First look at the pass rush

[Smiler11]

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/10525021/21420490?source=rss_teams_Atlanta_Falcons

First look at the pass rush

Smitty and Dimitroff both commented at the Combine that they liked the personnel they had on the ends and attributed part of the problem with the pass rush to Peria Jerry getting hurt.

We know that Peria Jerry alone can't be the plan for improving our dismal (one of the bottom five in the league) pass rush. So what else do we have to look forward to this season?

I don't believe that the cornerback play buys more time for the pass rush. (D-Led and I are on opposite sides of the fence on that one.) The problem is that if the primary receivers aren't open, the QB turns to the TE or the dump-off to the RB. We got torched more in the gaps between the LB and safety zones last year than we did by wideouts against our cornerbacks.

But there's another way Dunta Robinson can have a big impact on our run defense as well as the pass rush. Watch carefully in the preseason exhibition games. If it turns out that the Falcons can reliably leave Robinson alone against top receivers, without safety help, that will free up the defense to play more cover one rather than cover two.

That will make a world of difference. We played a lot of cover one in 2008 and again last season. It wasn't intentional. The Falcons wanted to keep both safeties deep in cover two mode to protect the infant cornerbacks, but the deficiencies in the middle of the line forced the team to bring up a safety on a regular basis to help with run defense.

It hurt the secondary, because Chris Houston was a liability when left alone in single coverage. He had to give up jamming his man at the line and instead leave a large cushion, because if his receiver got past him, it would have been an instant touchdown. The hope is that Robinson can play more aggressively, with confidence that his man won't get away from him.

If he can pull it off, the team can use the cover one to its advantage. The safety on his side will be the one to line up short. (It might be dictated by where the receivers line up, so both safeties would have to be able to take on either the SS or FS role.) That will make the safety available for run support, and it will also allow him to blitz or to take over the zone coverage for a blitzing linebacker.

Presto - instant improved pass rush. Five rushers is better than four.

And it's actually nothing new for the Falcons, since we've been doing the same thing for the last two years anyway. The difference is that without Chris Houston being our top CB left alone to cover a top receiver, we might be more successful with it.

The team's other approach is to improve the pass rush from the inside out. In 2003-2006, the Falcons had strong pass rushing DTs in Ellis Johnson and then Rod Coleman. We haven't had a strong attack from the middle since the last time Coleman managed to stay healthy for a season.

The hope is that a rotation of Jonathan Babineaux, Peria Jerry and Corey Peters can turn up the heat in two ways - getting more sacks themselves and drawing extra attention from the offense away from the ends.

We'll have to keep our fingers crossed on that one. Jerry and Peters are unproven players, Jerry has significant injury concerns, and Babs is facing suspension.

And finally, the DE positions... Dimitroff says he believes John Abraham still has plenty left in his tank and should be in for a good year. He also really likes the development of Kroy Biermann and wants to see what Lawrence Sidbury can do this season.

The word is that Jamaal Anderson has been working to bulk up for this season. He'll likely play the end spot in running situations and slide in to the middle as part of the nickel or other sub packages. No mention yet of how often we might use those 3-3-5 or 3-4 packages.

No word at all about Chauncey Davis. When asked, Dimitroff says he's "another versatile player that can make contributions". But it seems pretty clear that El Sid and Beer Man are the real hopes for the team at DE this year.

Interesting situation to watch this summer will be whether Jamaal still appears to have a starting spot or whether Biermann moves into the starting lineup in his place. Biermann was listed at 246 when drafted but dropped to around 241 by the start of his rookie season. He bulked up to 260 last season.

And the top question for the early part of the regular season will be how the DT rotation will work with Babs out. That could be the prime opportunity to slide Jamaal inside.

We might see an early season nickel front four of Biermann, Anderson, Jerry and Abraham, with Robinson, Chris Owens and Brent Grimes as the three corners, Spoon and Nicholas as the LBs, Thomas DeCoud as the lone deep safety and William Moore playing up in a SS role.

So how would this be better than 2009? (a) Robinson instead of Houston. ( Spoon instead of Mike Peterson. © Jerry instead of Thomas Johnson. (d) more experience for Brent Grimes and Chris Owens. (e) more blitzes from Curtis Lofton, Stephen Nicholas or William Moore.

If we can blitz more frequently (Smitty practically forgot the meaning of the word in the second Panthers game), get the slower Mike Peterson off the field for passing downs, and keep a safety up without losing much in coverage on one side, we should indeed have a more effective pass rush in 2010.

