Little over Half way

  Good morning Falcon fans, its me your friendly neighborhood Flacons blogger. It's been few months since I have posted anything about our beloved team. Life has a way of doing that to you, between side work and the birth of my first child just haven't had much time or energy.
        With that being said I finally feel like my brain is settled down enough to post again and man do i have a bunch to write about. Where to start where..to..start, well I guess I could start with how amazing the offense is clicking i mean just check the stats at any of your favorite analytics site the Falcons are number 1 or 2 in almost every category. With MR2 playing at a MVP level , Julio Jones going off every other week and the combination of Coleman/Freeman being the best backfield in the league it's hard not to be excited. This offense in a lot of ways this group is reminding me of 2012 team. For opposing teams it's almost impossible to shut the down completely, it's truly a pick your poison attack once again.
      What I would like to take some time to highlight today is the defense. Are they play at a high level? Simple answer is no, but they are showing flashes and that's what has me excited. Keep in mind the team is playing 3 rookies at key areas. Strong safety, middle linebacker, and weakside linebacker. They're playing a two year man at strong side linebacker, free safety, and nose tackle. What I am getting at is the D is young and don't have much game time under their belt but there making plays and playing fast and that awesome. This year so far Vic Beasley has 7.5 sacks which is almost double what he had last year. He is at times lining up wider than he did last year, which allows him to use his speed to his advantage. Grady Jarrett is pushing the middle of the pocket making it hard for QB's to step up which is allowing beasley and Clayborn a chance to get to them. On a whole we are starting to see the kind of team DQ wants and it's got me giddy like a kid at Christmas. Lets hope they can keeping trending in the right direction and as always falcon fans #riseup.
     
     
   

Coaching Scheme vs. Coaching Flexibility

         Good evening Falcon fans, today I wanted to talk about coaching scheme vs coaching flexibility.  Which ones is more important? I am not sure there is a correct answer to this question,  it all depends on the coaches and the players on the team. Me personally I feel like the coaches should be the flexible ones in the bunch. Players only have the skill they have, you can't make a defensive tackle a defensive end just because you want him to be. Mike Nolan and Mike Smith found this fact out in 2013 and 2014.
       The perfect example of a flexible coaching staff is the New England Patriots. Bill Belch is a master of putting his guys in the best position to succeed according to the talent and skill level of the player. Belichick will switch his scheme week to week depending on who he has available and even on who his opponents are. One week he will come out with two tight end sets as the offensive focus. Then the following week as you are preparing for the two tight end sets, Belichick is preparing a power run game that is going to run you over.
        Some of the worst examples are just about every other coach in the league. Most coaches do a good job of bring in players that match and work well in the scheme that they coach. Those coaches know their scheme so well that they can look at a player in college or a free agent and see how that player may fit with their team. This is a tried and true method in the NFL that most teams live and die by. The problem with this method is when the coach wares out there welcome and moves on the players who are talented are left in limbo. The new coach my want to go in a different that doesn't fit the player's skill set. So most people will tell it's up to the player to adjust to the coaching staff but I don't really feel that way.
        If a player is expected to be the best at his job, shouldn't the coach be the best at his? What I  mean is, if you have a smaller running back who excels at one cut and go you wouldn't ask him to run it up the middle every time. You would run mostly zone blocking schemes hoping to open up holes for the back to cut to. Same thing with a QB, if you have a mobile type QB you asking for trouble by wanting him to be a pocket passer. Just ask Cleveland and Robert Griffin, by asking him to stand in the pocket read a defense and make a throw you are taking away his natural instinct that made him the player he was at Baylor. The reverse opposite can be true as well just ask our OC and Matt Ryan. Matt Ryan is a pocket passer who is best suited for timing route throws and play action passes. By asking him to roll out and turn his back to the line you are asking to do things he is not used or best suited for. So in these situations who needs to adapt the athletes or the coaches?
        If the coach can adapt then you can have a situation like New England. New England can consistently take players in later rounds of the draft that no one ones, no one cares about and turn them into pro bowlers. I could take the low hanging fruit and tell you about 6th round pick in Tom Brady but most people knows that story. The one thing no one talks about is the fact that the Patriots pass on him for 5 rounds before taking him. That tells me they didn't really know what they had until they got him in the building. When tell got him in there they began to learn Tom Brady learned what made him tick. So when they did put him in they had a good idea what his strengths and weaknesses were and played to them. I will tell that if Mr. Brady had went to a different team with a close minded coach we probably would not know who he was.

