A TDWII Observation: Pressure is on Mularkey

[TheDirtyWordII]

We’ve heard Thomas Dimitroff talk about explosiveness all off-season on both sides of the ball. The move for Julio Jones was a major demonstration of just how dire thought this need was on offense. One measure of being an explosive offense, is YAC; Yards After the Catch. This is an area where the Falcons were excruciatingly awful last season. It was a primary driver behind their inability to make big plays as evidenced by their total of 1 passing play over 26 yards in their final 8 games.

Based on stats ESPN.com has compiled, the average YAC a team generated (when you look at all NFL players with at least 175 yards receiving) was 5.07 yards. For the Falcons, their YAC figure was 3.44. Only two other teams were below 4.0 YAC (TEN & ARI; ARI was the only team below 3 YAC). But this gives you an idea of the dearth of plays in the passing game the Falcons were able to generate. To accentuate this issue, let’s look at where the Falcons primary pass catcher ranked respective of their positions.

Jason Snelling: 36th of 38 RB’s/FB’s

Tony Gonzalez: 43rd of 43 TE’s…that means last.

Harry Douglas: 16th out of 119 WR’s

Roddy White: 90th out of 119 WR’s

Michael Jenkins: 115th out of 119 WR’s

You can excuse Roddy White’s placement on this list because he is the bellcow of the Falcons passing attack. It’s not uncommon to see #1 WR’s appear at the bottom of this list because of the amount of times the passing game goes through them. Other #1 WR’s to appear in the bottom quartile include Larry Fitzgerald, Chad Ochocinco, Brandon Lloyd, Brandon Marshall, Sidney Rice, Derrick Mason.

But obviously, seeing Michael Jenkins on this list goes to show that while he was able to provide the Falcons a key play here and there, rarely was he able to take advantage of coverage rolling over to Roddy that enabled him to make big plays consistently, or make defenses pay regularly for employing that tactic. And 2010 was not an aberration for Jenkins. YAC has been a historically awful part of Jenkins game. As for HD, while he showed well in this category, he simply needs to become more consistent and reliable to be seen as a vital cog in the passing game. 23 receptions won’t cut it.

With that said, an issue like this can also be interpreted via the chicken/egg philosophy. Are the Falcons bad at YAC because of their personnel and thus the offense is designed to maximize reliability and minimize after the catch ability? Or is the Falcons offense designed to be too reliable (or plodding) which does not afford its players good YAC opportunities? Quite frankly, I believe it’s a bit of both.

What Julio Jones bring to the Falcons offense is accountability to this metric. Most of us layman fans can visibly see the limitations of Jenkins in the passing game and while Gonzalez is still a tremendously dependable pass catcher in critical situations, from a personnel standpoint, the Falcons are not a sudden/quick twitch type of offense. Could Mularkey be more creative in designing opportunities for the Falcons to be more explosive…? Sure, but that might have ultimately brought less success. With Jones, personnel (or lack thereof) can’t be used as a crutch as to why the Falcons lack explosiveness. And thus, the pressure shifts to Mularkey. In 2008, when the entire team practically turned over and Mularkey implemented his offense in Year 1, the Falcons (according to ESPN.com) had 8 more YAC than they did in 2010 on 96 fewer completions, a much more respectable 5.13 figure. But even that figure is closer to league average than elite, and that’s when Ryan had a pretty stellar YPA.

The Falcons have now been termed as having potentially the best WR combination in the NFL provided Jones is as advertised. Also, let’s not forget the acquisition of Jacquizz Rodgers. For two years, the Falcons have been hamstrung by having Jerious Norwood compromised and eventually eliminated by injuries. Snelling allowed that Falcons to have some presense out of the backfield in the passing game, but not one that could really create yards. The question here is whether he can pick-up oncoming pass rushers. If he can’t, he won’t do much.

Ultimately though, the chicken/egg comparison has been removed. The focus on the Falcons explosiveness capability falls on Mularkey’s shoulders. Prior to the draft, when the Falcons were playing coy with their intentions…they did state that their schemes were being looked at and that the review to become more explosive simply wasn’t personnel based, but systematic.

