Falcons moves and who will we draft.

[jy23]

Buzz they picked up Bear Pascoe a couple of weeks ago, so I figured they wouldn't waste a pick on that. This class was pretty weak for TEs.

[Buzzard]

Buzz they picked up Bear Pascoe a couple of weeks ago, so I figured they wouldn't waste a pick on that. This class was pretty weak for TEs.

You can't replace a Tony Gonzales so I was not overly concerned we would try ;) I think drafting Freeman will help with regards to our passing attack. Other than being short, he is a perfect back for Matt to check down to, plus screens, and he is not bad at all running deeper mid range routes. Give him a little space and Freeman will create yards after the catch.

[WraithSentinel]

I really like the Freeman pick. Rest of the picks I do not know anything about. I do see they added depth at the LB position which is was we needed. Overall very good draft for the Falcons. I'd prob give them a B or B+ for this draft.

[WraithSentinel]

Draft recap with TD and Smith take on the picks.

http://espn.go.com/blog/atlanta-falcons/post/_/id/5430/falcons-dimitroff-smith-reflect-on-draft

Edited May 11, 2014 by WraithSentinel

[Buzzard]

My take: revised

The great: Freeman, Hageman, Mathews will all get time as starters this year.

The good: Southward and Shembo will push starters from day one. Spruill is a steal and a great athlete. He could turn out to be a solid cover linebacker and blitzer.

The average: Allen, Smallwood, Star: special team players with potential.

Allen was drafted ahead of Spruill based on need; he has a chance to be a nickel back. Spruill has the most talent and upside which is why we traded up to take him. Smallwood is a could be starter one day but he needs to focus on every down. Don't know much about Star; but they say he is a good athlete.

[jy23]

Allen is a lot better than you're giving him credit for. Out of all I the picks after the 4th round he was my favorite. Ballhawk with great instincts and a hell of an attitude on the field. I'm looking at him being a big steal, can easily be the starting nickel this year if McClain doesn't step it up.

Edited May 13, 2014 by jy23

[jy23]

@coachx haven't gotten your take on the draft yet...what you think?

[coachx]

@coachx haven't gotten your take on the draft yet...what you think?

TD bucked his trend of trading up and reaching for need. I respect his ability to stay put in this draft and take the BPA more often then he has in the past.

The Falcons coaches chance to coach the Senior Bowl, for a week, gave them a leg up on other franchises. The most nervous time for scouts and coaches is that first rookie practice. Well, our coaches and scouts already got a week of that at the Senior Bowl. Just as importantly they sat with them, ate with them, basically lived with them for a week. They got to see how the interact with other players and coaches. They could see who works harder then others and who takes hard coaching. This played a big part in the drafting of Round 2 Ra'Shede Hageman and in Round 3 with Dezman Southward.

Round 1: Jake Matthews OT - Atlanta was able to take both BPA and fill 1 of their 2 major needs here. Many people have called him the lowest risk player in the draft. Hopefully that is true. He will start day 1 at RT........and not if, but when, Sam Baker gets hurt he will be our LT for the next 10 years. Matt Ryan took the 4th most sacks in the NFL last year. Hopefully that will never happen again.

Atlanta tried to move from pick #37 to the end of the 1st round to get Dee Ford. This would have been the speed edge rusher we need. However, he off the board at pick #23. Then Dallas traded up to he 1st pick in the 2nd round to take then edge rusher off the board in Lawrence from Boise St.

Round 2: Ra'Shede Hageman ( DT / DE) - Rather then reaching for a speed rusher on the edge (both Ford and Lawrence were off the board) Atlanta took the best player available. At 6'6'' / 310 lbs he reminds me of former Pro Bowler Richard Seymore. He has the build of a proto-type 3-4 DE who will line up over tall and long OT's on most plays. Mayock called him 1st round talent in the 2nd round. You have to love that ! His weakness was consistency. Atlanta now has a very deep D-Line where players should be able to stay fresh and play with high energy more consistently. I love his attitude. In an interview he said he had no problem playing NT in a 3-4.............many players hate that position. I also love the Michael Oher story with him. He seems like he will be a humble hard worker. Coaches were able to see him for a week at the Senior Bowl where he was reported to be the most dominant D-Lineman there.

Round 3: Dezmen Southward ( FS / CB) - Many people thought this was a reach to fill the need of losing Thomas DeCoud. He was not able to work out at the combine due to a minor bleep on an X-Ray of his 5th vertabrae. Out of precaution he was held out of combine workouts. However, Falcons doctors gave the green light to draft him. The Falcons were also able to coach him for a week at the Senior Bowl. That adds comfort in this pick. At his pro day he ran a 3.38 in the 40 yard dash. That is unreal for 6' / 211 lbs FS / CB. He played both FS and nickle back in college. His versatility to play S and move down in the slot, when the offense audibles, to cover a WR in man coverage is HUGE. Neither DeCoud nor Moore have the ability to do that. When he moves down in the box he has the size to play the run and the speed to cover a WR. I hope we got a steal here. He has the speed to cover more ground the DeCoud and shows much better hands then DeCoud..........who was known for dropping INTs.

