out with the trick plays Mularkey.
QUARTERBACKS
Matt Ryan (#2)
Chris Redman (#8)
D.J. Shockley (#3)
I'm a pretty big believer in Matt Ryan. Part of it is just WANTING to have someone to buy into - the disillusionment of the 2007 season was largely due to the team having no one I could hang my hat on, as far as anticipating their future with the team - part of it is finally getting over Vick. I was a huge Vick fan, even though the rational side of me always knew he would never live up to his potential. Up until the week before this year's draft, if you asked me if I would've taken Vick back, I'd have said 'yes' in a heartbeat. But a funny thing happened the instant they picked Ryan - I got super fucking pissed and bitched that Dorsey was still on the board. But THEN, after letting it sink in for a few days, I started to drink the Kool-Aid. The things I was hearing about him all lined up perfectly with my already-formed ideas about what a QB prospect should be like, or indeed any pro prospect.
One of my pet theories, or really just a consistent belief of mine with regard to most things in life, is that the people who excel the most are the ones who have to be pushed the least. There's a certain baseline of natural talent & athleticism that's required to compete in the NFL, but the most successful players aren't the ones who out-athlete everyone else. Players like JaMarcus Russell, who consistently had to be pushed and pushed by LSU coaches just to do the BARE MINIMUM to get by as a starter, are pretty much doomed in my eyes. People always speculated about Vick and whether or not it would ever come together for him, whether he would become Steve Young 2.0 and fulfill his potential, but I don't think it was ever possible - he just didn't have the work ethic. There are incredible athletes, as good as any All-Pro, littering practice squads across the league, and most of them will wash out of the NFL without ever doing shit. It doesn't make these guys bad dudes, it just means they're never going to be as good at their jobs as guys who work harder.
Matt Ryan is very, very dedicated to football. He's a gym rat with excellent study skills, he's tireless in his preparation, nothing in his life except for family takes precedence over football. His skill-set is incredibly advanced for a college QB; accuracy, mechanics, decision making, and so on. He practically lives in the film room. Physically and mentally he's the prototype QB. I can't make any guarantees about his future, but that's really not the point - the point is that when you're rebuilding a miserable team that has no QB, and you are at the top of the draft, you would be screwing yourself tremendously by not pursuing the best possible quarterback talent. It sounds obvious, but when it comes to quarterbacks in today's NFL I think a lot of observers drastically overestimate the importance of surplus value (that's a rant for another time). No price is too high for a young franchise QB, period.
Yeah, anyway. Chris Redman is the veteran backup. He performed well at the tail end of the 2007 season, largely because of his familiarity with Petrino's system. Petrino actually had a lot of good concepts in the passing game, and I wouldn't have minded it if elements of his system stayed behind; if nothing else it would have given Redman extra utility as a potential starter.
D.J. Shockley is basically the team mascot. Very toolsy, very raw, beloved locally due to his one season as the starting QB for the Georgia Bulldogs. A lot of Dawgs fan will tell you today that he could be the Falcons' QB of the future if they'd just give him a shot.
RUNNING BACKS
Michael Turner (#33)
Jerious Norwood (#32)
Jason Snelling (#44)
Thomas Brown (#27)
Turner was a great signing for a lot of reasons, chief among them being the arrival of a young franchise QB who will need a running game to lean on while he develops; combine this with Atlanta's surfeit of young talent and surplus of cap room, and it's a no-brainer. He's great at reading blocks and breaking tackles, and his explosiveness through the hole and turning the corner make him a threat on any down. And most of all, he's a great fit for the system.
Jerious Norwood is a tremendous threat in his own right, one of the most fastest and most explosive runners in the league. Explosive scoring is really difficult to achieve through the run game, but in Turner & Norwood the Falcons have a fantastic set of playmaking backs who can take it to the house seemingly at will. Norwood's big downside is his lower body and his health. He sports the skinniest legs you've ever seen on a professional running back, possibly the skinniest you've ever seen on a pro football player period. Somehow the kid makes it work, but when you factor in his unusual build with his injury-plagued 2007 season, you understand why the Falcons are reluctant to use him like a feature back. He's also a hellacious special teamer. Not so much on returns, though he does return kicks, but on kickoff and punt coverage; he had three special teams tackles on Sunday, which is incredible.
Snelling's a special teamer and depth guy, not a real offensive option. He hustles a lot on special teams and can make some plays there, but that's it.