It’s going to be up to Mularkey to get his prized weapons the ball in space. GB by comparison was able to yield a 5.19 YAC out of their WR’s when the league average YAC for WR’s was 4.14 in 2010. And if GB is now looked at the gold standard, it’s going to be up to Mularkey now to mold his offense accordingly. You don’t move up 21 spots in the draft to secure a player who won’t create yardage on his own. However, you also have to put said player in a position to do so. Even in the Falcons most efficient year, while explosiveness wasn’t a weakness, it wasn’t a strength either. For the move the Falcons made, it can;t just be a check in the box...it has to be a defining characteristic of your team. That's the $64,000 question - is Mularkey the man to do it?

We'll see...

[Quarterback]

Good stuff...thanks!

Indeed, the YAC will logically improve with more balls thrown behind the CB's as opposed to the curls and sideline patterns that dominate the Mularkey offense.

This is what has so frustrated me. The Falcons offense with Ryan, Turner, Gonzo, White should have been more feared by defenses. I honestly don't think any DC feared our our offense all all last season. Regardless of our talent level on offense, it is much easier to game plan for the routine and predictable.

Yes Jones will help...but he doesn't call the plays!

[phattywankenobi]

Depending on what happens in free agency with the Oline I believe Mularkey should not have too many excuses. While Julio could stretch the other side of the field Jaquizz could keep some LB's at home as long as there is quick footwork from the blockers to set up the screen.

The offense has done well in Mularkey's tenure so even if there is a hiccup I don't believe he will be gone. If the Falcons are once again at the bottom for a fourth year in a row in pass defense Van Gorder might want to start hanging out in Athens more often begging for his old job back.

[Quarterback]

Depending on what happens in free agency with the Oline I believe Mularkey should not have too many excuses. While Julio could stretch the other side of the field Jaquizz could keep some LB's at home as long as there is quick footwork from the blockers to set up the screen.

The offense has done well in Mularkey's tenure so even if there is a hiccup I don't believe he will be gone. If the Falcons are once again at the bottom for a fourth year in a row in pass defense Van Gorder might want to start hanging out in Athens more often begging for his old job back.

Amen!

I think he is noticeably over-matched by the better OC's and outclassed by the better DC's in the league. And, for the life of me, I cannot find ANYTHING on his NFL resume that qualified him to be an NFL DC!

Smith and Dimitroff are accountable for this choice!

[Mr. Hoopah!]

The pressure is on everyone this year. /end thread.

[Mid-Nite-Toker]

Good stuff...thanks!

Indeed, the YAC will logically improve with more balls thrown behind the CB's as opposed to the curls and sideline patterns that dominate the Mularkey offense.

This is what has so frustrated me. The Falcons offense with Ryan, Turner, Gonzo, White should have been more feared by defenses. I honestly don't think any DC feared our our offense all all last season. Regardless of our talent level on offense, it is much easier to game plan for the routine and predictable.

Yes Jones will help...but he doesn't call the plays!

I think w/o question a lot of pressure will be on MM if the "O" is not turned up a significant notch. I wonder if BB(QB coach) will have any significant input?

[Quarterback]

I think w/o question a lot of pressure will be on MM if the "O" is not turned up a significant notch. I wonder if BB(QB coach) will have any significant input?

Hope so!

What will also help our aggressiveness on offense is to have a defense that we don't have to protect using long, time consuming drives to limit their destruction.

As a QB, you are more likely to try some high risk deep routes if you have the confidence that your defense can force a punt or two!

[Statick]

We’ve heard Thomas Dimitroff talk about explosiveness all off-season on both sides of the ball. The move for Julio Jones was a major demonstration of just how dire thought this need was on offense. One measure of being an explosive offense, is YAC; Yards After the Catch. This is an area where the Falcons were excruciatingly awful last season. It was a primary driver behind their inability to make big plays as evidenced by their total of 1 passing play over 26 yards in their final 8 games.

