Means activated; Bucannon released

[rugger8 1,438]

4 minutes ago, SoCalFalconFan said:

He’s healthy until he isn’t. He’s had a solid recovery. The decision to roll with a mostly healthy KeKe is a no brainer, in my opinion. 

Ok, but it's not an either/or situation between him and Bucannon. I really thought Deon would be -at worst- great depth/solid contributor. Of course, I didn't watch camp, and there was no preseason to go on, so I'll just shrug it off and assume it's for the best.

[SoCalFalconFan 1,615]

1 minute ago, rugger8 said:

Ok, but it's not an either/or situation between him and Bucannon. I really thought Deon would be -at worst- great depth/solid contributor. Of course, I didn't watch camp, and there was no preseason to go on, so I'll just shrug it off and assume it's for the best.

I’m bummed about Bucannon too. I agree with your thoughts on him. Means brings more to the table, I guess. At least, that must be what the coaching staff thinks. 🤷🏼

[MSalmon 10,891]

50 minutes ago, Ergo Proxy said:

Probably more of the reason and us being committed to less and less "3 LB" sets; basically counting either DFJ or Takk as similar to a 3-4 OLB essentially. There's your "3rd LB" in "base" look.

After all, the 3-4/5-2 front 7 look last year was not the main issue with the defense. Coaching it and the coverage call out of any particular formation or defensive play call was.

EDIT: Big Nickel is different though, we won't run both Tyeler and Bailey out there but the idea is similar. You can still blitz one side and drop into a zone. 4 DL in the Big Nickel being the difference compared to the front last year.

This, or Mychal Walker and Hawkins showed out big time at LB and SS

[Francis York Morgan 24,719]

I guess I didn't hear anything about him in TC...maybe he just is THAT far off from what he used to be. If he can't beat Reynolds for the spot, that's saying a lot.

[jdawg4876 7,234]

57 minutes ago, stizz said:

We are scary thin at linebacker and have 11 dlinemen. I don't know what the infatuation is with Means.

I know dont worry its a spacing game lol. We have 1 real lb

[jdawg4876 7,234]

47 minutes ago, vel said:

Debo, Foye, Walker, Reynolds with Neal being a quasi LB. Don't think we're anymore thin than the rest of the NFL. 

Renyolds is a special team ace not a great lb. Walker is a rook and will struggle. I hope Neal comes back but he suffered two huge injuries two years in a row and I'm not counting them chickens. We have one real linebacker and a bunch of unknowns. 

[jdawg4876 7,234]

35 minutes ago, stizz said:

We have four pure linebackers. I won't count Neal until he can prove healthy. The rest of our division has a minimum of 6. That is a recipe for disaster if Debo or Foye go down and we have to ask career ST journeyman Laroy Reynolds to take snaps.

Foye is avg, I have no problem with him starting but he's just a contributor. there people out there acting like he's in the same category of a Deion Jones and its laughable

[gHost83 1,109]

I feel a signing incoming. Clay Matthews anyone?

[vel 32,037]

25 minutes ago, stizz said:

We have four pure linebackers. I won't count Neal until he can prove healthy. The rest of our division has a minimum of 6. That is a recipe for disaster if Debo or Foye go down and we have to ask career ST journeyman Laroy Reynolds to take snaps.

The Panthers only have one good LB (Thompson), a journeyman vet (Whitehead), and four guys with a combined 32 tackles last year. 

The Bucs run a 3-4 and only have four off ball LBs. Their backup LBs have a combined 21 tackles from last year. 

Saints have two good LBs. Then a solid vet in Robertson, then a bunch of no names. Sounds like Atlanta...

It just amazes me how yall can be so critical of the Falcons, yet so loose with other teams. 

[Vandy 38,984]

1 hour ago, Goober Pyle said:

Makes you think that with Neal being healthy and playing in the box more, we didn't need Bucannon as much. 

This.

Very surprised they released Bucannon. I guess injuries have really taken a toll on his speed.

Pretty obvious we’ll be running a lot more 3-safety sets with Neal in the box this upcoming season.

https://www.thefalcoholic.com/2020/9/8/21426597/falcons-defensive-alignment-breakdown-dan-quinn-damontae-kazee-ricardo-allen-keanu-neal

[vel 32,037]

7 minutes ago, jdawg4876 said:

Renyolds is a special team ace not a great lb. Walker is a rook and will struggle. I hope Neal comes back but he suffered two huge injuries two years in a row and I'm not counting them chickens. We have one real linebacker and a bunch of unknowns. 

Yet stizz wants to point to the Panthers as a better situation? 

Thompson is good. Whitehead is worse than Oluokon. Chinn is a safety convert as a rookie. The rest of them suck. But because they have more players, it's "better depth"? 

