Calvin Ridley
Falcons To Soar
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The only team from the NFC South that has made the playoffs the last two seasons, the Falcons are locked and loaded to make another run at that elusive Super Bowl victory.
They will face plenty of challenges from the rest of the improved division but they have the tools to be a force in 2018.
They have some questions as well. With training camp rapidly approaching, let’s take a look at where the Falcons stand now.
First off, the biggest news of the offseason was Matt Ryan’s massive contract extension. Matty Ice inked the richest contract in the history of the NFL to the tune of $150 million. That kind of contract tends to come with an added level of pressure.
However, as his nickname suggests, Ryan will likely be able to go about his business without it weighing too heavily on him. He’s still the elite quarterback the Falcons need to lead their charge.
On less sturdy ground at the moment is Julio Jones. He has been a no-show at all of Atlanta’s offseason preparation events so far in 2018, due to an ongoing contract dispute.
While there is no real reason to doubt that this will be an issue that blows up to the point that Jones ends up in a different jersey, there might be cause for concern with all the time he’s missing.
He may be the best wide receiver in the NFL right now but he also had a year in which he only scored three times and that was after missing significant offseason time with an injury.
A player of his caliber might not necessarily need the practice reps to be good to go for the season but you have to wonder how well he’ll be used if he’s not around to train.
From that we come to Steve Sarkisian. Sark was the scapegoat for a lot of people who saw the Falcons underperform the year after a Super Bowl appearance and it is certainly true that the record-breaking 2016 offense took a step backward.
Despite a lot of noise calling for his head, Sark is going to get another chance to move the stellar offensive pieces he has at his disposal into position in which they can win.
Coaches, and especially offensive coordinators, can get too much blame when things go badly and too much praise when things go well. Sark has got too much talent on his hands to not be overly praised for their success in 2018.
Something to keep an eye on at training camp and the season draw closer is the health of Devonta Freeman. Two concussions and an injury to his knee took their toll on him last season and to put a cherry on top he tore his MCL and PCL in the last game before going into the playoffs.
All signs point to him healing quickly and being ready for the start of the season but having such an injury-plagued campaign in 2017 is concerning and something to be monitored.
On the other side of the ball, drafting Calvin Ridley did not shore up the defense, and the lack of depth at linebacker is still a concern.
De’Vondre Campbell and Deion Jones are a strong duo but beyond the two of them are question marks on question marks.
Duke Riley will likely start the season’s early games and he showed last year that he was still a work in progress.
The defensive side of the Falcons’ game as been a concern for a while now and while the offense can shoulder a lot, the issues of stopping the other teams will likely continue.
There is plenty to be excited about as the end of July nears, especially for a Falcons team that expects and should be expected to make the playoffs a third consecutive time.
The New Dirty Birds
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
This is that special time of year when college football and the NFL collide to create the NFL Draft. Fans of both levels of the sport pay close attention; the college fans for validation of their favorite players and pro fans to see how their teams can improve by addition.
Coming off a 10-6 season with a playoff win, the Falcons looked for pieces to help them get over that hump they have struggled with for the past few years and secure that elusive Super Bowl victory. Did they succeed?
With the 26th pick, Atlanta took wide receiver Calvin Ridley from Alabama. Ridley certainly improves the already potent Falcons offense and could even be considered a secret weapon of sorts. Defenses across the NFL will focus on sorting out what to do about Julio Jones, Ridley could be deployed to great effect. If he can figure out the game at the pro level, he and Mohamed Sanu will complement each other to make a big-time receiving threat for the Dirty Birds after Jones.
Matt Ryan can do some real magic with those three if Ridley can step up. He’s athletic enough to do so and to his benefit he won’t need to be the Falcons number one option.
In round two Atlanta picked up cornerback Isaiah Oliver from Colorado. A curious choice because while Atlanta’s defense needs improvement, those improvements aren’t needed at cornerback. With Desmond Trufant, Robert Alford and Brian Poole, the Falcons are more than covered there.
He must have caught Thomas Dimitroff’s and Dan Quinn’s eyes, which isn’t a bad thing.
The real need was at defensive tackle, which the Falcons took care of with their third pick in South Florida’s Deandrin Senat.
He fills a dire need in Atlanta and will be relied on right out of the gate. Quinn has already suggested he’ll be slotted into a rotation at nose tackle. He’s big enough to take care of business against the running game and should be quick enough to stifle the pass. The DT pick came two rounds after I think most people expected, but they ended up with what they wanted nonetheless.
Russell Cage from LSU was taken next and he’s ostensibly a wide receiver but with Ridley going in the first round that is likely to change.
Cage transitioned to WR in 2016 after being recruited as a defensive back but is being looked at to serve as gunner, where he also has experience. A player with a lot of weapons and a solid pick four number four.
So, while the Falcons had a clear need at DT going into the draft, in a way they got to have their cake and eat it too. They waited until their third pick to satisfy that need but still managed to get a serviceable piece.
Instead, they went a different direction for pick number one and the rich offense got richer in Atlanta. It was a gauntlet throw down in a way, as the offense took a step back in 2017 after leading the planet with a potent scoring game the previous year.
Steve Sarkisian has an even bigger embarrassment of riches and he’ll need to utilize them to the best of their abilities. To me, this says that the team expects to be back at the top of the offensive heap in 2018 and anything less might be Sark’s head.
Overall, there weren’t any truly huge gets for Atlanta (thought that’s only because Ridley wasn’t as necessary as a DT was), but it’s a solid draft class for what was already a winning team.