Based on stats ESPN.com has compiled, the average YAC a team generated (when you look at all NFL players with at least 175 yards receiving) was 5.07 yards. For the Falcons, their YAC figure was 3.44. Only two other teams were below 4.0 YAC (TEN & ARI; ARI was the only team below 3 YAC). But this gives you an idea of the dearth of plays in the passing game the Falcons were able to generate. To accentuate this issue, let’s look at where the Falcons primary pass catcher ranked respective of their positions.

Jason Snelling: 36th of 38 RB’s/FB’s

Tony Gonzalez: 43rd of 43 TE’s…that means last.

Harry Douglas: 16th out of 119 WR’s

Roddy White: 90th out of 119 WR’s

Michael Jenkins: 115th out of 119 WR’s

You can excuse Roddy White’s placement on this list because he is the bellcow of the Falcons passing attack. It’s not uncommon to see #1 WR’s appear at the bottom of this list because of the amount of times the passing game goes through them. Other #1 WR’s to appear in the bottom quartile include Larry Fitzgerald, Chad Ochocinco, Brandon Lloyd, Brandon Marshall, Sidney Rice, Derrick Mason.

But obviously, seeing Michael Jenkins on this list goes to show that while he was able to provide the Falcons a key play here and there, rarely was he able to take advantage of coverage rolling over to Roddy that enabled him to make big plays consistently, or make defenses pay regularly for employing that tactic. And 2010 was not an aberration for Jenkins. YAC has been a historically awful part of Jenkins game. As for HD, while he showed well in this category, he simply needs to become more consistent and reliable to be seen as a vital cog in the passing game. 23 receptions won’t cut it.

With that said, an issue like this can also be interpreted via the chicken/egg philosophy. Are the Falcons bad at YAC because of their personnel and thus the offense is designed to maximize reliability and minimize after the catch ability? Or is the Falcons offense designed to be too reliable (or plodding) which does not afford its players good YAC opportunities? Quite frankly, I believe it’s a bit of both.

What Julio Jones bring to the Falcons offense is accountability to this metric. Most of us layman fans can visibly see the limitations of Jenkins in the passing game and while Gonzalez is still a tremendously dependable pass catcher in critical situations, from a personnel standpoint, the Falcons are not a sudden/quick twitch type of offense. Could Mularkey be more creative in designing opportunities for the Falcons to be more explosive…? Sure, but that might have ultimately brought less success. With Jones, personnel (or lack thereof) can’t be used as a crutch as to why the Falcons lack explosiveness. And thus, the pressure shifts to Mularkey. In 2008, when the entire team practically turned over and Mularkey implemented his offense in Year 1, the Falcons (according to ESPN.com) had 8 more YAC than they did in 2010 on 96 fewer completions, a much more respectable 5.13 figure. But even that figure is closer to league average than elite, and that’s when Ryan had a pretty stellar YPA.

The Falcons have now been termed as having potentially the best WR combination in the NFL provided Jones is as advertised. Also, let’s not forget the acquisition of Jacquizz Rodgers. For two years, the Falcons have been hamstrung by having Jerious Norwood compromised and eventually eliminated by injuries. Snelling allowed that Falcons to have some presense out of the backfield in the passing game, but not one that could really create yards. The question here is whether he can pick-up oncoming pass rushers. If he can’t, he won’t do much.

Ultimately though, the chicken/egg comparison has been removed. The focus on the Falcons explosiveness capability falls on Mularkey’s shoulders. Prior to the draft, when the Falcons were playing coy with their intentions…they did state that their schemes were being looked at and that the review to become more explosive simply wasn’t personnel based, but systematic.

It’s going to be up to Mularkey to get his prized weapons the ball in space. GB by comparison was able to yield a 5.19 YAC out of their WR’s when the league average YAC for WR’s was 4.14 in 2010. And if GB is now looked at the gold standard, it’s going to be up to Mularkey now to mold his offense accordingly. You don’t move up 21 spots in the draft to secure a player who won’t create yardage on his own. However, you also have to put said player in a position to do so. Even in the Falcons most efficient year, while explosiveness wasn’t a weakness, it wasn’t a strength either. For the move the Falcons made, it can;t just be a check in the box...it has to be a defining characteristic of your team. That's the $64,000 question - is Mularkey the man to do it?

