Fixing The Falcons (Andysg Mock Offseason V2.0)

[AndySG]

I think that one of our biggest weaknesses is our lack of athleticism and toughness in certain areas of the field, which gets exploited far too often. There's definite potential with the team and, unlike others, I think that it can be fixed in one offseason. I see no reason that we can't be a playoff team next year and, with this offseason, I believe that we would be playing in January in 2017.

I'm not a cap expert, so I haven't guessed at contracts, but I'm pretty sure that all of these moves would be possible.

Release

• Matt Bryant
• William Moore
• Devin Hester
• Paul Soliai
• Justin Durant
• Roddy White

Resign

• Ryan Schraeder
• Shayne Graham
• Adrian Clayborn
• Philip Wheeler
• O'Brien Schofield
• Nate Stupar
• Jake Long

Free Agency

Jacquies Smith (DE)

He's really come into his own as a player for the Bucs this season. I would love Vernon, but he's going to be expensive.

Smith is far more than just a complementary piece and shows flashes of dominance. He got 7 sacks this year and that's by no means his limit. Smith and Vernon sit above Curry for me in a tier of their own.

Tahir Whitehead (MLB)

I didn't really know anything about him until a poster here brought him up in one of his mocks. Can't remember who it was, so I apologise, but I've looked into him and he looks as if he's just what we need. He is versatile, but he said that he sees himself in the middle going forward and wants to be

starting. A good coverage linebacker, Whitehead would fill a major need.

Ben Jones ©

Everything out of the Texans' camp is talking about how hard working he is. Texans have been a mess at QB with four different starters and he's apparently put in the hours with each of them to improve their chemistry. Houston still use a lot of zone blocking and he's a tough guy, having played through a couple of niggling injuries this season. Person needs to be upgraded and I think bringing in Jones will mean that we don't have to worry about the position.

Jeff Allen (G)

Another player with experience in a similar system. Andy Reid has praised what a difference he has made when he has been in the lineup, but Kansas City tend to be happy to let their offensive linemen hit free agency.

Mohamed Sanu (WR)

Cinci have both Sanu and Jones with contracts expiring this year. With Green and Eifert among the premier players at their positions, I’m not sure that they renew both of them. Jones is the better player, so I’m assuming that they keep him. Sanu’s not an elite receiver, but he’s better than White at this point in time and gives Ryan another weapon on the outside. A solid #2 for #2.

Draft

Round One: Robert Nkemdiche (DT)

There are a couple of teams that I would love to emulate on defense - Seattle and Carolina are at the top of that list. The DE on the Panthers who has the most sacks is Mario Addison with 6. Cliff Avril has 9 for Seattle, which is more than I thought, but both teams generate most of their pressure from the inside. Looking around the league, Atkins, Donald, Short, Bennett, Watt... those teams with dominant

defensive players inside (and I know that Bennett and Watt play outside too) are able to bully teams and it's so much more difficult to eliminate them with a gameplan. You can send your plays to the other side if a team has a dominant right end, but you can't really avoid the middle of the field. I watched his games against Alabama and Mississippi State. At times he can be frustrating to watch, as he doesn't always show the intensity, but when he does it doesn't matter if he's being double-teamed because he's going to make the play, force the pressure and make the QB uncomfortable. He was a

consensus top 5 pick prior to his stupidity (and I think that it IS stupidity, rather than any real issues). If you can get that value and game-wrecking ability at 17 then I think that you take it.

Round Two: Jeremy Cash (S)

He's aggressive and he's physical. Cash plays almost exclusively near the line, so it's difficult to really judge how he is in coverage, but if you watch any Duke games you can see that he's the nearest guy to the ball almost every play and spends more time in the backfield than the opposition running backs. He works hard and is an intelligent guy, who apparently spends time studying opponents. You can never have too many of those guys. I think that he's an immediate upgrade on Moore, even if WillyMo is healthy, and would fit perfectly in Quinn's system, diagnosing plays and attacking the guy with the ball. He's at the perfect size to be able to emulate Chancellor and Bucannon as that hard-

hitting hybrid linebacker/safety.

