Atlanta Falcons
2019 Record: (7-9) 2nd
NFC South
2019 Season Recap:
Offense
Points: 23.8 (13th)
Yards: 379.7 (5th)
Pass Yards: 294.6 (3rd)
Rush Yards: 85.1 (30th)
Defense
Points: 24.9 (23rd)
Yards: 355.8 (20th)
Pass Yards: 244.9 (22nd)
Rush Yards: 110.9 (15th)
Looking back at what become known for
the Falcons 2019 season, many positives did rest with this club, but countless
negatives also filled the landscape.
Offensively, the numbers stack up nicely
as Matt Ryan and company were able to exploit the pass attack to produce league
leading statistics once again. Under yet another offensive coordinator (Dirk
Koetter), finding ways to be productive was truly dictated through the air.
While we do believe the Falcons wanted to be a more balanced offense, the run
game left a lot to be desired. Devonta Freeman again looked like shades of his
former self, making that 2015 breakout campaign literally a thing of the past.
Furthermore, while the offense did show
the capability in remaining competitive for the most part this season, the
defense was again a massive concern. To make matters worse, Head Coach Dan
Quinn’s forte is on the defensive side and we are yet to see that great
transition in his tenure. With that said, General Manager Thomas Dimitroff’s
focus has been on the offensive side which has limited the ability for this
Atlanta defense to make waves.
The 2019 season can be summed up as the
tale of two halves being polar opposites of each other. The first eight weeks
had Atlanta sitting with a 1-7 record heading into their bye week, while the
second half witnessed a 6-2 record to bring them back to levels of
respectability. With that winning prowess on display, it clearly was more than
enough to save the jobs of Coach Quinn and the front office position of
Dimitroff. Its safe to say with the amount of talent on this roster, it has
been greatly wasted.
2020 Offseason
WorkBook:
The Offense
When we begin dissecting the offense as a whole, there aren’t many
negatives to highlight. While yes, Matt Ryan is entering the tail end of his
career and is coming off yet another season of high interception ratio’s, he
still has more than enough to get the job done. The offensive line looked much improved
as the season wore on, but it was clear that with the absence of a dominating
run attack, opposing defenses keyed in on Ryan and this pass game to stifle any
opportunity. Even still with another offensive installation, history has proven
that Ryan excels in year two after understanding the new playbook. Locked up
for the next several years, Ryan will still lead the dirty birds in hopes to
get back to the big show.
When speaking of the run attack, Devonta Freeman hasn’t been the
same player over the past three seasons. Seemingly to be a frequent visitor to
the team’s medical room, his ability has also tapered off leaving us always
wanting more. With recent news reports swirling to suggest that Atlanta may be
willing to cut bait with their one-time franchise running back, we completely understand
the notion given the immense salary cap trouble the Falcons are in. Even still,
it may look dire to replace Freeman, but Ito Smith should be ready to take on a
much larger role in 2020 - with the potential for the Falcons to add another running
talent.
When it comes to the pass catchers on this club, we have never
been shy in our infatuation of their super star Julio Jones. While some still
want to argue the point that Jones isn’t the best wide receiver in the game, we
will continue to throw support his way. Over the course of his career, Jones
has been supremely consistent in putting up league high numbers with each
passing season. To make matters more jubilant, the emergence of their
supportive piece Calvin Ridley, the Falcons truly have a one-two punch that many
should fear. Now with Mohamed Sanu no longer on the team, Russell Gage showed
great flash to be another dangerous weapon for this offense. When it comes to their
receiving core, there is truly a lot to like.
Ending the evaluation of this offense, how can we not discuss the superb
season from their tight end Austin Hooper. Taking on a more prevalent role over
the past two seasons, he hasn’t disappointed in his steady production. With
that said, his future with the club could be in doubt as he is set to hit the
open market and should be looking for a handsome payday. Losing Hooper would force
the Falcons to potentially head back to three receiver sets with limited tight
end reliance.
The Defense
As we said above, seeing the Falcons defense continue to struggle
is something we didn’t see being the constant. With Coach Quinn’s pedigree and
standard being the brain of this unit, he has truly underwhelmed in this department.