We'll see...

I agree. We'll see.

[bighurt]

I think BB(QB Coach) will have a impact on our passing game, being a former OC, he has had explosive passing games in the past with the Bengals when they had 3 WR sets. This is something we used more in 2008 then in 2009 and 2010, one being we didn't have a TE like TG and HD was hurt or returning from injury. Now that HD is health, and we have added Julio, I expect to see more 3 or 4 wide sets with HD or Jenkins playing the slots.

[vel]

I think MM has more pressure than BVG any day of the week. BVG doesn't have players of Ryan, Turner, Gonzo, White, Jones on his side of the ball. Yet the defense has been good at not giving up points, no matter how bland it is. 5th in points allowed. That is the true measure of a defense. Not yards. Points. Yes we don't create many game changing plays on defense (sacks, INTs) but let's not forget that we have plenty of players on that side of the ball on their rookie contracts.

BVG dialed up the pressure at the end of the season and was getting players to the QB. He couldn't get out there and sack the QB himself, which was the problem. Too many missed sacks. Prime example is the Saints and Packers game (both second times we played them). The Saints game was a thing of beauty. Abe got a pick and Chauncey scored a TD. That's how defense should be played. But we still missed plenty of sacks and the offense couldn't score. The Packers game was terrible as nobody outside of Abe could get Rodgers on the ground.

You can't say that about the offense. You can't say we would have fared better if Ryan connected with so and so deep. Yea everybody remembers him just missing HD against the Saints week 3 but since then, Roddy was the only on deep and after the bye week, nobody was deep. MM took no shots deep to scare the defense out of the 8 men in the box looks they threw because they knew MM wouldn't try anything deep. He let's the opposing defense dictate his play selection. Now that he has Jones, it is either put up or shut up.

[TheDirtyWordII]

Good stuff...thanks!

Indeed, the YAC will logically improve with more balls thrown behind the CB's as opposed to the curls and sideline patterns that dominate the Mularkey offense.

This is what has so frustrated me. The Falcons offense with Ryan, Turner, Gonzo, White should have been more feared by defenses. I honestly don't think any DC feared our our offense all all last season. Regardless of our talent level on offense, it is much easier to game plan for the routine and predictable.

Yes Jones will help...but he doesn't call the plays!

Here's the thing though...when you say more balls will be thrown behind the CB's, I don't know if we're going to see much of an increase there. To me the more telling sign of success will be what will the Falcons be able to do with YAC when the ball is thrown in front of the CB's?

When you threw the ball, to Jenkins, there was absolutely NO suddeness to his game and even when it came to fighting for extra yardage, for a guy of his size...he didn't offer much of a physical presence. To me, a component to YAC is a guy who gets 2-3 YAC with a guy draped all over him consistently. Jenkins was an catch and down guy and his YAC has never been above 3.8 since ESPN started measuring this stat in 2006.

Jones projects as a physical weapon in the passing game. Defenses never had to account for Jenkins. At some point, the projection is that defenses WILL have to account for Julio. If they don't he has the game to burn them. Jenkins never could do that...it was sort of like leaving the guy open behind the arc who was a 20% 3-point shooter and had no penetration game. If my defense is funneling the offense through that guy and he's taking those shots or holding the ball, I can live with that.

Now while I'm more inclined to put the onus on Jenkins for the bogged down nature of the Falcons offense in the seasons second half, Mularkey has to show that he can maximize the talent he now has at his disposal. He doesn;t have the black sheep to point to anymore.

[paulitik]

There is no reason we shouldn't be putting up 28 a game on any defense, period. Matt has shown me enough at the end of games to prove he's not the problem. If Mularkey can't have a top 5 offense with these players, he's a lost cause.

[lasher1116]

Our biggest weak point all season has been that MM is not willing to Open up the offense.