Round Three: Bryce Williams (TE)

I really wasn't high on the Tight End class, but somebody mentioned Bryce Williams so I thought that I would watch a couple of games of his. He's not the most polished of blockers (neither was Gonzalez), but he has very soft hands and, despite playing with a terrible QB, he impressed me. Athletic for the

position, as you can see watching him. He skipped around a couple of players with the ball in his hands and could be used as that "safety blanket" that Matt has missed since Tony retired. He runs nice routes and can catch well in traffic.

Round Four: Yannick Ngakoue (DE)

He struggles in the run game, but that isn't what interests me. I don't want him on the field for obvious run plays. Watch his game against Iowa from last year and watch what he does in the passing game. He's getting constant pressure on the QB and abusing the LT. Why is that significant? Iowa aren't a powerhouse, but the LT in question was Brandon Scherff, who was the number 5 overall pick in last year's draft. There's raw talent here and if you allow him to rush the passer then he is slippery and will cause pressures and get sacks and a situational pass rusher with the kind of upside that he has

is fantastic value in the fourth round. He can learn the nuances of the game when he's on an NFL roster and I trust Quinn to be able to develop him. I'm not concerned with what mid and late-round picks are like when they are at their worst. We have had enough "low floor" players. Give me the guy who, at his best, can be dominant.

Round Seven: Terrance Smith (OLB)

Incredibly athletic (notice a theme?) player, who I actually prefer against the pass to against the run. He's fluid and is great in pursuit. He needs to get a bit smarter when the ball carrier suddenly changes direction and he could do with getting a bit stronger, but he would be a perfect guy to come into the rotation at one of the OLB positions and learn his trade. You're not going to get the finished article in the 7th round and I'm more confident that he can learn a few fundamentals and take the next step than I am of getting a guy who is solid technically and trying to get him to keep up with the speed of an NFL game.

[Halsey.]

So in this scenario the WR corps would be Jones, Sanu(33 rec, 394 yards, 0 TDs in 2015), Hardy, Williams, and who? An UDFA or two? Seems like the Falcons would be throwing it to Jones 1,000 times again next season, assuming he stays healthy the whole year.

[brown bomber]

I like T. Smith but he weighed in today at 219 lbs

[AndySG]

So in this scenario the WR corps would be Jones, Sanu(33 rec, 394 yards, 0 TDs in 2015), Hardy, Williams, and who? An UDFA or two? Seems like the Falcons would be throwing it to Jones 1,000 times again next season, assuming he stays healthy the whole year.

Hardy barely played until the last few games of the year. Sanu would take Roddy's targets and hopefully the TE would get more involved. Julio and Devonta would still be getting a lot of work, but I don't think that is because of a lack of options. Shanahan just likes having a #1 WR and a 3 down feature back.

[AndySG]

I like T. Smith but he weighed in today at 219 lbs

That's concerning, having seen how Beasley looked light this year. I don't think it's a complete game changer, as I didn't expect him to be big and he never really won with strength, but he's not one of those guys who looks as if he could add a load of weight.

[datchrisb1]

So in this scenario the WR corps would be Jones, Sanu(33 rec, 394 yards, 0 TDs in 2015), Hardy, Williams, and who? An UDFA or two? Seems like the Falcons would be throwing it to Jones 1,000 times again next season, assuming he stays healthy the whole year.

I wouldn't say that, Sanu is legit man. We have the arguably best wide out in the league, its not like we need to spend big money there. Where the big money needs to go is the D line and O line, preferably the O line and draft D line.

[datchrisb1]

So in this scenario the WR corps would be Jones, Sanu(33 rec, 394 yards, 0 TDs in 2015), Hardy, Williams, and who? An UDFA or two? Seems like the Falcons would be throwing it to Jones 1,000 times again next season, assuming he stays healthy the whole year.

Hardy barely played until the last few games of the year. Sanu would take Roddy's targets and hopefully the TE would get more involved. Julio and Devonta would still be getting a lot of work, but I don't think that is because of a lack of options. Shanahan just likes having a #1 WR and a 3 down feature back.

And I've said this all year and D led proved it with his interview of Julio when the season was done. We don't really know what we have in our wide outs, you can tell just by how the offense flowed as a whole! Roddy didn't learn the play book until the last quarter of the season, per Julio's statement, that's why his targets were so down. Even Matt Ryan struggled with the Shanahans' scheme. We don't need big money at wideout, retain Roddy, pick up some low costing vets and we are good next year. We would be good with his pick of Sanu and cutting Roddy really. Once they all had the play book down they played better, you could tell. But, if you think taking a bigger chunk of our cap to spend on a wide out when we already have over 200 mill in just Julio and Ryan will improve our team your wrong IMO. Spending high on that "number 2" wide out will effect us in adding to more important positions on the team.

