UA-59049186-1 NFL Team Preview: Atlanta Falcons - Good if it Goes

NFL Team Preview: Atlanta Falcons

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Last Year: 

Record: 8-8

Offense: 374.4YPG (7th), 21.2 PPG (21st)

Defense: 347.6 YPG (16th), 21.6 (14th)

Normally when a team goes 8-8, you think of an up-and-down team that was sort of average throughout the year. Such was not the case with the Falcons. Last season, it was like there were 2 different Atlanta teams. 1 team went 6-2 over their first 8 games including getting off to a hot 5-0 start. And then the other went 2-6 down the stretch that was spearheaded by a 6-game losing streak. I don’t know the answer off the top of my head, but I’m willing to bet you could count on 1 hand the number of teams that had both a winning streak and losing streak of at least 5 games in the same season. Atlanta came roaring out of the gates offensively with Julio Jones on fire and Devonta Freeman looking like a top 5 RB. Then reality set in. I don’t know if the league just figured them out or what but they were never the same team again after those first 5 games. Matt Ryan has to be 1 of the biggest culprits posting 1 of the worse seasons of his career throwing only 21 TDs and 16 interceptions. Overall Freeman’s number’s look good on the year but if you look at his numbers down the stretch he wasn’t that great at all. Julio Jones and Ryan Schraeder were the only players on this offense that consistently performed at an high level throughout the entire season. Defensively, the Falcons had far less talent than they do on offense yet that unit performed much more admirably over the course of the entire season. They weren’t great at anything but they were scrappy and found away not to give up a ton of points or yards.

Offseason: 

Key Acquisitions: WR. Mohamed Sanu, C. Alex Mack, DE. Derrick Shelby, OLB. Courtney Upshaw

Key Loses: S. Charles Godfrey, DT. Paul Solai, WR. Roddy White

2016 Draft Picks

RD(PK) PLAYER POS SCHOOL
1(17) Keanu Neal S Florida
2(21) Deion Jones OLB LSU
3(18) Austin Hooper TE Stanford
4(17) De’Vondre Campbell OLB Minnesota
6(20) Wes Schweitzer OG San Jose State
7(17) Devin Fuller WR UCLA

2016 Outlook

Coaching Staff

HC: Dan Quinn

OC: Kyle Shanahan

DC: Richard Smith

ST: Keith Armstrong

Projected Depth Chart

Offense

QB.  Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub

RB. Devonta Freeman, Tevin Coleman

FB. DiMarco Patrick

WR. Julio Jones, Eric Weems

WR. Mohamed Sanu, Devin Fuller

WR. Justin Hardy

TE. Jacob Tamme, Austin Hooper

LT. Jake Matthews, Laurence Gibson

LG. Andy Levitre, Wes Schweitzer

C. Alex Mack, Collin Rahrig

RG. Chris Chester, Mike Person

RT. Ryan Schraeder, Bryce Harris

Defense

DE. Adrian Clayborn, Courtney Upshaw

DT. Ra’Shede Hageman, Jonathan Babineaux

DT. Grady Jarrett, Tyson Jackson

DE. Derrick Shelby, Malliciah Goodman

OLB. Vic Beasley, Brooks Reed

MLB. Paul Worrilow, Deion Jones

OLB. Sean Weatherspoon, Phillip Wheeler

CB. Desmond Trufant, DeMarcus Van Dyke

SS. Keanu Neal, Kemal Ishmael

FS. Ricardo Allen, Robenson Therezie

CB. Akeem King, Jalen Collins

NB. Robert Alford

Special Teams

K. Matt Bryant

P. Matt Bosher

Breakdown

Offense: 