However, if you check his record, in all active OC, he is the leading OC with the offensive set of 2 TE, 2 RB, 1 WR sets of all of them. We Run 72% of the time, and throw nothing but 7-9 yard pass plays 80% of the time.

The only reason M. Ryan had throws over 30+ yards were when he called the play at the line or in the no huddle offense. MM will have no choice but to change his OC style or he the door will be hitting him on the >>>> on his way out.

Our next weak point is that BVG never gets aggressive, we always rush 4, and run a zone or 2 cover scheme that fails every down. We have to get some 5 to 6 man rushes in there, and let our CB do some man on man coverage.

We can not expect any 2 DE to do all the work all game long, we have to start bringing our LB and possibly some SS blitz plays into the game.

Our offense and defense are the same, game in and game out. MM and BVG have to change their calls or they both will be sitting the bench at home watching home makeover re-runs.

[Quarterback]

Here's the thing though...when you say more balls will be thrown behind the CB's, I don't know if we're going to see much of an increase there. To me the more telling sign of success will be what will the Falcons be able to do with YAC when the ball is thrown in front of the CB's?

When you threw the ball, to Jenkins, there was absolutely NO suddeness to his game and even when it came to fighting for extra yardage, for a guy of his size...he didn't offer much of a physical presence. To me, a component to YAC is a guy who gets 2-3 YAC with a guy draped all over him consistently. Jenkins was an catch and down guy and his YAC has never been above 3.8 since ESPN started measuring this stat in 2006.

Jones projects as a physical weapon in the passing game. Defenses never had to account for Jenkins. At some point, the projection is that defenses WILL have to account for Julio. If they don't he has the game to burn them. Jenkins never could do that...it was sort of like leaving the guy open behind the arc who was a 20% 3-point shooter and had no penetration game. If my defense is funneling the offense through that guy and he's taking those shots or holding the ball, I can live with that.

Now while I'm more inclined to put the onus on Jenkins for the bogged down nature of the Falcons offense in the seasons second half, Mularkey has to show that he can maximize the talent he now has at his disposal. He doesn;t have the black sheep to point to anymore.

I agree, more physicality by the receivers when catching the ball in front of a DB, and getting behind a DB, catching a ball and taking it 20, 30, 40 yards or more a few more times this season will both increase our porous YAC. It will also open up the offense dramatically when defenses have to account for this extra pass option.

Assuming we have at least a decent OL this season (the major concern on offense for me), nearly every excuse for MM will have been eliminated.

[vel]

Our biggest weak point all season has been that MM is not willing to Open up the offense.

However, if you check his record, in all active OC, he is the leading OC with the offensive set of 2 TE, 2 RB, 1 WR sets of all of them. We Run 72% of the time, and throw nothing but 7-9 yard pass plays 80% of the time.

The only reason M. Ryan had throws over 30+ yards were when he called the play at the line or in the no huddle offense. MM will have no choice but to change his OC style or he the door will be hitting him on the >>>> on his way out.

Our next weak point is that BVG never gets aggressive, we always rush 4, and run a zone or 2 cover scheme that fails every down. We have to get some 5 to 6 man rushes in there, and let our CB do some man on man coverage.

We can not expect any 2 DE to do all the work all game long, we have to start bringing our LB and possibly some SS blitz plays into the game.

Our offense and defense are the same, game in and game out. MM and BVG have to change their calls or they both will be sitting the bench at home watching home makeover re-runs.

BVG got aggressive towards the end of the season. Like in my first post, look at the 2nd Saints and 2nd Packers games. Brian Williams missed how many sacks in that Saints game? Rodgers dodged how many would be tacklers in that playoff game? BVG was sending them but the players had never been in that position of sacking a QB, so they missed. You see when Abe got back there, the QB went down. He knows how to sack a QB.

[Quarterback]

BVG got aggressive towards the end of the season. Like in my first post, look at the 2nd Saints and 2nd Packers games. Brian Williams missed how many sacks in that Saints game? Rodgers dodged how many would be tacklers in that playoff game? BVG was sending them but the players had never been in that position of sacking a QB, so they missed. You see when Abe got back there, the QB went down. He knows how to sack a QB.