       As far as our Falcons are concerned I think we have two bright minded coaches in Dan Quinn and Kyle Shanahan. I just feel like we have two scheme locked coaches. ON the defensive side I think we are only going to get better as we bring in and develop guys who work well in Dan Quinn's 4-3 under scheme. He is already showing some ability to put guys in place to succeed such as switching Ricardo Allen from corner to free safety, also moving Vic Beasley to OLB/DE. As far as Kyle goes the jury is still out. Last year didn't to go well for the offense after about week five, when there was enough tape out there for opposing defense to guess what we were doing. Now I don't where the break down really came from, there are too many variables to really point fingers. That was also the time when Hankerson started to get hurt taking away our number 2 wideout. Roddy White just wasn't the same guy as he had been in the past so that just left Julio Jones and Freeman to really carry the load. You add that to a scheme that Ryan is not well suited for and you got last results. The hope is that this year Ryan will have made the adjustments necessary from him to work in this system because I am not sure Shanahan is willing to adjust on his end. At the end of the day adjustments have to be made its just a matter of who can and is willing to make them. As always Falcon fans keep you head up, eyes on the prize , and RISEUP   

Earlier last week I got a mention on /http://www.profootballrumors.com/ this site is a really great place to get all your NFL news and updates with out much fuss or chest beating I highly recommend you check them out

      
      

Falcon Defensive Outlook

        Hello again Falcon fans, I am back after a short time off. Today I will be taking a look at the Falcon 4-3 under defense, how does it stack up with the free agents and draftees that the teams has brought aboard so far.  I have already done a small break down on both the draftees and free agents so I won't be going into the individual players. More of how they fit and how they may fare on our team.

4-3 Under defense is a hybrid defensive formation that lines up with 4 down linemen and 3 linebackers. The four down linemen are more like 3-4 with and extra rush linebacker as a defensive end. What I am trying to say is the down linemen are more akin to what you would find in a 3-4 team, with a nose tackle and 3 tech defensive ends playing tackle slash ends. Where it gets different is the LEO position, that is a tweener kinda player normally to light to be much help against the run, but fast man that dude needs to be fast. I know what you're thinking, "right on that's why we drafted Vic Beasley" and your right...kinda. See Vic Beasley is exactly what you're looking for in a LEO rusher, that's why we are moving him to SAM linebacker but more on that a little later. For now we are going to focus on the front four.

From left to right
LEO: Starter-Reed/Upshaw     Nickel package- Clayborn
3-Tech: Starter- Shelby       Nickel Package-UpShaw
Nose Tackle:  Starter-Jarrett  Nickel Package-???
5-Tech: Starter- Hageman     Nickel Package- ???

Ok so as you can see I am trying to give starter and sub guys cause lets face we live in a sub-package world. In this day and age it's really hard to peg who is a starter and who is not because Dan Quinn lover his line rotations. I think the like of Hageman, Jarrett, and Shelby will get the lion share of snaps with the other guys being put in when the offensive play calls for it. I see a mix of Reed and Clayborn at LEO. They both have the speed to get to the QB and the size to help in the run stopping game, and that's where Beasley with kinda of a problem. The 3-tech in this was built for a guy like Shelby. Shelby is a bigger DE how is a great run stopper with some pass rush ability which is what you want from your 3-tech. This offseason the Falcons let go of nose tackle Paul Soali and named Grady Jarrett to the same spot a few weeks later. That should tell you what the coaching staff thinks of this young man and his game. He is a great run stopper with more to his game. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line and that is what Jarrett brings to the table. Not only is he a great run stopper he also gives you some upfield penetration. That's good for TFL and sacks all day long. If Jarrett can push the pocket cutting off the QB's ability to step up (something Soali didn't do much of) the sacks will come.
    The 3-tech maned by Hageman should be an upgrade over Jackson last year. Hageman is coming into his third year hopefully that means he has it put together. Hageman has everything you want in a DE 3-tech strong, powerful, and fast. If all this comes together for him it could be a special year. All of these internal moves kinda show why the Falcons didn't draft a pass rusher. Hageman, Jarrett and Shelby give you that interior rush that keeps QB's up at night. Reed and Clayborn give you the edge rushe we need and that just leaves the head scratching move of Beasley.
     Linebackers in a 4-3 under are super important not only do they have to be fast they have to be agile and smart.

