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Falcons De Adrian Clayborn Refining Pass Rush Skills For 2015 Season


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http://espn.go.com/blog/atlanta-falcons/post/_/id/13488/falcons-adrian-clayborn-in-a-rush-for-2015-season

Falcons DE Adrian Clayborn refining pass rush skills for 2015 season

New Atlanta Falcons defensive lineman Adrian Clayborn is taking the necessary steps to help improve the team's pass rush in 2015.

Clayborn has spent time this offseason working out with former Falcons defensive end Chuck Smith, a well-respected pass rush guru who trains numerous professional and amateur athletes. Smith had 58.5 sacks in eight years with the Falcons and reached double-digit sacks in three different seasons, including his last (1999) at the age of 30.

"I've always wanted to work out with Chuck," Clayborn said. "I've heard nothing but good things about him. Being in the same city, I've got the opportunity to now. The first person who told me about him was Gerald [McCoy]. Then I asked Michael Johnson because he's worked with him. Again, nothing but good things about him."

Clayborn completed three sessions with Smith in between offseason workouts with the Falcons. FOX 5 Sports Atlanta has video of Clayborn's workout.

"Just getting off the ball better and being more violent," Clayborn said of what he's improved thus far. "It's just about being a better pass-rusher."

Whatever Clayborn learns from Smith is an added bonus to the instruction he'll get from his head coach, Dan Quinn. Remember, Quinn earned his reputation in the league for his expertise along the defensive line.

"It's just about being nasty as a pass-rusher and using different moves," Clayborn said of Quinn's philosophy. "It's been good so far."

Clayborn, who turns 27 in July, has just 13 career sacks but also has missed significant time due to injury. He had 7.5 sacks as a rookie in 2011.

Quinn tinkered with playing Clayborn, a defensive end, inside along with Jonathan Babineaux in the nickel defense during voluntary minicamp.

"I think it will be good," Babineaux said of playing alongside his fellow Iowa Hawkeye, Clayborn. "It's the first time in a long time that we've have depth on the defensive line. The competition going into camp this year is going to be off the roof. I'm just looking forward to the vet guys and the young guys competing for the same positions. Hopefully in the end, we'll put forth one of the best D-lines for the season."

The Falcons need to improve drastically. They pressured opposing quarterbacks on 22.3 percent of dropbacks last season, which ranked 29th in the NFL and worst in the NFC, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

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"I think it will be good," Babineaux said of playing alongside his fellow Iowa Hawkeye, Clayborn. "It's the first time in a long time that we've have depth on the defensive line. The competition going into camp this year is going to be off the roof. I'm just looking forward to the vet guys and the young guys competing for the same positions. Hopefully in the end, we'll put forth one of the best D-lines for the season."

That second sentence from Babineaux is interesting.

For whatever reason, I can't access the tools for quoting/bolding/etc. So, use your imaginations and believe that the line is bolded and the section is in a quote box. :-)

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"I think it will be good," Babineaux said of playing alongside his fellow Iowa Hawkeye, Clayborn. "It's the first time in a long time that we've have depth on the defensive line. The competition going into camp this year is going to be off the roof. I'm just looking forward to the vet guys and the young guys competing for the same positions. Hopefully in the end, we'll put forth one of the best D-lines for the season."

That second sentence from Babineaux is interesting.

For whatever reason, I can't access the tools for quoting/bolding/etc. So, use your imaginations and believe that the line is bolded and the section is in a quote box. :-)

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Gonna be fun this year, but i still think in pass rushing formations we should put Jarret and Clayborn. Babs should be more of a mentor right now than anything. Babs should play 15-20 snaps per game this season, so he can be fresh when he plays. Last two years he looked sluggish and tired by the end of games and specially the last 3-4 games of the season.

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Gonna be fun this year, but i still think in pass rushing formations we should put Jarret and Clayborn. Babs should be more of a mentor right now than anything. Babs should play 15-20 snaps per game this season, so he can be fresh when he plays. Last two years he looked sluggish and tired by the end of games and specially the last 3-4 games of the season.