WE WIN THE GAME IN THE TRENCHES MAN!

[Halsey.]

Hardy barely played until the last few games of the year. Sanu would take Roddy's targets and hopefully the TE would get more involved. Julio and Devonta would still be getting a lot of work, but I don't think that is because of a lack of options. Shanahan just likes having a #1 WR and a 3 down feature back.

I've seen people saying that Shanahan like having a #1, but I've checked his past teams, and there are at least two years in which multiple WRs are catching a lot of passes. 2014 Browns had 3 WRs with 70+ catches. The Falcons need more talent in their pass catching ranks. Going cheap wih pass catchers in a passing heavy league isn't going to cut it.

[Simicager]

there is a lot of things i like in this mock, one is the signings of whitehead and jones, and the pick of nkemdiche and Cash. but i think we need offensive weapons for this offense to be successful, and i am not a fan of Sanu at all, but would like his teammate Marvin Jones a lot better

[GleasonForever!]

Who plays NT???

[Sobeit]

I like Whitehead and had him in a mock. He would be worth trying on the inside. I have been wondering more lately if maybe PW would fit better on the outside. He is very athletic but is a see them get them type. I think he may do better at another position.

I like the Bryce Williams selection as well. I think people are kind of sleeping on him being from ECU but he certainly has some traits I like.

Overall I kind of like it in that you hit all the main needs and I dont think you reached for anyone, and I dont think you would grossly over pay for any of those FAs.

[datchrisb1]

I've seen people saying that Shanahan like having a #1, but I've checked his past teams, and there are at least two years in which multiple WRs are catching a lot of passes. 2014 Browns had 3 WRs with 70+ catches. The Falcons need more talent in their pass catching ranks. Going cheap wih pass catchers in a passing heavy league isn't going to cut it.

there is a lot of things i like in this mock, one is the signings of whitehead and jones, and the pick of nkemdiche and Cash. but i think we need offensive weapons for this offense to be successful, and i am not a fan of Sanu at all, but would like his teammate Marvin Jones a lot better

Why the heck do we NEED more offensive weapons? We move the ball no problem our offense is top 10, Ryan through for 4000 yards again. We can't score in the red zone. We can't score in the red zone because we can't physically dominate in the trenches mainly at the entire O line. Another offensive weapon a skill position guy is a luxury item not a need.

[Sobeit]

Why the heck do we NEED more offensive weapons? We move the ball no problem our offense is top 10, Ryan through for 4000 yards again. We can't score in the red zone. We can't score in the red zone because we can't physically dominate in the trenches mainly at the entire O line. Another offensive weapon a skill position guy is a luxury item not a need.

TE is another reason we do not do well in the red zone. Inside the 20 we should be using the 22 set a lot to create mismatches and for a more power running game. We also need TEs that can be weapons and challenge defenses in the pass game out of that set as well. So TE is a need as it does help in the trenches especially in this offense.

[AndySG]

I've seen people saying that Shanahan like having a #1, but I've checked his past teams, and there are at least two years in which multiple WRs are catching a lot of passes. 2014 Browns had 3 WRs with 70+ catches. The Falcons need more talent in their pass catching ranks. Going cheap wih pass catchers in a passing heavy league isn't going to cut it.

That's because all of their pass catchers were terrible. Andre Johnson, Pierre Garçon and now Julio all got heavy use.

[Halsey.]

The Texans spent 1st and 2nd round picks on Devier Posey and DeAndre Hopkins trying to get Johnson more help. Garcon only caught a high number of passes one year in Washington. Shanahan was gone after that season.

[AndySG]

But Shanahan is still here and will continue to run his system, so what happened after he left doesn't really matter.

[Abeasley27]

@andy what would we have to give up to obtain jaquies smith? He's listed as a rfa.

[AndySG]

Ah. I apologise. I didn't realise that. Complete oversight on my behalf. In that case, scratch that signing. If Bucs put a tender on him then it will probably be high.