Earlier this year during the off-season I typed up a little blog about the players that I thought were in a "make it/break it" year for the Falcons. One of the guys I listed was cornerback Brent Grimes. Here is what I had to say about Grimes then:
Grimes is commonly referred to as the most athletic guy on the team. The biggest knock on Grimes is that he's only 5'10". If he was 6'2" he would probably be a world class corner. Grimes got extra playing time last year and improved as the year went on. Grimes posted a career best 6 interceptions, recorded 66 tackles and defended 13 passes. Dunta Robinson was the big Free Agent acquisition this off-season, Game One starter Brian Williams was re-signed and 2009 draftee Christopher Owens showed he could play last year. Those three guys are the main reason that this is a make it or break it season for Grimes. If he can't break the starting rotation or nail down a nickel spot I think he's going to get permanently passed by these guys. I think the best case scenario for him is nickel with Dunta and Christopher Grimes as starters. Grimes is kind of like his name. He's a gritty, grimy player that you like to have on your team. However, he might see most of his time in special teams this year.
The Falcons stand at 10-2 with two games left with Carolina, one at Seattle and a home Monday Nighter with Drew Brees and NO. If the Falcons can secure home field advantage for the playoffs watch out!
Grimes is an undrafted guy out of tiny Shippensburg University so the deck was well stacked against him. Not to mention that he's small of stature so he's not what you are physically looking for in an NFL corner back. But he's the scrappiest guy on the field and he will fight you every second of every play. Anybody who has watched the Falcons play this year knows that this guy can ball and has really turned it up this year and has definitely turned this year in a "Make It" year for him. The perfect example of this was today's Tampa Bay game. He nearly had a huge clutch interception and return late in the 4th quarter but it was reversed by instant reply. So what does he do? He does it again! He read Josh Freeman perfectly and dove in front of his receiver and came down with the ball to seal a gritty come back win for the Dirty Birds.
Brent Grimes kind of epitomizes the Atlanta Falcons this year. The Falcons have their well known guys or "stars" like Matt Ryan, Tony Gonzales, Roddy White, John Abraham and Michael Turner but the real reason the Falcons are 10-2 is because of the rest of the roster. Dudes like Brent Grimes and Eric "Special" Weems (who had a huge kick off return for a TD today to get the Birds back into the game). It's the contributions of guys that don't get the limelight or the credit (Mike Peterson, the OL, Ovie Mughalli, Curtis Lofton, Kroy Biermann, Corey Peters, etc) that has made this into a special season for the Falcons.
Brent Grimes kind of epitomizes the Atlanta Falcons this year. The Falcons have their well known guys or "stars" like Matt Ryan, Tony Gonzales, Roddy White, John Abraham and Michael Turner but the real reason the Falcons are 10-2 is because of the rest of the roster. Dudes like Brent Grimes and Eric "Special" Weems (who had a huge kick off return for a TD today to get the Birds back into the game). It's the contributions of guys that don't get the limelight or the credit (Mike Peterson, the OL, Ovie Mughalli, Curtis Lofton, Kroy Biermann, Corey Peters, etc) that has made this into a special season for the Falcons.
The Falcons stand at 10-2 with two games left with Carolina, one at Seattle and a home Monday Nighter with Drew Brees and NO. If the Falcons can secure home field advantage for the playoffs watch out!
No comments:
Post a Comment