Thomas Brown, 5th round rookie out of UGA, is currently on IR, but I wanted to highlight him anyway. He's a nifty lil waterbug type with good value in the return game. I really like this kid, he was awesome in college and the main reason he was drafted so low is because of his constant injury problems - which of course, are already plaguing him in his pro career. But he had the third RB spot locked up before he went down in the final preseason game, and I think if he was healthy today he would get significantly more action on offense than Snelling currently is.
OFFENSIVE TACKLE
Sam Baker (#72)
Tyson Clabo (#77)
Todd Weiner (#74)
Quinn Ojinnaka (#76)
Baker's another guy from this year's draft that I'm really high on. Left tackle was a high priority after 2007, when Wayne Gandy retired and left the team with no real options at the position. Baker will probably never be a dominant player, but he should be a very good one for many years - think Chad Clifton from Green Bay. His technique, awareness, polish, just everything about him is stellar. He has short arms and looked like crap at the combine, leading a lot of people to project him as a later-round prospect at guard or center, but I was delighted to see that the Falcons were on the same page as me about his potential. He's just an incredibly SKILLED player with good physical upside and a great work ethic. He's good enough to start at LT right out of the gate, and he proved it on Sunday. He's the Falcons' best lineman, and he'll be protecting Ryan's ass for years to come.
Tyson Clabo is starting at RT and he looks like he's pretty much locked in for the remainder of the season. He's been a backup on the Falcons for the past 3 seasons, mostly at guard and then at tackle last year, and yet he started double digit games in both '06 and '07. I was never too high on the guy, but it turns out he's a great fit for the new system and I loved what I saw from him on Sunday. The major caveat here is that Detroit has the worst defensive front in the league, meaning his job will only get tougher from here on out. But he's a powerful run blocker who clearly gives max effort on every play, and he's going to be an asset to this young line.
33-year old Weiner (pronounced 'whiner') was the starting RT for years ('01-'07) before missing most of last season with a knee injury. His knee still isn't fully recovered, and in the mean time he's lost his job to Clabo. Weiner played 5-6 snaps against the Lions last Sunday, and I charted every one of them; he was uniformly awful. I don't know if it's entirely the knee, but advancing age + niggling injuries = these are his last days as a Falcon. He was arguably the team's best lineman for years and I hate to see it end like this, but Clabo's proven himself a good system fit and is also a younger, cheaper alternative. One thing to note; he was used as the third TE in a goalline package against the Lions, and while he whiffed on his man it's something interesting to consider for future games..
Ojinnaka's a third-year fifth-rounder and is Baker's backup. He's started intermittently at tackle over the past 2 seasons and can play either side of the line.
OFFENSIVE GUARD
Justin Blalock (#63)
Harvey Dahl (#73)
Blalock is a second year 2nd rounder and has been entrenched at the LG position since the first game of '07. He's shown a lot of improvement already this year, though he still makes a lot of sloppy mistakes. He's a very powerful in-line blocker with some competency in pass pro. The new system seems to suit him, and as he continues to develop he has the potential to be a pro-bowl caliber player - reminds me a little of Chris Snee. He and Baker should be a powerful tandem for years to come.
Dahl pretty much came out of nowhere this year and surprised the hell out of me, and probably a lot of other fans. A little background: Kynan Forney had been one of the team's premier linemen since 2002, and was one of the keystones of the Gibbs running game. He gets hurt in '06 and misses half the year, comes back in '07 looking not much like the player he was before. Forney lost his job early on in camp this year and did little to wrest it away from Dahl, he finally gets cut at the end of preseason. I think mostly he just wasn't a good fit for the new system, but it also has to be said that Dahl has worked his ass every step of the way. He and Clabo have similar playing styles and they make for a fairly powerful, mean-spirited right side of the line. My favorite thing about Dahl is his persistence; you frequently see him sprinting downfield as fast as he can to get a hat on someone, anyone when Turner or Norwood are breaking a big run. He plays with good leverage and is a powerful run blocker, making him a good fit for the Mularkey offense. Haven't had the chance to really see his chops in pass pro, since the Falcons didn't actually have to pass against the Lions after the 1st quarter, but I dig what I've seen so far.