Weak-side linebacker: Wheeler/ Campbell
Middle linebacker: Deon Jones
Strong-side linebacker: Vic Beasley

Our linebackers are pretty straightforward. Philip Wheeler should start out as our starting weakside linebacker but my hope is by mid to late season Campbell will show himself ready and take over for him. Now you will notice that I didn't list any nickel players, that's because when the team goes into Nickel Packages Vic Beasley will move from his SAM linebacker spot and drop down to DE kinda like what Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil do for their teams.
     I am so glad that you asked me why our number 8 overall pick from a year ago is already moving spots(oh you didn't ask...well you should have). This move allows the team to make the most of number 44 athletic ability and pass rush skill. By moving Beasley we should get better at two spots, least that is the hope anyway. Beasley is going to be a solid if not great pass rusher, but he can also be a help on covering tight ends and running backs coming out of the back field. Reed on the other not that great in coverage but a good run stuffer and hopefully and better version of Beriman as far as getting after the QB.
      So that's the front 7 in a nutshell. It will be a shell game of players with the term stater used loosely. The package of player that are subbed in and out on a play by play basis will be enough to make your head spin but I am confident that Dan Quinn will put our guys in the best spot to succeed. That just leaves the back end of the D. Trufant and Alford are locked in in my mind at corner. Allen with another year at free safety should start to shine and Neal as our strong safety should be fun I highly recommend you looking him up on youtube just to see what kind of violence that kid plays with.
     Hopefully this help shine some light on how our defense unit will shape up, only time will truly tell. Now we turn our sites to OTA and training camp where the cream will rise to the top along with our hopes and dreams. Good night my fellow Falcon fans and as always #riseup

Draft Wrap Up

       The 2016 NFL draft is done and in the books(sad face). Now its time to take a look at the picks that the Falcons made. Entering the day with five picks the Atlanta Falcons made six selections. With those picks the team hauled in a SS,LB,TE,LB,G,and WR, not to shabby.
      Well that depends on who you ask. As the picks where coming analyst give them grades, grades I tell you, how can you grade pick before the ink drys on the draft selection card. I mean grades for a player before year three seems silly to me much less before a college kid even gets to the building. None the less that is exactly what happens every year. This the media as a whole gave the Falcons a D. I think that's a little harsh, this draft from top to bottom really lacked the star power form the last few years draft class. The few guys who had the star talent you look for have ticking time bombs for knees in Jaylon Smith and Myles Jack. Both could be stars or both could never play a down.
      In a way that made this draft very interesting because teams could go in a lot of different directions. That leads me to the point i made in my last post about mock drafts and big boards, they are at best educated guesses. So armed with that knowledge mocks are a guess made by people who have never been paid by an NFL team to do this for a living, never had to put there lively on the line and say yes this is the guy we should take. So forgive me when I could careless what the Kiper/Mcshay, PFF's, and Analyst who have never worked in the NFL before have to say.
      As i sit here and write this the NFL network is playing "The Greatest Moments in Draft" on T.V. and the played the Kipper vs Tobin bit. In 94 Kiper said the Colts should have taken Trent Dilfer. Yes that Trent Dilfer the butt of all QB's need a Super Bowl win to be great argument. Which proves my point that no one not even the GM's making the pick know how these college kids are going to transition to the NFL. The best you can do is to pick the guys anf hope what you saw on tape will work well with what you have on roster already. When the coaching staff and the front office sits down and watches tape of the guy that is the most important part of the process. I mean a guy can test off the charts and be a dud on Sundays we see that all the time. But the opposite can happen a guy can test like and average joe but when the lights come on, on Sunday they turn into a monster. Now the scouts get a feel for the type of players the coach want and bring him the info on a guy that the coach may not know about. The country is big with a lot of player out there its the scouts job to dig that info up for the front office and coaching staff. What I am trying to say is no one has the right answer on how a big board should shake out. Every team is different with there own needs and own idea of who fits there system, so to say a player is a reach is just stupid. With all that being said lets jump into our teams "reaches" and "stupid" picks and i will take a stab at how i think they will fit with this team (giving you my stupid opinion)