I think the signing of Dunta Robinson and selecting Spoon at #19 will allow this defense to be a lot more creative in 2010.

[Clark Kent™]

Good read. Agree with almost everything he said. Especially on the part where he talked about how Dunta will help our pass rush.

Anderson and Peters could have very big roles in our defense. Alot more than some people are thinking. Peria is coming off a serious injury and could very well be reinjured again. And Babs is looking at a possible suspension. I have read it could be anywhere from 2-6.

So that would leave the door open for Anderson or Peters. If Babs is suspended for the first 4 and Jerry is not over the knee completely or reinjures it then we would really need Anderson or Peters to step up big.

[FalconFanSince1970]

I still feel like our season will go as our Dline goes. They face a much easier offensive schedule and should get healthier. If they do we should be really good.

I think a lot of us are still very nervous because all of our Dlinemen have question marks:

Abe - can he stay healthy? Is he in decline?

Babineaux - will he get suspended?

Biermann - can he improve or will he forever be a situational player?

Jerry - is he healthy? Is he good enough?

Chauncey - will he have an 08 or 09 type season?

Busterson - will he ever give us the value of an 8th pick with $15M guaranteed?

Sid - will he move up the depth chart or be a Division 2 player?

Peters - is he strong enough to play DT in the NFL?

Walker - will he continue to improve or get buried on the practice squad?

Lewis - is he healthy? Is he good enough?

[maxatlanta]

My only disagreements with the article is that it doesn't give Babs credit for being a disruptive force inside last season, and it slots Spoon & Nicholas as our 2 Nickel LBs. Lofton is a 3 down player and without him in on 3rd downs teams will run on us for the 1st.

[sdogg]

Great read. I said it months ago, that CB, OLB and DT were bigger weaknesses than DE. It appears that TD felt the same as well. That is why I became a Spoon fan, after we signed DR.

[Clark Kent™]

Great read. I said it months ago, that CB, OLB and DT were bigger weaknesses than DE. It appears that TD felt the same as well. That is why I became a Spoon fan, after we signed DR.

Well thats not neccesarily true. If Morgan or Graham would have been there then for all wwe know they would have been our selection. It was obvious after both of them were gone that Spoon was most likely the pick.

[sdogg]

I still feel like our season will go as our Dline goes. They face a much easier offensive schedule and should get healthier. If they do we should be really good.

I think a lot of us are still very nervous because all of our Dlinemen have question marks:

Abe - can he stay healthy? Is he in decline?

Babineaux - will he get suspended?

Biermann - can he improve or will he forever be a situational player?

Jerry - is he healthy? Is he good enough?

Chauncey - will he have an 08 or 09 type season?

Busterson - will he ever give us the value of an 8th pick with $15M guaranteed?

Sid - will he move up the depth chart or be a Division 2 player?

Peters - is he strong enough to play DT in the NFL?

Walker - will he continue to improve or get buried on the practice squad?

Lewis - is he healthy? Is he good enough?

Good points on the DT worries. I would imagine that TD has asked these same questions. I just wonder why we are not going after John Henderson?

[hawkeye]

So I guess we just gonna bench Coleman huh?

[FalconFanSince1970]

My only disagreements with the article is that it doesn't give Babs credit for being a disruptive force inside last season, and it slots Spoon & Nicholas as our 2 Nickel LBs. Lofton is a 3 down player and without him in on 3rd downs teams will run on us for the 1st.

Pete and Lofton started out as our nickel backers. They got abused.

We ended the season with Nic and Wire as the nickel backers. They were much better.

I can definitely see Nic and Spoon as the nickel backers. I believe they are the two best cover backers and should be able to hold down the run.

[sdogg]

Well thats not neccesarily true. If Morgan or Graham would have been there then for all wwe know they would have been our selection. It was obvious after both of them were gone that Spoon was most likely the pick.

That is true, but it still doesn't change the fact that DT, CB and OLB were big weaknesses. Had we drafted one of those DE's, IMHO we would have gone OLB and DT with our 2 3rd rounders. Then probably C and G in the 4th and 5th.

Not drafting a DE at all, clearly shows that TD feels that no other DE in later rounds, could be as good as Biermann, Sid and Davis.

[Smiler11]

Lofton and spoon will be my nickles

Coverage isn't Lofton's strong point - Nicholas is better in coverage than Lofton?