Yes, BVG got more aggressive in the blitz packages but, as we all saw in the 4th quarter when Brees figured this all out, he marched the ball down the Falcons throats with relative ease.

And 5 consecutive 80+ yard TD drives by Rodgers and no forced punts one cannot possibly blame entirely on a few missed QB sacks. Our defense was overwhelming, indisputably and convincingly pummeled by all aspects of the Green Bay offense and their coaching. Indeed, BVG, as mentioned by Aikman, looked shell shocked and clueless as to what to do or try.

[falken]

Pressure is on? Really? Doesn't that apply to all NFL coaches not named Belichek?

Why are we so quick to lay blame on MM but never give the man credit for coming in three years ago with a rookie QB and posting three consecutive winning seasons?

It's like some of you think we win in spite of MM.

It just amazes me that MM doesn't get more credit for Ryan's quick NFL success. Our offensive philosophy has always been ball control to take the pressure off of a bend but don't break defensive philosophy. That is our HC's and GM's motif. It's a concept that has become who the Falcons' are. It works.

IMO: We are lucky to have an OC of MM's caliber in the ATL.

[vel]

Yes, BVG got more aggressive in the blitz packages but, as we all saw in the 4th quarter when Brees figured this all out, he marched the ball down the Falcons throats with relative ease.

And 5 consecutive 80+ yard TD drives by Rodgers and no forced punts one cannot possibly blame entirely on a few missed QB sacks. Our defense was overwhelming, indisputably and convincingly pummeled by all aspects of the Green Bay offense and their coaching. Indeed, BVG, as mentioned by Aikman, looked shell shocked and clueless as to what to do or try.

If you actually look, BVG stopped blitzing against Brees on that last drive (stupid thing to do) in hopes of making him drive and making a mistake. The defense went back to the bend but don't break crap and Brees was able to relax and pick it apart.

And I blame more of the Packers game on the offense. Yes we scored first, followed by a Packers drive. Then Weems took the kickoff back for a TD, basically allowing the defense a break for 1-2 plays. Then they had to go right back out there. I wasn't surprised the Pack marched like they did after that return because the defense was gassed from a long drive. But the offense didn't help the defense by going 3 and out as much as the Packers scored. The defense was tired for much of the game and ending the half with a pick 6 wasn't much help either. Yes our defense didn't stop the Packers but the offense scored 7 points in 3 qtrs, 14 in the whole game. They couldn't sustain a drive to give the defense time to regroup or breath or let alone show them that they had their backs even though they were struggling against Rodgers. The defense bailed the offense out a couple times during the season (namely the Browns game, 2nd Saints game) but the offense was absent since the second Saints game, where they only put up 7 points. This was masked by the fact that we played the Seahawks and Panthers twice (avg 30 points).

Now I'm not letting the defense off the hook because somebody should have made a play but I just feel the offense, being more talented and older, should have took this game on their backs and made it a shoot out.

[g-dawg]

TDWII,

great work as always +1..I love when someone brings a viewpoint and actually has logical thought behind the topic.

I agree with your premise and analysis. If Falcons simply drop Julio ad nd Quizz into Jenkins and Snelling's roles - the results will be disappointing. The offense needs to change to maximize the talent.

Having said that, one thing I have always maintained is the Falcons pass-blocking is lacking and has been a factor in the lack of explosiveness of our offense. For whatever reason, lack of talent, etc - Falcons do not hold up for a very long time in pass protection when Matt stays in the pocket.

For Julio and Roddy to get downfield, Matt is going to need the pocket to hold up for longer than 2.5 seconds - which seems like about all the time that Matt has on most pass plays from the pocket. I hope the Falcons re-sign Clabo and I hope some of these guards that might replace Dahl/Blalock are an upgrade. I still don't like Sam Baker much at left tackle but he's serviceable until we can get a stud.

I know many think our offensive line of 2010 was really good but its overrated. The lack of sacks is mainly due to Matt gettting the ball out fast and throwing the ball away - probably more than any other QB.