Granted, the talent hasn’t always been present, and he did make a giant turn around
in the second half of the 2019 season.
Before we get started, we must place an asterisk on this defense
as they once again were without their star safety Keanu Neal after week three.
Losing a player of his caliber for the second consecutive season to a year long
injury, it is very difficult to come back from. Nevertheless, injures happen,
and two players (Damontae Kazee and Kemal Ishmael) filled in admirably. Still,
without Neal anchoring the backend, this was the greatest weakness on this team
this past season.
When highlighting the positives from this defense, many players
still pose as fantastic building blocks to reassert themselves as a much better
unit. Deion Jones is also a massive difference maker on the field and his presence
is always seen. Teammate De’Vondre Campbell had a coming out party of sorts leading
the team in tackles. And while most will argue the defensive line requires the
most assistance, this linebacking core has little to no depth to speck of.
Obviously with news that Atlanta will not resign Vic Beasley amidst
their cap troubles, Grady Jarrett and Takkarist McKinley will again be leaned
upon to bring the pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Depth is a large concern in
this room also, and one that should be fixed come this offseason.
Team Free Agents / Team Salary Cap
In highlighting all the issues this roster has on the defensive side
of the ball, the Falcons are literally in crisis mode when it comes to their
salary cap. Years of overspending and mismanaging has left this 2020 edition of
the Falcons with only 6.1 million in free space. For a team with such glaring
needs and no money to spend, where do they go from here?
First off, as we mentioned, tough choices will be on the horizon
and cuts will have to be made. First with the announcement to not bring back
Beasley, that will surely save some scratch. With the potential to remove
Freeman from the club, the post June first cut will provide another 6.5 million
of extra dollars with a mere 3 million sent to dead cap. While that would only
bring the spendable funds to just over 12 million, more cleaning of house needs
to be done to improve.
For our appetite, Ricardo Allen is a prime cap causality which
could save a healthy 5.2 million is free space. With the development of Kazee
and Ishmael, Allen’s loss wouldn’t even be felt. Allen Bailey is another player
that is an attractive cut which would add an additional 4.4 million to the
books. So, with those moves alone, the Falcons could generate 16.1 million
dollars in extra funds to help retool this roster. Not overly abundant, but
clearly helping the cause.
And while we spent all that effort in trying to find more dollars
for Dimitroff to spend, the enormous list of team free agents (27 free agents)
is another daunting task. Austin Hooper, De’Vondre Campbell, and Kemal Ishmael covet
the most interest to bring back, but will be incredibly difficult to re-up. Based
on Hooper’s production over the past two seasons, we feel he has priced his way
out of town. As for the other two, its very possible to see them return. Perhaps
another high end contract restructure is on the docket to garner more funds.
The NFL Draft
For any team struggling to find room to pay their talent while
underachieving, the Falcons do have some good fortune in terms of the NFL
Draft. Holding seven picks to the name at this point, they have an extra 2nd
rounder while sacrificing their sixth-round selection.
For everything good and pure, we can’t envision the Falcons doing
much draft day movement up and down the board as we’ve grown accustomed too -
but they do have those three picks in the first 55 overall. Having the 16th
overall pick in the first round, we can’t see that choice being used on anything
other then defense. At this point the Falcons could move in multiple directions
which would include defensive line, or defensive back.
With how mock drafts are currently set up, many believe the sure
choice at pick 16 should be either Iowa’s A.J Epenesa or LSU’s K’Lavon Chaisson.
This would ultimately solidify a great need while securing sound talent for the
defensive line. We wouldn’t be surprised to see a defensive back picked here as
well, but reaching could be a problem the Falcons don’t want to endure yet
again.
Nevertheless, with those three picks in the top 55, Atlanta should
be able to fill holes while gaining very solid talent. This is a very important
draft for this current regime, as a fail would subsequently push everyone involved
right out of town. Will Atlanta continue down the path of elite underachievers,
or rewrite the ship to stay afloat?
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