Round 1 Pick 17 overall Keanu Neal SS  6'1'' 216lbs

Keanu Neal is a beast off a strong safety we cut Willy MO in the off season well here is your replacement. He is a in the box safety with coverage and blitz skill. He ran a 4.62 40yd dash at the combine and was a top performer with a 38'' vert with a 135'' broad jump. Explosion is the name of his game whether its speed and the violent hits he hands out on a regular basis. Neal should come and start day one, setting the tone in the middle of the filed, you know on those third down we saw last year with RB's and TE's running wide out. Not with Neal roaming out there. Some people said he was a reach at 17 and I call B.S. on that notion. It has been reported that had we waited until day two Neal would have been long gone by our number 50 pick. Both the Jets and the Steelers were taking heavy interest in Neal. So TD did what he is tasked to do he went and got the guy that Quinn wanted. Make no mistake this is the guy Quinn wanted, he spent reciuting him in college be for he went back to coach in the pros. So is this pick a reach, in a word NOPE. We got the guy we wanted. Here is a highlight of Neal


Round 2 Pick number 52 overall Dieon Jones LB LSU

Deion Jones is the type of player we have heard Dan Quinn talk about Fast and Physical he ran a 4.59 40yd dash at the combine and posted college stats of 152 tackles 20 for loss with 5 sacks, and that with out being a full time starter until his senior year. There is much more I can say about Jones that a highlight real wouldn't do better. I will say this though The falcons traded back a few spots here and pick up our six round pick that we traded to get Andy Levtire so good on you TD. Here that highlight real i was talking about.

Round 3 pick number 81 overall Austin Hooper TE Stanfford

Yeah he made that catch. Austin Hooper was our 3rd round pick out of tight end U I mean Stanford. This kid has the size and speed you look in a move tight end something we have mean missing since Tony G. hung it up. Now the Falcons could have made this and all defense draft and i don't think anyone would have cared, but they chose to go balanced and help the other side of the ball with a well rounded tight end. I watched the PAC12 championship game to get a better feel for this kid. Let me tell you that was harder than it should have been, but when you have a super start like Christian Macafrey you feature him early and often so i was not to upset. What i did notice how ever Hooper is a very willing blocker and when he was called to do so he answered the call. Hooper should come and start off the season ahead of Toilolo on the depth chart and get in on two TE sets with Tammie early on. The hope here is that by 2017 season Hooper is the starter with Toilolo backing him up and coming in to block on 2 TE sets.

Round 4 pick number 115 overall De'Vandre Campbell  LB Minn.                                                      

Campbell is a wild card to me. He has the size, speed, and agility to play all three LB spots. Now i am not going to sit here and tell you that i watch a ton of game film on him, but i did watch the Michigan game and he was all over the field. Tackles for loss, covering RB and tight ends. Heck he even rushed the passer a few times from a DE spot. During the off season he trained with former Falcon Chuck Smith to help improve his speed rush. I think Campbell has a chance to come in a blow the skirts off the coaches in a way they might not have counted on. AT 6'4'' 232lb he ran a 5.29 40yd dash but looked faster on film. High end could be a KJ Wright type player low at better version of Kroy Beriman. Sub package rusher for sure.

       I am not going to go in to to much detail on our 6th and 7th round pick not because I don't think there worth it. More because that late in the draft players tend to be more of a project and its hard to tell where they might end up.