CENTER
Todd McClure (#62)
Ben Wilkerson (#67)
Alex Stepanovich (#69)
McClure's the oldest starter on the line and is a superb center with great football smarts and freakishly precise technique. What he ISN'T is a powerful blocker. He will get pushed back with frequency, but it's not actually a big problem since centers are rarely singled on defenders. He's one of the longest-tenured Falcons, probably only second to Brooking, and he's started every game for 8 years straight. Just a super consistent, reliable pro. And just as a fan, I always enjoy watching him because of his attention to detail and clockwork technique.
Wilkerson and Stepanovich are both young, promising depth guys. I personally thought Stepanovich looked a lot better in preseason, and he is currently 2nd on the depth chart, but I noticed that he was the one inactive on Sunday's game. My guess is that Wilkerson might get more action simply because he can play multiple positions and contributes on special teams. I mean, Stepanovich might be able to do that too, I have no idea, but that's my only guess.
TIGHT END
Ben Hartsock (#89)
Justin Peelle (#87)
Martrez Milner (#88)
Yikes. Well, the good news is that this new offense doesn't have much of a use for pass-catching tight ends, so it's appropriate that their guys are pretty much only good for blocking. Hartsock's the starter and is a solid enough blocker - he held his own singled up on ends this past Sunday - but Peelle gets in there on a good number of plays too. Milner was inactive for week 1; he's a Georgia guy and has some potential as a pass catcher, but hasn't shown much consistency.
FLANKER
Roddy White (#84)
Harry Douglas (#83)
Adam Jennings (#81)
Very nice little group. Actually, Jennings sucks, but Douglas already shows a ton of promise. Roddy White broke out in 2007, his third year, and it taught me a lesson about not writing off young players at developmental positions; I declared him a bust after 2006. White has continued to excel in 2008 - he's a smaller, speedy guy with soft hands (!!!) and solid routes. His fundamentals have improved so much since his rookie debut, I can't even begin to explain it. And honestly, I have to give Petrino some credit for this - he introduced a lot of concepts into Atlanta's passing game that had been missing (complementary route design was completely foreign to Greg Knapp) and put Roddy in a much, much better position to succeed than at any point before. He's a rising star.
Harry Douglas is the main slot guy at the moment and shows a lot of things you love to see early on in a wideout's career, especially his hustle and enthusiasm for the game. He runs fantastic routes for such a young player and has great YAC ability. He lacks size - he checks in at something like 5'11", 180lbs - but he showed a lot of hunger in his willingness to block downfield on Sunday.
Adam Jennings isn't really good at anything from what I can see. He's fast as hell and has been the team's punt returner for a while now, but he's not good at it. Like, at all. He's a raw receiver without much use in the passing game. He's a pretty good gunner in special teams coverage.
SPLIT END
Michael Jenkins (#12)
Laurent Robinson (#19)
Brian Finneran (#86)
The Jenkins we see today pretty much seems to be the finished product, and it's a little underwhelming. His routes aren't that great and his hands are so-so, but he's big and rangy and fast. He's also a really good downfield blocker, probably one of the best elements of his game actually.
Laurent Robinson's a really interesting young player, drafted in the 3rd round last year. I see his upside as a Bobby Engram type - he runs very slick routes, has soft hands, is very agile, but has almost no YAC ability. Needs to develop better recognition skills and kinda pull it all together into one cohesive package. Doesn't see too many snaps at the moment because of his inconsistency and negative value in the run game. He and Harry Douglas are pretty similar as far as being exceptionally agile route runners, but I think Douglas has more upside. Robinson's bigger than him but is not a physical player. I also think Robinson's ability to contribute is going to depend a lot on the system he's in - for some teams he could probably be a solid 3rd option, and on a team like the Falcons he might end up floundering a bit.
I don't know at all what to make of Finneran at this point in his career. For most of Vick's tenure he was literally the only wide receiver on the team who could catch the guy's passes consistently, so his value here was always a little exaggerated. He's spent the last 2 years on IR for different injuries and is finally healthy and playing again, at the age of 32. Against the Lions he was used almost exclusively with his hand in the ground as a third TE in 3-TE sets, which was surprising to me. He's a tall, rangy guy whose game used to rely a lot on speed and jumping really high. He is a very smart player who blocks well and plays hellacious special teams, which is what makes him more of an asset to this roster than someone like Joe Horn. I don't know if he's officially being converted to TE - he seems a little lean for it - or if they're just trying him out in different roles, less as a possession/end zone threat and more as a general utility guy for the offense.
I'm not doing a separate section for the slot, but Douglas and Laurent are the guys you'll see there most often.
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