We got the weapons

We got the QB

Now,

We need the OC/Mularkey to devise the offense accordingly

We need the pass-protection to improve

[Quarterback]

TDWII,

great work as always +1..I love when someone brings a viewpoint and actually has logical thought behind the topic.

I agree with your premise and analysis. If Falcons simply drop Julio ad nd Quizz into Jenkins and Snelling's roles - the results will be disappointing. The offense needs to change to maximize the talent.

Having said that, one thing I have always maintained is the Falcons pass-blocking is lacking and has been a factor in the lack of explosiveness of our offense. For whatever reason, lack of talent, etc - Falcons do not hold up for a very long time in pass protection when Matt stays in the pocket.

For Julio and Roddy to get downfield, Matt is going to need the pocket to hold up for longer than 2.5 seconds - which seems like about all the time that Matt has on most pass plays from the pocket. I hope the Falcons re-sign Clabo and I hope some of these guards that might replace Dahl/Blalock are an upgrade. I still don't like Sam Baker much at left tackle but he's serviceable until we can get a stud.

I know many think our offensive line of 2010 was really good but its overrated. The lack of sacks is mainly due to Matt gettting the ball out fast and throwing the ball away - probably more than any other QB.

We got the weapons

We got the QB

Now,

We need the OC/Mularkey to devise the offense accordingly

We need the pass-protection to improve

[g-dawg]

thanks QB....

[FalconFanSince1970]

Pressure is on:

Mike Mularkey - because he seems to have a bullseye on his back

Matt Ryan - better unlock from RW and TG, spread the ball and throw a better deep ball

Oline - need to play better against good defenses. They usually don't

Dline - still can't get to a QB. After three years. Jeez

BVG - had the weakest unit in the Smitty era. Keystone cops

Smitty - out coached in the playoffs both times

TD - his high draft picks better rise up

The team - as the great Dan Reeves would say "the players have to execute"

Blank - running out of time. Ain't no spring chicken. Needs rest. Trust me

[ltstorm2]

I'm not sure the offense will change much. We may sprinkle in a few more screens for Rodgers(if he pans out), but we're still going to be a ball control offense. Our play action game should be the **** though, allowing us to score faster when we need to.

I agree in a way with Roddy saying we're going to be the greatest show on turf. We might not be the most exciting show on turf, but I believe we'll be able to do whatever we want when we want.

Teams are definately going to try and stop Turner first, so between MM and Ryan they need to exploit the mismatches when teams load the box to stop us. If they can't do that then there is a serious problem.

[Quarterback]

Pressure is on:

Mike Mularkey - because he seems to have a bullseye on his back

Matt Ryan - better unlock from RW and TG, spread the ball and throw a better deep ball

Oline - need to play better against good defenses. They usually don't

Dline - still can't get to a QB. After three years. Jeez

BVG - had the weakest unit in the Smitty era. Keystone cops

Smitty - out coached in the playoffs both times

TD - his high draft picks better rise up

The team - as the great Dan Reeves would say "the players have to execute"

Blank - running out of time. Ain't no spring chicken. Needs rest. Trust me

Pretty Spot On!

[JOEinPHX]

There's no doubt that Mularkey will be bulls-eyed this year, in large part because of the shiny new toy that's been handed to him. But there's a fundamental flaw in the OP's logic regarding YAC, and the notion that bigger, stronger receivers necessarily improve YAC stats.

In 2010, 10 of the top 11 YAC guys were running backs. Only Santana Moss cracked the list as a receiver. The reason? Running backs with receiving skills receive the ball in open space far more frequently than WRs, and are generally better at breaking tackles and dragging tacklers than even the most physical WRs.

If you're looking for a reason why the Falcons YAC was low, look no farther than Michael Turner's hands, Jerious Norwood's injury and the limited roles of Jason Snelling and Ovie Mughelli. The acquisition of Jacquizz Rodgers may help, but only if he shows he can handle pass-protect assignments. If not, his entry into the lineup would be an instant cue to the defense.

In any case, the Julio Jones pick in no way guarantees improved YAC.

Edited June 22, 2011 by JOEinPHX