      

       In summary I feel like the team addressed some major needs and when you couple that with the free agency period I think the Falcons have had a good off season so far. Only time will tell how these players turn out, that is up to the players themselves and the coaching staff. As always here at the Flacon's Eye View i just try to provide the reader with a different way to look at things, so keep your eyes towards the prize and #Riseup.

Mock Draft Bonus

    Guess what Falconers its mock draft time, what what. Mock Drafts are pointless and they are useless. None the less they are two tons of fun to do and to think about. I mean that's part of being a dies hard fan right. So today I am going to hopefully give you is a realistic take on the draft. I am going to give you two drafts, one with a trade down option  and one with a stay put out come.
        The Falcons currently own the 17th pick in the 2016 draft and only 4 other picks after that. Our current team needs as I see it, goes as follow ILB,OLB,SS, and guard, With out further ado here we go.

I am using Daniel Jeremiah's big board
Stay put at 17
Round 1(pick 17): Darron Lee- He is fast, agile, twitchy, ultra athletic line backer who will fill the fast of Dan Quinn's fast and physical defense. He come with speed good instincts but lack coverage polish that as fan we might want. I believe that DQ will be able to fix that quickly. Lee should come in and take over for Paul Warrlio and give us a coverage LB we have been needing.

Round 2 (pick 50): Keanu Neal- Dan Quinn had a hand in bringing this guy to the gators when he was there as the DC and I have to think if he is there he will be wear the red and black. Neal is a hard hitting head hunting strong safety. He could not only be our Kam Chancellor but he could also provide the hard hits that we will miss form released SS Willy Mo. Neal doesn't have many downsides other than looking for the big hit and sometimes getting burned for it.

Round 3 (pick 81) Carl Nassib-  Nassib is a large DE stand 6'7'' 277lbs. He is a power rusher that has the possibility to develop into a true Micheal Bennett type player. A true chess piece that can be paired with our other DE guys. Can you image a NASCAR package that featured Clayborn, Nassib, Shelby, and Beasley that would be cool to see.

Round 4 (pick 115) Jack Allen- Allen is an athletic center form MST that could kick over to guard and possible take over for Mack when he retires. I am not going to lie don't know much about offense line men but i think this guy could play guard and we need competition in that spot.


Trade down get picks 
trade with Jets , we swap 1st get there 3rd, 4th, 6th. They want to get above Buffalo and draft Paxton Lynch.

Round 1 (pick 20) Noah Spence- the best pure pass rusher in the game some off the filed issues early in his college career. Hopefully that is behind him and we get a running mate for Vic Beasley.

Round 2 (pick 50) Keanu Neal- see above.

Round 3 (pick 81) Deion Jones- Fast twitchy LB who could help with speed over the middle .
              ( pick 83) Joushua Perry- another fast cover line backer who will handle RB and TE coming across the middle.

Round 4 (pick 115) Jack Allen- see above.
              ( pick 118) Jerrel Adams- Pass catching tight end to learn from Jacob Tame and hopefully give Matt Ryan a safety value and seem buster.

There you have it fans my thoughts on the draft. You will notice that i stopped at the fourth round. That is because after the fourth it is truly a toss up. You might get some decent depth or a core special team players, but more than likely you just get a practice squad guy who will be replaced by another late round draft pick in years to come. Hope ya'll enjoyed this bonus post as much as I enjoyed doing it we will check back after the draft and see how bad I did,

Falcons Eye View vol 3. Free Agent Frenzy

       Hello again friends, it is I you friendly internet blogger. Its time for Vol. 3. of the Falcons Eye View. A blog in where i try to give you a different perspective on all things Falcons. Today we are going to tackle ( see what did there) free agency and the players we signed.
     Here is a run down of who we signed.
        1. Alex Mack Center (Cleveland)
        2. Mohammad Sanu WR. (Bengals)
        3. Derick Shelby DE (Miami)
        4, Adrian Clayborn DE (Atlanta)
        5. Courtney Upshaw OLB (Ravens)
Ok so theses are the main players. The Falcons did sign a few more depth players like, Weatherspoon, Wheeler, and Tom Compton ( he sounds like a lawyer). But the 5 players i listed are the ones were going to focus on today. Let me start off by saying I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THERE CONTRACTS, now that that is out of the way lets jump in.

