southga08 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Everyone said something on the order of:The Falcons have 5 new starters this year. They will be inexperienced to start the season. They will look bad at times and probably not look very good statistically in some of the games. (note: especially games going against top 5 ranked offenses; see San Diego). As the season progresses the players will get more comfortable in the system and in playing at the NFL level as a starter week in and week out. They will also get more comfortable with each other and not try to do too much; which always gets you in trouble. By the end of the season the Falcons defense will have grown to the point where they will be better than last year's defense. This is because the defense is faster, more athletic, and more urgent.With inexperience, comes big plays. With big plays comes giving up 3rd and long.I am not trying to be overly optimistic here, I am just trying to refresh what was said a million times by every sportswriter and person on this message board all offseason. They pretty much said that the Falcons defense was going to look bad at times. We all knew that. Don't freak because they had a bad first half in a preseason game.Don't start being concerned unless you do not see improvement as the regular season progresses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartkowski Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 It was common knowledge that they would struggle. I don't think it was expected that they would be bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Statick Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 I think most people are wigging out because they want a defense that's on par with the offense. They've heard so much about Ryan, Gonzalez, Turner and White from ESPN that they really haven't paid any attention to the fact that we have new and younger guys on our defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insight Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Everyone said something on the order of:The Falcons have 5 new starters this year. They will be inexperienced to start the season. They will look bad at times and probably not look very good statistically in some of the games. (note: especially games going against top 5 ranked offenses; see San Diego). As the season progresses the players will get more comfortable in the system and in playing at the NFL level as a starter week in and week out. They will also get more comfortable with each other and not try to do too much; which always gets you in trouble. By the end of the season the Falcons defense will have grown to the point where they will be better than last year's defense. This is because the defense is faster, more athletic, and more urgent.With inexperience, comes big plays. With big plays comes giving up 3rd and long.I am not trying to be overly optimistic here, I am just trying to refresh what was said a million times by every sportswriter and person on this message board all offseason. They pretty much said that the Falcons defense was going to look bad at times. We all knew that. Don't freak because they had a bad first half in a preseason game.Don't start being concerned unless you do not see improvement as the regular season progresses.There is one point you are missing. We have NO defensive depth. There is a huge drop off from starters to backups with the exception of J.Anderson who should not be starting. It's unlikely that the entire defense will stay healthy all season so you need decent backups to remain competitive and we do not have them. If Brent Grimes, Chris Houston, J.Anderson, Stephen Nicholas and T. DeCoud are your starters imagine who's behind them. You can't rebuild half the defense without be active in free agency and we were not. Building through the draft take time. We need to outscore opponents this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DriveHomeSafelyAtlantaWins Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Be careful not to understate things, though. That hurts your credibility. For example, you said we had a bad "first half". Actually, in the 3rd quarter our defensive starters looked just as bad against their 2nd string QB. If you change your wording to say "bad game", it makes your case stronger.If we adjust to a more conservative scheme, and if we assume most offenses we face won't be nearly as good as the Bolts, and if we assume that the D gets better as the year rolls on, then maybe we'll be ok. If we go get a key player to improve the D, things look even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Statick Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 There is one point you are missing. We have NO defensive depth. There is a huge drop off from starters to backup with the exception of J.Anderson who should not be starting. It's unlikely that the entire defense will stay healthy all season so you need decent backups to remain competitive and we do not have them. If Brent Grimes, Chris Houston, J.Anderson, Stephen Nicholas and T. DeCoud are your starters imagine who's behind them. You can rebuild half the defense without be active in free agency and we were not. Building through the draft take time. We need to outscore opponents this year.We have plenty of defensive depth. Now if you meant we don't have experienced depth, I would agree with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DriveHomeSafelyAtlantaWins Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 We have plenty of defensive depth. Now if you meant we don't have experienced depth, I would agree with you.What if he means "good defensive depth"? Regardless of years of exp? Do you agree with him then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Statick Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 What if he means "good defensive depth"? Regardless of years of exp? Do you agree with him then?No, I still couldn't agree even then.We've yet to see these kids in action in a regular season game or how they will progress during the season. They could always get better with more repetition or not.I have a wait-and-see attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insight Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 We have plenty of defensive depth. Now if you meant we don't have experienced depth, I would agree with you.Here's my definition. Quality depth, players that are ready to handle large amounts of playing time during the regular season with out compromising the scheme. How many players regardless in experience would you put in this category thus far? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
War Damn Eagle Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Actually, all we have is depth. What we don't have is legit starters, atleast not yet. Hopefully by midseason they'll start to click. What I mean is there's not much difference from the starters to the backups. Other than Abraham, which starter is dramatically better than his backup? You can make a case for Lofton and maybe Coleman but that's about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LADBABY Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 There was something in the physical mis-match that we all saw thatwas very clear. Some of that can be made up by being more physicaland using better technique but not all. I thought it was pretty apparentthat we were over-matched at CB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Statick Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Here's my definition. Quality depth, players that are ready to handle large amounts of playing time during the regular season with out compromising the scheme. How many players regardless in experience would you put in this category thus far?Well, heck...all of them then. Since all of these players taken were drafted with said scheme in mind by the coaches and staff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insight Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 No, I still couldn't agree even then.We've yet to see these kids in action in a regular season game or how they will progress during the season. They could always get better with more repetition or not.I have a wait-and-see attitude.OTA's Training Camp and Pre-Season is when the reps and learning take place. The regular season should consist of game planning for a specific opponent, executing and staying healthy. If you don't know what you have by now, then you do not have quality backups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insight Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Well, heck...all of them then. Since all of these players taken were drafted with said scheme in mind by the coaches and staff.Defensive Starters Lost = 5Defensive Free Agent Replacements = 1Are you saying TD drafted 4 defensive players that are ready to start right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Statick Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Defensive Starters Lost = 5Defensive Free Agent Replacements = 1Are you saying TD drafted 4 defensive players that are ready to start right now.I'm not a coach so I really can't say. Rookies have started before in the NFL and did well.Again, a wait-and-see attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insight Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Actually, all we have is depth. What we don't have is legit starters, atleast not yet. Hopefully by midseason they'll start to click. What I mean is there's not much difference from the starters to the backups. Other than Abraham, which starter is dramatically better than his backup? You can make a case for Lofton and maybe Coleman but that's about it.Yes, that's another way of looking at it. Bottom Line, We lack players that could take the field right now and do a decent job as starter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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