Falcon's O line

[mattlanta]

Since when did Houston wear a dark-clear visor? lol, looks sick.

Pic

[Swish]

Good game by the first unit, not great, but solid. O-line looks solid. My worries about it seem to be overblown.

Defense lucked out in the that Vince Young is just a bad passing QB. There were several throws that a competent QB makes, but Young didn't. On the other hand, Ryan made several of those throws.

Bierman is relentless dude was in on Young all night. Guy should be starting over Jam98.

Overall, you have to say that Dimitroff seems to have done a very good job at rebuilding the roster in a very short period of time. Of course its still preseason, but I like the way the team is playing and the moxie that several of the rookies are bringing to the table.

Being in Nashville and a Titans fan...I can tell you the feel around here is VY is a bust, sorry to hijack the thread, just thought I'd throw that in there. He can't throw a lick and is losing his scramble touch. I thought originally he would be better than MV7 but now I don't think so.

Anyways, as far as the Falcons go, I have a lot of gear, and did pull for them for a while but somehow the whole Vick/Petrino debacle and moving to TN lost me, and the Titans made the playoffs...and yeah. I don't like football near as much as basketball so my commitment was no where near what it is to the Hawks.

[mattlanta]

Vince Young's throwing motion has slowed him down some. Because of it, he can't make as accurate passes as someone with, say, Matt Ryan. They did a short comparison between the two QBs, and they compared them when they ran the same passing play and threw to the same receiver. Ryan had better posture while VY didn't.

[DrReality]

Being in Nashville and a Titans fan...I can tell you the feel around here is VY is a bust, sorry to hijack the thread, just thought I'd throw that in there. He can't throw a lick and is losing his scramble touch. I thought originally he would be better than MV7 but now I don't think so.

Anyways, as far as the Falcons go, I have a lot of gear, and did pull for them for a while but somehow the whole Vick/Petrino debacle and moving to TN lost me, and the Titans made the playoffs...and yeah. I don't like football near as much as basketball so my commitment was no where near what it is to the Hawks.

We can feel you pain. We've had the experience of a great athlete that is not a great QB. Just doesn't translate to the big leagues.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

We can feel you pain. We've had the experience of a great athlete that is not a great QB. Just doesn't translate to the big leagues.

By that, you mean Vick? It's not like he has a sub 500 record when starting in the NFL; the team is also one win away from a SB in 04 with him. With Vick, you know that the Falcons have a chance every year to compete.

[EazyRoc]

While I agree with what you're saying, you can't argue the fact that Vick wasn't a great QB. He was a great scrambler, and solid in the QB department. He was definitely one of the most impactful players in the NFL during his stint however. The Falcons lived and died by how well Mike Vick performed. I think it's obvious, after last season, that he never had productive teammates around them. Dunn was good, but when teams didnt have to worry about the bootleg (etc.), he wasnt good at all. Roddy White finally become the WR people thought he could be, but he had serious confidence issues his first few seasons. Our line was horrible (in pass protection) in the zone-blocking scheme, and just as bad in Petrino's system. Oh well, we'll probably never find out just how successful Mike could have been on our team or any other NFL team.

[DrReality]

My point of contention with Vick has always been we won/lost on his heart-stopping plays . . . . which were very exciting but eratic. The problem was that it was mostly him and not the offensive system. That really hindered the development of the entire offense. I think Ryan brings to the game the ability to develop a system that will get better and better. May take him a while, but I think he has the chance of being very good if not special. The Pats won because of their system . . . . and a great QB.

[EazyRoc]

The Pats won because of the great line and the unbelievable depth they had at WR. QB is important, but you put Brady behind our line, with our receivers, and the Patriots system, and it won't work. The problem wasn't just Mike Vick, it was our predictable system (under Knapp), and our lack of talent to make it work. He didn't have the touch to make those dink'n'dunk plays that Young and Montana were making. They should have had him throwing deeper, downfield passes with the TE and RB used as dump offs after he progressed through his WRs. The system was horrible. Warrick Dunn has good hands, but we never ran screens or anything to take advantage of it. Same thing with Justin Griffith. I like Matt Ryan, and as a GT fan, I know he'll be very good in the league. The man has ice water in his veins, and that is no joke. He makes quick reads, and gets rid of the ball. GT sent everything at him, and he still had like 300-400 yards passing with garbage receivers. I will never forget watching him come back against VT. It was then that I hoped the Falcons, if J. Long wasn't available, would pick him up.

[atlhawks321]

i believe they are going to struggle for a while but sam baker will be key in thr future

[Atlsportfanz]

For the Falcons to even have a chance to be a decent team, the Oline cannot commit any penalties. I mean none at all. They're going to struggle enough to move the Ball with a rookie QB. Putting in 3rd and long positions where the defense is going to be able to tee off on him is going to set him back even more.

Hopefully, next year they can upgrade the oline some more and the dline, and the secondary. Let's face it; there's a lot of work still to do.

[DrReality]

Offensive line must be tough to protect rookie Ryan

By D. ORLANDO LEDBETTER

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Monday, September 01, 2008

The Falcons’ offensive line plans to make up for its shortcomings by playing with a nasty attitude.

“I think we made a lot of progress during training camp, and this preseason we have definitely established an attitude about us,” center Todd McClure said. “Once you’ve got that, you can work on everything else.

Center Todd McClure (62) has started 96 straight games, while right guard Harvey Dahl (73) has played in only five NFL games.SEASON PREVIEWS

OL: Nasty attitude • Moore

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McClure, who has a string of 96 consecutive starts, will have to hold together a young unit that will be charged with protecting a rookie quarterback.

Rookie Sam Baker will start at left tackle, along with second-year men Justin Blalock at left guard and Harvey Dahl at the right guard spot.

Dahl, an undrafted free agent, has played in only five NFL games, with no starts. Veterans Tyson Clabo and Todd Weiner are the key players at right tackle.

The line will be asked to cut down on the 47 sacks it gave up last season and upgrade the team’s yards per carry numbers from 3.9 to something more respectable.

Baker, a USC all-American the Falcons traded up to draft in the first round, and Blalock played well together during the preseason.

“We are not going to give him too much credit right now because he’s still a rookie,” McClure said of Baker. “But he has done well. He did well against two good guys, [Tennessee’s Kyle] Vanden Bosch and [Jacksonville’s] Paul Spicer.”

The Falcons know that Baker, who protects quarterback Matt Ryan’s blind side on passing plays, will struggle at some point this season.

“We’ve got 16 more tests to go in the regular season,” McClure said. “I’m sure he’s going to have his ups and downs like any rookie, but he’s real confident.”

Blalock started 14 games as a rookie and struggled at times in pass protection.

“Justin has made tremendous progress from where he was last year at this point,” McClure said. “He’s learning the game. I think he’s come a little bit into his own. He’s more relaxed and he’s able to go out and be aggressive.”

Dahl’s a scrapper. He was noticed after getting in a few fights during the offseason. He has the requisite nasty attitude that new offensive line coach Paul Boudreau and assistant offensive line coach Paul Dunn are looking for.

“That’s one thing the coaching staff has stressed, playing until you hear the whistle and sometimes a little bit beyond,” McClure said. “Those guys don’t like getting blocked. Their tempers may flare a little bit. The only thing we have to control is stuff after the whistle. We can’t have penalties setting drives back, putting us in long situations. As long as we stay aggressive within the whistle, we’ll be fine.”

Edited September 1, 2008 by DrReality