Alex Mack: 3 time pro center, One of the best in the game, multi year 16 game starter. This dude is exactly what our team has been needing since 2012 when the Mudd Duck retired. You may remember in my first post I talk about Matt Ryan down fall, a lot had to do with poor o-line play. That can almost be hung directly on poor center play. I liked Joe Hawley but her was injured and not well suited of the zone blocking shift we went to so he had to go. Back to Mack by making this one signing you were truly able to fix 3 potions. Mack will make the LG and RG instantly better. His veteran leadership will help Andy Levitra along with who ever ends up at right guard. Mack is comfortable with Kyle Shanna's system because he played in it in Cleveland. Since he chose to come I Have to assume he like the scheme.

Mohammed Sanu: 26 yrs old highly athletic wide out. This is the signing that has every one in an uproar. In Cincinnati Sanu was at best the third option behind Green and Jones. So we are going to punish a guy for not being the main guy on his team when were asking him to be the 2nd or 3rd option on our team? Yeah sounds crazy to me too, people are going to scream about over paying him but like I said up top I don't care. Given how the deal is setup its more like a 2 yr deal than 4 or 5 yr deal. So lets give him a chance because when he was the main focus of the offense in 2014 he put good numbers.

Derick Shelby: Another guy who played a bit part on his former team. The falcons are hoping that the sample size we saw when Wake went down is closer to what we will get over the course of 16 games, Shelby is a run first edge defender with some pass rush upside. In 8 games Shelby had 3.5 sacks, so if you double that to account for 16 games that 7 sacks that would be more than any one else on the team. So here is to upside and bit players.

Adrian Clayborn: Ok so is this really a free agent, yes yes it is. Adrian was not under contract and was getting interest from other teams like the Cowboys. He choose to come back here remember that. By the end of the season the coaching figured out that Clay could bounce inside but was better suited for the edge. We all thought he would play the Bennett role, not so much. This is a role I think Shelby will play (forgot to say that in his section). With Beasley possible play some more OLB I think Clayborn we be a true DE and mainly rush the passer, witch is good.

Courtney Upshaw: This is kinda interesting and simple all at the same time. Upshaw never really lived up to the hype coming out of college. Weight was kinda of in issue for him, I mean 273 for an OLB that's kinda big. I think the hope here is a younger, stronger, more productive version of Kory Beriman. I truly think this is all he is and that's fine with me.

      That just about wraps it up folks. All in all I feel like the Team got better with free agency. We are seeing more of the plan of Dan Quinn and what he wants on Defense. We saw our front office address to big needs on Offense with the signing of Mack and Mohammed. You add these to the pieces to what we already have on roster the Falcons should take a step forward. Now we will look forward to the draft, where we hope to get the fast to go along with the physical that free agency added.

Falcons Eye View Vol. 2

Welcome back Falcon fans it is I, your friendly internet blogger. Today I will be talking about, you guessed it coaches and front offices and how I think it  works. Also why people should calm down and stop tripping over Dimitroff. It's not that I think our front office has done a stellar job so just hear me out before you roll your eyes.
        Let's start by out with how I think a front office runs. First and foremost you have the G.M. his job is to handle the cap, sign free agents, and draft new players. At Least that's what most people think. His job really is to manage all of that. He is the face we put to those decision and he tends to be the final stamp of approval on those decision but he is not the one that comes up with all that info. There are a multitude of groups that compile that info and pass it along to him. such as scouts, cap guys, and then the coaches themselves. What I am trying to say is that it is easy and to be honest lazy to place all the blame at his feet, even if the buck stops with him.
       Here are some of the hits and misses as I see it from Dimitroff tenure. Now mind after laying it out like I did above I will say that it's not all him but here we go anyway.
      Hits
     1. Matt Ryan
     2. Micheal Turner
     3. Trufant/Alford
     4. Julio Jones
     5. Tony G.

