Tim Mazetti Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 How the Falcons have built their offense by position from 2015-2018 There have been notable trends that will likely hold up again this year. By Dave Choate Jun 24, 2019, 12:00pm EDT Dan Quinn has not been overly involved in the offense since arriving in Atlanta, and yet the offenses he’s presided over have tended to be built in a particular way, at least when it comes to the number of players at key positions. The Falcons of this particular era have sported some good-to-great offenses, and they’ve typically done it on the back of a robust corps of receivers, a tight but multi-functional group of tight ends, and a nice 1-2-3 punch at running back. The offensive lines have been a real mixed bag over that time, but the Falcons have tended to roll four deep with reserves. Let’s take a look at how the initial 53 man roster has tended to break down on offense. You’ll notice the trends I mention above hold up quite well. Falcons Offense Building 2015-2018 Year QBs RBs FBs WRs TEs OTs OGs OCs 2015 2 3 1 7 2 4 3 2 2016 2 3 1 6 4 3 5 1 2017 2 4 1 6 3 4 4 1 2018 2 3 1 6 3 4 4 1 The Falcons have had two quarterbacks, one fullback, and at least six wide receivers every season under Quinn, even though they’ve had two offensive coordinators. It’s fair to assume they’ll do much the same this year, because they never keep three QBs, they’ll have at least a nominal fullback in Luke Stocker, and they have five established wide receivers and interesting rookie Marcus Green to work with. From there things have fluctuated a bit more, but the team has always held on to nine offensive linemen regardless of the exact configuration, and aside from 2015 they’ve always carried three tight ends. The twist here is that Dirk Koetter is now in charge of the offense, and he is not necessarily going to have the same philosophy as Kyle Shanahan and Steve Sarkisian. The biggest change in my eyes is likely to be a possible reduction in the number of wide receivers and certainly at fullback in favor of tight end and running back, but things should still shake out pretty close to this when all is said and done. Koetter kept four tight ends, four running backs and no fullbacks in 2018 with the Bucs, though he did hold on to six receivers. In light of that the trends above and our expectations for Koetter, here’s an early crack at projecting who will make the initial 53 man on offense. This would give the Falcons 25 guys on that side of the ball, which would leave them room for 25 on defense as well. QB: Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub RB: Devonta Freeman, Ito Smith, Qadree Ollison, Kenjon Barner WR: Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Calvin Ridley, Justin Hardy, Russell Gage, Marcus Green TE: Austin Hooper, Luke Stocker, Eric Saubert, Logan Paulsen OT: Jake Matthews, Kaleb McGary, Ty Sambrailo, Matt Gono OG: Chris Lindstrom, James Carpenter, Jamon Brown, Wes Schweitzer OC: Alex Mack Emphasis mine. There were no worthy RBs at TB in 2018. gazoo, Drew4719 and Tribal Chief 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Williamb Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 (edited) Ortiz is probably the odd man out. 4 rb, 4 te. Edited June 25, 2019 by Williamb Fixed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Williamb Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 (edited) May use ollison at FBI some. Where does that leave hill? On someone else's team? Edited June 25, 2019 by Williamb Autocorrect snafu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mazetti Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 One of the TEs will be a FB/HB, multidimensional attacking O.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 I still don't see how Barner makes the team. Tim Mazetti 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcky_mtn_falcon Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 14 hours ago, Jesus said: I still don't see how Barner makes the team. I don't think he does, I think Ollison and Hill both make it because they can also play some fullback in addition to Stocker. I think if they swap out Hill for Barner this list is pretty close. Although based on reports, they might have to find a way to keep Benkert on the roster this year. We'll see at the end of preseason. Tim Mazetti and Jesus 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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