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2015 Atlanta Falcons: Understanding Athletic Fits Needed For Dan Quinn's Defense


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Very long read indeed, but it was really gratifying to see how well our guys stack up against Seattle's vaunted defense going down the line position by position. Bottom line is the new defense won't resemble anything we've ever seen here, and it will have the speed and athleticism to fully exploit all the best aspects of Quinn's scheme. We should be a major headache for Scam, Scarface and Winston this season, as well as the rest of our opponents.

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Only real thing I see wrong is it saying Grady Jarret is a nose tackle.

Grady Jarret is a one gap penetrator (3 technique), and was drafted to do so as stated by Quinn and our director of scouting. I

I tend to agree that Jarrett fits more as a 3-tech at this time. But in fairness he also could build himself up into a solid 1-tech given enough time to put on about 20+ pounds and improve his strength. That article talks about Mebane being 309lbs, but that was when he was at the combine. He currently plays at around 330lbs in order to have the mass for a NT.

I'm curious regarding the comments about Jarrett by Quinn and our director of scouting. I don't remember seeing that anywhere in the past; do you have a link or remember where you saw that?

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I tend to agree that Jarrett fits more as a 3-tech at this time. But in fairness he also could build himself up into a solid 1-tech given enough time to put on about 20+ pounds and improve his strength. That article talks about Mebane being 309lbs, but that was when he was at the combine. He currently plays at around 330lbs in order to have the mass for a NT.

I'm curious regarding the comments about Jarrett by Quinn and our director of scouting. I don't remember seeing that anywhere in the past; do you have a link or remember where you saw that?

Mebane only plays at 310. You don't have to be 350 to be a good 1-tech.

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I tend to agree that Jarrett fits more as a 3-tech at this time. But in fairness he also could build himself up into a solid 1-tech given enough time to put on about 20+ pounds and improve his strength. That article talks about Mebane being 309lbs, but that was when he was at the combine. He currently plays at around 330lbs in order to have the mass for a NT.

I'm curious regarding the comments about Jarrett by Quinn and our director of scouting. I don't remember seeing that anywhere in the past; do you have a link or remember where you saw that?

I saw the videos on the Atlanta Falcons YouTube page after the Falcons selected him.

Play at 3:13

https://youtu.be/lRSfjZ2rWJg

Scott Poili says he's a system specific 1gap player(3 technique)

https://youtu.be/sBK4wEo5bEA

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Mebane only plays at 310. You don't have to be 350 to be a good 1-tech.

Asked about Mebane’s ability to handle double-team blocks, defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said, “One of the things he has for being a big guy is his balance. So when you get two guys on you, a lot of times somebody can push on you on your hip and you get movement and you can be on the ground. So that’s one of the things that’s so remarkable for a 330-pound guy, that he’s not on the ground and he has great leverage.

http://www.seahawks.com/news/2014/11/11/seahawks-place-brandon-mebane-injured-reserve

Like I said, Mebane is 330lbs per Coach Quinn. You don't have to be 350 no, but you don't see any good 1-tech or NT in a 2-gap role that are under 320+.

Edited by RandomFan
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I saw the videos on the Atlanta Falcons YouTube page after the Falcons selected him.

Play at 3:13

https://youtu.be/lRSfjZ2rWJg

Scott Poili says he's a system specific 1gap player(3 technique)

https://youtu.be/sBK4wEo5bEA

Thanks! I'd watched both of those at the time too, but had completely forgotten about them.

Per Quinn in the first video regarding Jarrett: "He's going to play a single gap scheme with us where he can penetrate and be disruptive."

Per Pioli: "He's a very sytem specific kind of player. He's more of a 1 gap player. In this new defense, getting him upfield is really going to help."

--- That rules out the 1-tech in base defense. It looks like Jarrett will be competing with Hageman and Babs for snaps at the 3-tech in base defense, and competing with Babs and Clayborn for snaps at one of the two 3-tech DT spots in nickel packages. This confirms my earlier suspicion that Hageman, Babs, and Jarrett may in fact be competing for 2 roster spots, which would most likely put Babs on the bubble due to his age.

I still hope we can find a way to keep all 3, but somewhere among approximately 6 big DL types we are going to have to fit in a player capable of playing backup 1-tech. Keep in mind that when Seattle lost Mebane, they made it the rest of the season with an aging Kevin Williams filling that role. He's not a prototype 1-tech, but they managed well enough. T. Jackson may prove the ability to be the backup there in camp. Or a player like Mbu or Heimuli could push someone like Babs off the roster. The only returning players we have capable of playing in a 2-gap scheme are Soliai and Jackson, so we'll see how it all shakes out I guess.

EDIT - one route we could take is to go without a real backup 1-tech and have Jackson as the emergency reserve there to finish out a game; and then put someone like Mbu or Heimuli on the practice squad to be called up if Soliai is going to miss more than a game or two.

Edited by RandomFan
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Only if those numbers (which are all correlated by the way) meant anything. Comparisons of Bennet vs Goodman, Thomas vs Godfrey, Irvin vs Reed, Wagner vs Worrilow, Maxwell vs Alford, Sherman vs Trufant show that these numbers have almost no correlation with on-field production and success.

The flaw goes back to putting too much weight on measurables at the expense of more important traits such as instinct, game intelligence, film study and preparation, effort, and self-confidence. Another significant flaw is the metrics used. Those scales are not just arbitrary, but highly correlated too. Furthermore, the notion of applying the same metric to different positions is ridiculous. Why would the weight for a DB matter but the height wouldn't? Who cares about the 3-cone or 40 of a NT? Finally, workout numbers are not always a good measure of athleticism. When prospects know that millions ride on their combine performance, they learn ways and tricks to master those specific tests. So the difference between a 7.2 and 7.7 3-cone for a DT can be mostly due to their preparation and coaching for the combine rather than their raw athleticism.

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