      Misses
     1. Ray Edwards
     2. Peter Konz
     3. Leonard Hankerson
     4. Steven Jackson
     5. Prince Shembo

Ok so these are just a few examples of each, I could have done more but I am just using these to make a point. With Matt Ryan and Michael Turner he had to the nail on the head. After the horrendous 07 season Dimitroff was tasked to rebuild the team with a new first time ever head coach and a high draft pick. So he choses a solid QB with a high floor and a higher ceiling. Then he supported that pick with a solid running to help his rookie QB. Now we move on to Julio Jones, it's 2011 the team is doing good but we need a spark after getting smoked by the Packers in our own building. Some would say we should have seen it as a defense meltdown to come and built that way to compensate, but instead we did the trendy thing and tried to build a high powered offense like most of the teams were shifting to. I will not argue these points here today all I will say is I am glad we got Jones.
       Trufant and Alford were and are cornerstone cornerbacks and came at a time that they were needed. Tony G. well let's just say Tony G. speaks for himself. On to the misses, most of these speak for themselves as well. Edwards was rewarded for the play others much like Vernon and Malik Jackson was this year, happens every off season. Konz and Hankerson were plagued by injuries and ineffective play. Steven Jackson was done when he got here but I will get into that more when I get into the coach front office blance. Prince Shembo...I have thoughts on drafting players with that type of character issues and he showed the reason why.
     Those illustrate some of the hits and misses that have happened since Dimitroff has been in charge. The only thing that we as fans can say for sure is Thoms approved all of these transactions, thats its thats all. We don't know how he felt about them if he laid awake at night thinking did he make a mistake by saying yes. All we know for sure is he said yes. He gets all the blame and not much of the praise. This brings me to how I believe and NFL front office works. Season ends your team did great ( hipp hipp hooray) ok now time to try to figure out how to keeps our guys and shore up some weakness. Season ends your team did horrible (boo fire everyone burn it to the ground) ok now time to figure who we need to keep and how can we get rides of the guys that sucked in such away without killing our cap while shoring up weaknesses. Scouts of all types start pouring over tape of potential F.A. from all of the league, oh yeah and let's not forget the college kids who are entering the draft.
Info has been gathered now its time to sit down with the coaches, but wait the coaches have there own list of free agents guys and draft guys the like. Thats cool now we sit down meeting after meeting pouring over this mountain of info and whittle it down to guys the coaches want to draft and free agents we can reasonable afford.
     What most fans fail to see at this point is that this list of free agents and draft guys may not have a single name that the G.M. and his staff collected left on it. This example is purposely over blown but bear with me I am doing it to make a point. The coaching staff should have the most input, there the ones who have to use the players on a daily basis. They know their scheme and have a better idea of how that player should fit idealy. When your coaching staff doesn't know what it wants to be it, gets aimless or complicant then you start to get in trouble. This is what I believe happened to the Falcons in 2013 the coaching got lost didn't know what it wanted to be anymore. At the end of 2012 we got muscled by a physical 49ers team and that cost a trip to the super bowl. So the coaching staff wanted to get more physical but didn't know how they wanted to do it. They tried a hybrid defense, well they couldn't stop anything, run or the pass. So 2014 we sign run stoppers switch to a 3-4 and still can't stop a thing. During all of the Thomas does his job by getting the players that the coaching staff wants to use, this also applies to the o-line as well. Dimitroff did what he was tasked to do. He brought in the player that the coaching staff wanted at a price the team could stomach. I personally never care about a player's contract cause as the Saints have shown time again the cap really means nothing, if you want a guy you can figure it out so that doesn't even bother me. Fast Forward to 2015 new head coach same G.M.. If Dan Quinn didn't think he could work with Thomas do you think he would have taken the job. I say no because the is a big part of it, working together getting in lock step and if there is one thing TD has shown he can manage the cap and bring in player the coaching staff wants. I think this year you're going to see a even bigger step forward because now that have had a year to work together and get to know what the other one wants. If TD wasn't willing to work With Coach Quinn or vise verse he would have been gone end of story. Since he is not I have to assume there doing just fine and so far the offseason as shown that to me.
    This just something to think about the next time you want to blast a front office or even a coach staff about the players they bring and how siad players perform. There are just too many variables on why it didn't work out. Maybe your coach likes veteran players and is not a fan of developing young players (reason why Steven Jackson didn't work) maybe you hire a new coordinator and have to switch schemes, that takes time and players. Maybe just Maybe it's a collective problem that can't be sholved by removing just one person. It's easy to lay the blame at the feet of one man cause that's the face we see but rarely is it just his fault. Mr. Blank didn't build Home Depot by himself and Thomas Dimitroff nor Dan Quinn are solely responsible for this team. Because it is a team that's what makes it awesome so as Falcons fans lets do our part and #Riseup.
   