Most teams wish they had one Debo and a Foye next to him. League wide, having 1-2 good LBs is the norm. Don't know why the Falcons are treated as some poor situation. 

[jdawg4876 7,234]

3 minutes ago, vel said:

The Panthers only have one good LB (Thompson), a journeyman vet (Whitehead), and four guys with a combined 32 tackles last year. 

The Bucs run a 3-4 and only have four off ball LBs. Their backup LBs have a combined 21 tackles from last year. 

Saints have two good LBs. Then a solid vet in Robertson, then a bunch of no names. Sounds like Atlanta...

It just amazes me how yall can be so critical of the Falcons, yet so loose with other teams. 

Personally I think the depth chart shows they know they have a problem. that's why it shows they are starting 3 safeties they know they're thin at linebacker there's just not much talent there let's just call a spade a spade. Foye is meh and Walker might end up being a great linebacker in fact I think he very well could be. Just not in a rookie year, at least not till late in the year but by then it might be too late

[vel 32,037]

5 minutes ago, vel said:

The Panthers only have one good LB (Thompson), a journeyman vet (Whitehead), and four guys with a combined 32 tackles last year. 

The Bucs run a 3-4 and only have four off ball LBs. Their backup LBs have a combined 21 tackles from last year. 

Saints have two good LBs. Then a solid vet in Robertson, then a bunch of no names. Sounds like Atlanta...

It just amazes me how yall can be so critical of the Falcons, yet so loose with other teams. 

Correction: Alex Anzalone is even worse than Oluokon per PFF. So the Saints have one good LB and a player who is mediocre and only played one full season. Gave him WAY too much credit. 

[jdawg4876 7,234]

2 minutes ago, vel said:

Yet stizz wants to point to the Panthers as a better situation? 

Thompson is good. Whitehead is worse than Oluokon. Chinn is a safety convert as a rookie. The rest of them suck. But because they have more players, it's "better depth"? 

Most teams wish they had one Debo and a Foye next to him. League wide, having 1-2 good LBs is the norm. Don't know why the Falcons are treated as some poor situation. 

I disagree with foye and Whitehead they are about the same and id take whitehead over ye in the short term. I don't know what it is with this message boards infatuation with him he is a new Paul worrilow to me and that's just me being real. Dude is okay at best

[vel 32,037]

Just now, jdawg4876 said:

Personally I think the depth chart shows they know they have a problem. that's why it shows they are starting 3 safeties they know they're thin at linebacker there's just not much talent there let's just call a spade a spade. Foye is meh and Walker might end up being a great linebacker in fact I think he very well could be. Just not in a rookie year, at least not till late in the year but by then it might be too late

No, I think them going 3 safety shows they have more talent there. They tried to get Kazee on the field by making him a nickel last year. Instead, they're just leaving him as a safety. 

I'm not defending the "depth" per se, but challenging this myth that the Falcons are much thinner than any other team. They run a 2 LB defense over 70% of the time. Why rack up a bunch of LBs just to have numbers if they can play more safeties? Even the 4-3 Under fundamentally only runs two traditional LBs, with the Sam being a quasi rusher. 

Yes, Foye is mid. Walker is a rookie. Reynolds is a ST. But if you use the same critical eye, you'd clearly see the Falcons LB situation is arguably second in the NFC South. Not some dire situation. 

[Romfal 11,504]

1 hour ago, Drvillain said:

I was looking forward to seeing how Bucannon fit... Im a little disappointed

he will fit on the last spot on the Practice Squad for now

[vel 32,037]

1 minute ago, jdawg4876 said:

I disagree with foye and Whitehead they are about the same and id take whitehead over ye in the short term. I don't know what it is with this message boards infatuation with him he is a new Paul worrilow to me and that's just me being real. Dude is okay at best

Whitehead is literally terrible. You're taking him off of name recognition. 

Yall have got to watch more than just the Falcons. Nobody would take Whitehead with a straight face. 

[jdawg4876 7,234]

2 minutes ago, vel said:

No, I think them going 3 safety shows they have more talent there. They tried to get Kazee on the field by making him a nickel last year. Instead, they're just leaving him as a safety. 

I'm not defending the "depth" per se, but challenging this myth that the Falcons are much thinner than any other team. They run a 2 LB defense over 70% of the time. Why rack up a bunch of LBs just to have numbers if they can play more safeties? Even the 4-3 Under fundamentally only runs two traditional LBs, with the Sam being a quasi rusher. 

Yes, Foye is mid. Walker is a rookie. Reynolds is a ST. But if you use the same critical eye, you'd clearly see the Falcons LB situation is arguably second in the NFC South. Not some dire situation. 