[Smiler11]

Well thats not neccesarily true. If Morgan or Graham would have been there then for all wwe know they would have been our selection. It was obvious after both of them were gone that Spoon was most likely the pick.

"We really felt that a cover-type linebacker, who has speed and flies around the football, was in our best interest," Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. "We got the guy we were targeting all along."

The decision might have been tougher had Morgan and Graham still been on the board, but Spoon was clearly the player we scouted the most.

[Smiler11]

Who wrote this ****, its written terribly "we" "our". He's writing as a fan, stupid ****.

Yeah what a stupid **** - surely fans aren't allowed to write about their teams!

[Smiler11]

So I guess we just gonna bench Coleman huh?

I wouldn't be surprised if we saw all three on the field at some point in 2010. Moore played a lot of 'Rover' in Mizzou, so we could get creative with him - similar to how the Steelers use Troy Polamalu.

[sdogg]

"We really felt that a cover-type linebacker, who has speed and flies around the football, was in our best interest," Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. "We got the guy we were targeting all along."

The decision might have been tougher had Morgan and Graham still been on the board, but Spoon was clearly the player we scouted the most.

Exactly! If you listen to all that TD said in the months before the draft he felt that:

1. We needed better coverage from our CB's. So he got DR.

2. We lost an interior force in the middle, with the loss of PJ. He's returning.

3. Abe still has gas left in the tank. Historically, he has had good years, following a down year.

4. He is satisfied with the progression of Biermann and Sid.

5. We need better coverage from the LB positions.

6. Has said numerous times that there are other ways to get pressure on the QB, besides from the DE position.

The moves we made, adding DR, Spoon, the return of PJ and adding Peters, all show signs that we will.

One more thing: if I'm not mistaken, we brought Spoon in 3 to 5 times for a workout and interview. That's more than any other prospect, right?

Edited May 2, 2010 by sdogg

[atljbo]

I think Nicholas, Spoon,and Lofton will rotate (Spoon will be one of the guys on the field at all times).... I do think Nicholas will be more of an impact player for us this year... Nicholas did play good in coverage at the end of the year... I still remember him running stride for stride with Dustin Keller.... He almost intercepted the ball.

[sdogg]

I think Nicholas, Spoon,and Lofton will rotate (Spoon will be one of the guys on the field at all times).... I do think Nicholas will be more of an impact player for us this year... Nicholas did play good in coverage at the end of the year... I still remember him running stride for stride with Dustin Keller.... He almost intercepted the ball.

Nic did play much better the last part of the season. I too feel he will be improved even more in his 2nd year starting.

[Clark Kent™]

"We really felt that a cover-type linebacker, who has speed and flies around the football, was in our best interest," Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. "We got the guy we were targeting all along."

The decision might have been tougher had Morgan and Graham still been on the board, but Spoon was clearly the player we scouted the most.

And that proves nothing. That is just GM talk right there. Its not like he is going to say " well since Graham and Morgan were gone, Sean was our 3rd rated player"

What he probably meant was that they came in the draft with a couple of players in the first round that they wanted and they ended up being able to draft one of those players.

[Trouble]

A key for us is speed. keep the oline guessing on who is coming and who is falling back. Saints did that very well against us in the first game last year.

But you need linebackers and corners that can handle it and the checkdowns watched.

But we ran the bend but dont break so much we where broke before we started to bend. Playing cover was all we could really do and hope for the best.

But having speed and a better secondary allows for a different style of attack not just off the ends. If we get pressure up the middle it will help the ends and if the lb`s show blitz and fall back it should help the ends get a step in.

All comes down to if we get injuries or not. But we saw our ends dropping back into coverage more last year.

[birdonawire]

My only disagreements with the article is that it doesn't give Babs credit for being a disruptive force inside last season, and it slots Spoon & Nicholas as our 2 Nickel LBs. Lofton is a 3 down player and without him in on 3rd downs teams will run on us for the 1st.

Pete and Lofton started out as our nickel backers. They got abused.

We ended the season with Nic and Wire as the nickel backers. They were much better.

I can definitely see Nic and Spoon as the nickel backers. I believe they are the two best cover backers and should be able to hold down the run.

Lofton is a liability in coverage, Peterson has gotten too slow. "Nick" and "Spoon" should be the LBs in nickel coverage with Atkins being the 3rd option. I think Atkins will get more PT in passing situations this years, he is the fastest LB on the team.