Falcons Eye View vol. 1

Here at Falcon's Eye View, I your humble blogger am going to try to give you a different point of view from what you see from the rest of the internet/media. This first vol. I am going to try to give you a different view of Matt Ryan (MR2) or beloved QB that has recently come under fire. Is Matt Ryan the best QB to ever grace field? No he is not but that's nothing new. Is he better than a lot of other QB's that play the game on the NFL stage right now I say yes.
      Do you honestly think right now, today, that teams like Philly, Huston, San Fran, Cleveland, and the Jets wouldn't jump at the chance to have MR2 on sundays? I mean with his career 64.3% passing avg. 202 td, and 32,757 passing yards. These aren't chump stats, other analyst want you to believe than Ryan threw an Int. every other pass but last year, when he only threw 16 Int. which is one lower than his career high of 17 2yrs ago. Now 4 of thoses INT. came in the red zone and that's no good period, but its not like every single throw in the red zone was a turn over.
       Now keep in mind I am not saying MR2 is in the same class as Tom Brady or even those pains me to say it Drew Brees, but he is not Brian Hoyer or Geno smith. In the NFL you have tiers of QBs with guys who carry a team no matter what lvl of talent they have on the offensive side of the ball. Guys who with a decent lvl of talent on there side can do some great things like win a super bowl. Then there are guys that have to be pulled along by world beaters to get anything done aka. Trent Dilfer. Matt Ryan is in the biggest of these tiers which is the middle tier, where guys like Stafford, Cutler, Newton, and Wilson stand. What I am saying is that I only see 2 to 3 QBs in the top lvl, 4 to 5 guys in the very bottom and the rest are in the middle. The middle is a fine place to be, because in the middle is where you need an entire team to make it happen. This is why I love football more than any other sport. In football every member is truly important. Defense, special teams, and offense, coaching staff makes up an important part as well. With out all of this working together at the same time your going to have a tough road to hoe.
      When Russel Wilson went on his super bowl run he had the legun of boom on the other side of the ball. They on a regular basis gave him a short field to work with and when you got a running back like Beast Mode running the rock that job is even easier. All you really have to do at that point is not lose them the game by throwing a pick or 4. Same thing with Cam Newton, unbelievable talent but he need a tough as nails D to get him to the big dance. When he ran into a tougher defense than his own in the super bowl you saw what happened. In the panthers only two losses last year it took the other teams D making Cam look human for the Panthers to lose.
       In 2012 Ryan had a good o-line and an average defense and the Falcons almost went to the super bowl. The following year in 2013 and 2014 the o-line was ravaged with injuries and the defense took a step back both years. Guess what in, those years the team turned sub .500 seasons. This goes to show that MR2 is not Tom Brady who wins that division with street free agents and low round draft pick, but what this does show is that with decent talent around him Matt Ryan can win and win in clutch ways. For example the beginning of this season we started 5-0 and two of those wins were come from behind 4 quarter wins.
       Has Matt Ryan always made the best decisions? In short no, in long given what he has had to work with I would say he as done a good job. I can say this because we as fans don't know the whole story and never will. We don't know what goes on between MR2 and Kyle Shanahan or him and his linemen. Its a team game people it takes all 53 players and all the coaches to be on the same page all game to pull it off. So I say give him a chance, this will be year 2 under a new O.C. running a system that is not really great for our QB but I have faith that he is smart enough to adjust. I might be proven wrong and Matt Ryan will go down league history as just another Quarterback for just another team, but I think given the right amount of talent he can go down in history as much more.

     
source for stats: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RyanMa00.htm