We know the Falcons have some talent on offense, but can they sustain peak performance as a unit for an entire season will be the burning question in 2016 for Falcons fans. It all starts with QB Matt Ryan, who must play better and make less careless decisions with the football this year. He’s done enough in his career for us to know what he’s capable of; at this point he simply needs to go out and do it. Supporting cast cannot be an excuse for Matt Ryan as there is plenty of talent around him to make things work. The league’s 2nd-best receiver in Julio Jones is his primary option and the team has replaced Roddy White with a younger, more reliable number 2 option in Sanu to help take some heat off of Julio. Tamme is no elite TE, but he is good at what he does and has carved out a niche as a smart player that knows how to run routes. The biggest concern is what receiver on the roster can emerge as a reliable slot option. Hardy is the favorite to be the guy at the moment. In the backfield, the Falcons have 2 talented options in Freeman and Coleman. Freeman’s ability to impact the game as a runner and receiver is very valuable for a Falcons team that doesn’t have a lot of depth at receiver. The Falcons offensive line was the most improved O-Line in the NFL in 2015. Pro Football Focus rated them as the 5th-ranked offensive line in the NFL after being ranked 26th the year before. And that was with 1 of the worst centers in the NFL holding them back. That problem has now been remedied with the signing of free agent Alex Mack, who’s been 1 of the game’s best centers for years. The star of the group is Ryan Schraeder, who is the best RT in the NFL. LT Jake Matthews has yet to emerge as the potential elite player some thought he could become when he was drafted but he showed a lot of improvement from his disappointing rookie season in year 2 and looks to be even better this season. The Falcons zone blocking scheme was such a success last season in large part due to the efforts of their 2 new guards Andy Levitre and Chris Chester who both provided a significant boost to the team’s run game last year. Everything is in place for the Falcons to be 1 of the better offenses in the NFL in 2016.

Defense: 

In 2015, the Falcons defense honestly played a little over their heads and it’s possible they could pull it off again in 2016. This is a defense with a lot of young players who simply are just inexperienced, so it’s hard to project how well this team will do defensively as a team, but there is no doubt they have a lot of potential. The Falcons are going to run a hybrid-style defense that when in their base look will resemble more of a 1-gap 3-4 style look than a true 4-3 with their strong side linebacker playing on the line of scrimmage. Up front, the Falcons are going to have last year’s 1st-round pick Vic Beasley move from DE to that stand up LB spot where he should be a lot more comfortable. On the other edge at DE will be 1 of the team’s top free agent signings in this offseason Derrick Shelby. In the interior at the other DE spot, Adrian Clayborn and free agent pickup Courtney Upshaw will be the competing for the job, but regardless of which wins I’d expect to see plenty of both. At DT, 3rd-year man Ra’Shede Hageman figures to be the standout guy looking to breakout this season. Jarrett Grady and Jonathan Babineaux are the top options for the other DT spot. The starting linebackers figure to be Paul Worrilow, who is the best of the bunch and has a lot talent, and veteran Sean Weatherspoon. I also expect 2nd-round pick Deion Jones to really push for playing time. The secondary of the Falcons is a group that has the potential to some really good things or really bad things this year. Desmond Trufant is 1 of the games best corners and is criminally underrated among causal fans. But everything after him is a question mark. The rest of the Falcons corners include Robert Alford, who will be the team’s slot specialist, Akeem King, a 7th-rounder in 2015 who might be a lot more talented than people originally thought, and the troubled 2nd-round pick from 2015 Jalen Collins, who will start the season serving a 4-game suspension. These 3 will all be the primary options after Trufant. I believe Collins has the most natural talent of the 3, but he also has the most growing up to do on and off the field. At safety, the team used it’s 1st-round pick in this years draft to take Florida’s Keanu Neal who is a big time thumper that should be able to come in and impact the Falcons defense right away. At FS resides 3rd-year man Ricardo Allen who started all of last season. He’s undersized at 5’9, 185 pounds, but he can really move and cover for a safety thanks to his CB background. Overall, how well the Falcons play defensively will depend on how much they’re young guys have developed and improved from last year. Vic Beasely will be 1 of the most important players of those young guys as they desperately need an impact edge rusher to emerge.

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