See, thats the thing with the new infusion of talent. We can field a talented front line now and since the competition will be so fierce for starter roles, that our sub package players and backups can be inserted and still be highly effective. So guys won't be forced to do it all and get gassed.

Not to mention, our D will actually have a simplified, cohesive, easily performed methodology where guys can excel for maximum effectiveness. Unlike Nolan's schitzo-scheme

Edited by HASHBROWN3
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The guy i think ppl are truly sleeping on is Schofield.... I think with consistent snaps... He can produce 6-8 sacks

Good point. I mean we've actually done a pretty good job of re-fortifying our Dline. We have many options now at our disposal on how to attack offenses. So refreshing.

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Unless Clayborn has a monster year, I would still draft BPA DE in the 1st rd of next year's draft.

I'd rather sign Bruce Irvin and use our first rounder on BPA safety.

I think our pick next year will be a lot later in the round, and all the top-tier passrushers would be off the board, anyway. I'm hoping so, at least.

Edited by GTFalcon25
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Good point. I mean we've actually done a pretty good job of re-fortifying our Dline. We have many options now at our disposal on how to attack offenses. So refreshing.

I think besides Beasley , we dont seem to have a 10 sack a year guy but i do think we have brought in 6-8 sack type guys... Michael Bennett is one of the better DE's in the league to me and he hasnt had a 10 sack season in his career but he has been in the 7-9 sack range.

Ive heard someone say Coach Quinn takes the same approach coach nolan takes .... I disagree .. Nolan wanted to manufacture a pass rush .... Quinn likes to develop guy but his thing is sending solid rushers all game ...

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I'd rather sign Bruce Irvin and use our first rounder on BPA safety.

I think our pick next year will be a lot later in the round, and all the top-tier passrushers would be off the board, anyway. I'm hoping so, at least.

I wouldn't mind that at all.

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I think the positioning of our DL and personnel packages in a 4-3 Under is going to play a huge role this year vs last. The 3-4 Over, which Nolan ran as a base, was just horrible. It was so obvious our players weren't designed for that formation that I'm still baffled why he didn't change it up at all at any point in the season.

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I think besides Beasley , we dont seem to have a 10 sack a year guy but i do think we have brought in 6-8 sack type guys... Michael Bennett is one of the better DE's in the league to me and he hasnt had a 10 sack season in his career but he has been in the 7-9 sack range.

Ive heard someone say Coach Quinn takes the same approach coach nolan takes .... I disagree .. Nolan wanted to manufacture a pass rush .... Quinn likes to develop guy but his thing is sending solid rushers all game ...

Yep, he believes in affecting the QB all game long. I love this. He will develop and insert guys to utilize and play to their strengths. I'm telling you right now, we're capable of inserting fresh meat and bringing full tilt heat all game long.

We'll have eager, hungry men who won't be all fogged up wondering what their assignment is. Jarrett & Solai, Hags, Scho, Beaz, Clayborne, a revamped LBer corps with a new LBer coach. And a few potential stud CB's who, if they figure things out quickly will add to our pass rush and also benefit from increased pass rush.

I think we're on our way to earning back some respect around the league. All this in one offseason/draft.

Edited by HASHBROWN3
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Seems like there's a new story about Clayborn working on his passrushing every week. Going to be disappointing if he doesn't blow up.

What has Hageman been doing. I know he's hungrier. He dropped some weight and I bet he's been doing some training to improve his techniques...

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The guy i think ppl are truly sleeping on is Schofield.... I think with consistent snaps... He can produce 6-8 sacks

Also a great point. It seems like everybody has kinda forgotten about him. This is all a result of how good a job the team has done injecting depth and competition into the roster. Heck even just a year ago had we signed somebody like Schofield the boards would've been praying to the football gods hoping he would be the savior of the franchise regarding the pass rush. Now we have a true concerted effort to add as many playmakers as possible. So so so refreshing.
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