Kazee is a boom-or-bust player what that means is he goes for the ball, which I actually appreciate just like Asante Samuel was back in the day, but if he's a single high safety we're going to have an issue. Our safety depth is a lot better than or lb group for sure. Neasome is a decent 4th option.

[vel 32,037]

This per PFF:

Quote

7. ATLANTA FALCONS

Over the past three years, Deion Jones is tied for the lead among linebackers with a 92.2 coverage grade, and we’ve seen how important he is to Atlanta’s defense when he’s missed time due to injury. Jones was incredible in 2017, finishing with a 91.7 coverage grade while consistently making plays on the ball in crunch time. In his four-year career, Jones has 24 pass breakups and 10 interceptions, though he has graded in the 60.0s in the run game in his three full seasons. Jones’ ability to patrol the middle of the field is one of the catalysts for the Falcons’ defense.

Next to him is 2018 sixth-rounder Foyesade Oluokun, who has graded in the 60.0s in each of his two NFL seasons. Oluokun is another undersized, athletic linebacker who ran a 4.48-second 40-yard dash and wipes out underneath routes in zone coverage. Deone Bucannon is also in the mix, though he has graded above 70.0 just once in his six-year career — and that was back in 2015. The former safety is on to his fourth team, and while he should add coverage versatility, it hasn’t shown up in the form of production since 2016.

The Falcons also drafted Mykal Walker out of Fresno State in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Walker was more of an edge/linebacker ‘tweener with the Bulldogs. If Oluokun holds up for the entire season, his pairing with Jones should help move the Falcons forward as a defense after a rough 2019.

Yet you're taking:

Quote

Tahir Whitehead takes the first crack at replacing Kuechly after two years in Oakland in which he graded in the 50s. Whitehead hasn’t posted a coverage grade above 60.0 since 2015, though he has graded well in the run game in two of the last three years.

 

[vel 32,037]

Falcons ranked 7th. The Panthers ranked 26th. But because they have at least 6 LBs on the roster, they have depth. I'll pass. 

[Run 'n' Shoot 605]

Neal > whatever other LB you were thinking of playing in the box.

Unless we are talking about an obvious, heavy run situation; playing the safeties together puts the most talent on the field. 

It also may be the best way to go in today's pass happy NFL.

[Ergo Proxy 25,513]

30 minutes ago, Francis York Morgan said:

I guess I didn't hear anything about him in TC...maybe he just is THAT far off from what he used to be. If he can't beat Reynolds for the spot, that's saying a lot.

Yea, is he really not good enough as a STs guy and not good enough to warrant defensive snaps?

[jdawg4876 7,234]

12 minutes ago, vel said:

No, I think them going 3 safety shows they have more talent there. They tried to get Kazee on the field by making him a nickel last year. Instead, they're just leaving him as a safety. 

I'm not defending the "depth" per se, but challenging this myth that the Falcons are much thinner than any other team. They run a 2 LB defense over 70% of the time. Why rack up a bunch of LBs just to have numbers if they can play more safeties? Even the 4-3 Under fundamentally only runs two traditional LBs, with the Sam being a quasi rusher. 

Yes, Foye is mid. Walker is a rookie. Reynolds is a ST. But if you use the same critical eye, you'd clearly see the Falcons LB situation is arguably second in the NFC South. Not some dire situation. 

to me you are comparing apples and oranges. I'm looking to who we have to defend in the division, Howard, Gronk, alvin, McCaffrey all of them can go over the middle or the flat and catch passes and burn our linebackers that are not named Deion Jones and possibly Neal now  now too after two injuries and I feel like that's exactly what's going to happen. or they are going to  Rush up the middle, cuz the d-line is still basically the same that allowed All Those runs at the beginning of last year

[jdawg4876 7,234]

6 minutes ago, vel said:

This per PFF:

Yet you're taking:

 

I don't love PFF like some of y'all and that's nothing new I said it for years and I'm not saying foye is horrible. I just don't think he's nothing but a contributor, yes Deion Jones is the man if he goes down we're in serious trouble in our division. quarterbacks will take three step drop shoot the ball 5 yards over the middle and then the running backs and tight ends will pick up another 8 to 15 yards a clip, much like the second half of the 2012 season

[Ergo Proxy 25,513]

31 minutes ago, jdawg4876 said:

Renyolds is a special team ace not a great lb. Walker is a rook and will struggle. I hope Neal comes back but he suffered two huge injuries two years in a row and I'm not counting them chickens. We have one real linebacker and a bunch of unknowns. 

I think Walker will surprise many this year. He isn’t known for coverage but vs the run or if asked to rush the QB? I think he can at least replace what Vondre was for us and perhaps actually be more consistent.

I think you are totally missing the point on how little LB #3 in the traditional “3 LB base” defense plays.