Round 4: Devonta Freeman (RB) - Atlanta took him here for his versatility. ( Jaquezz Rodgers has over 50 receptions in back to back seasons at RB.) I expect even more short passes to RBs to make up for all the dump offs that went to Tony Gonzalez. Freeman has exceptional hands, good speed, good "wiggle", and can lower his pads a little bit. I think he will steal some carriers from Jaquezz Rodgers if he can learn the system quickly and prove he can run with a little more power then Rodgers. He is just a littler bit bigger and a little bit faster then Rodgers.....so hopefull he can get that extra yard after contact that Rodgers struggles to do. I was really impressed with him in interviews. He came from the worst ghetto in Miami but worked as a teenager to help his mom buy school uniforms and food for his 6 younger siblings. He has a level of maturity that I really like.

Round 4 -Prince Shembo (OLB / DE) - He fits well as a 3-4 OLB who can rush the passer and drop back in coverage. He measured at only 6'1'' but weighed a solid 253 lbs. However, his reach is 33 1/8''.........almost the same as Jake Matthews. So despite his short frame he has the arm length to match up with most OT's. He was measured with a 38.5'' vertical jump showing he has some fast twitch explosion on the edge. His 40 time was an average 4.71. I really think Mike Nolan can use utilize him well. He fell in this draft due to the controversy regarding the Notre Dame female student who committed suicide 10 after accusing Notre Dame football players of sexual assault. However, policy cleared him and no charges were pressed. TD has a reputation of avoiding players with character concerns. He was asked about this in his draft press conference and stated they did a thorough investigation on his background and were comfortable adding him to the roster.

Round 5: Ricardo Allen (CB) - He was one of those corners that if he had been 2'' taller he could have been a 1st or 2nd round pick. However, he is a solid 187 lbs and tackles very well. He ran a 4.49 in hte 40 yard dash showing good speed. He was a rare 4 year starter at Purdue starting all 12 gamesas freshman. He has excellent ball skills accumulating 6 INTs last season at Purdue and ranks 2nd in the schools all time history with 13 career INTs. He returned 4 of those INTs for TDs. Hopefully he can make the team as the 4th CB and play in the Dime Defense. Despite his height he also racked up 14.5 TFL in his career showing that, despite his stature, he can play run support and spy a scrambling QB. He played much of his senior season hurt after suffering a high ankle sprain in Game 1.

After this Atlanta took 1 ILB and 2 more OLBs who look like good fits in a 3-4. I believe all 3 of them were either Team Captains or Co-Captains. I have never seen any of them play so won't comment on them. Hopefully they get a diamond in the rough here and add depth and competition to the LB positions.

Edited May 13, 2014 by coachx

[frosgrim]

@coachx,

Great write-up on the draft. I really like this draft. Finally we are building from the inside out. Hageman could be a force both at DT and DE. In looking at him, he could actually add more bulk, which is amazing. Dude has all the physical tools to be a dominant force on the D-line.

A lot of fans don't like the Southward pick, I'm actually good with it. As Coach mentions, Nolan had a week with the kid and knows what he can do on defense. Getting a guy that can play the slot and drop back as a FS is critical in today's pass-happy NFL.

Getting significant depth at LB was a critical issue for this team and the Falcons addressed it. I would still like the team to pick up a vet FA to help some of these young guys learn how to play LB in the NFL. There is almost no experience in the LB corps right now.

[jy23]

Great write up coach....I agree with pretty much everything you said. It took me a minute to get on board with the Southward pick but after doing some research and listening to some experts talk about him I feel a lot better about the pick. Spirilla out of Syracuse will be the one to make the biggest contribution from the other lbs drafted in my opinion. He has a fire and a nasty about him that I love

Edited May 13, 2014 by jy23

[HawkItus]

I have to give an incomplete. If we go to the 3/4 base defense, it was a good draft. If we play base 4/3 then we don't have then I really need to see the coaching staff coach up Goodman and our other d ends. We lack experience at fs...might cost us. I think some OL depth would have been nice...C to be specific.

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[jy23]

We're going to stay multiple like we've been doing, now we just really have the personel to do it more effectively. We actually play more nickel than anything else anyway.

[Buzzard]

Given our free agent signings and this draft, we are bigger, deeper, and more talented. The Saints are the cream of the crop on defense in our division but I think its going to be very very hard to run on us this season.

Some fans think run defense is irrelevant but seven of the top ten rushing teams made the playoffs. Hopefully our secondary and linebacking core grow together and we improve against the pass.

With the loss of Tony, I can see us trying to replace some of those reps with passes to our running backs; which is why I love the Freeman pick. He is obviously not as big a target. But the book on him is he catches the ball away from his body, just like a wide receiver.

Our offense when healthy can put up 30 points on anyone, the key is keeping the other team from scoring 30. Two straight drafts with the majority of picks going towards defense, we should start seeing some real improvements this season.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Buzzard

[Buzzard]

We're going to stay multiple like we've been doing, now we just really have the personel to do it more effectively. We actually play more nickel than anything else anyway.

We will still play hybrid at times. But with this draft and our free agent signings, I see a lot more 3/4 being played this season.

[Buzzard]

Allen is a lot better than you're giving him credit for. Out of all I the picks after the 4th round he was my favorite. Ballhawk with great instincts and a hell of an attitude on the field. I'm looking at him being a big steal, can easily be the starting nickel this year if McClain doesn't step it up.

I did say Allen could be our nickel; especially with his tackling and ball hawk skills. But he will never be our starting corner unless we have some injury issues. Spruill will get a shot at starting some day and worse case is he comes in on passing downs. He has the speed to drop back in coverage or edge rush; and was my favorite pick after the 4th round.

[WraithSentinel]

Probably the pick that had everyone questioning was Southward. He remain the only un-sign draft pick and is holding out.

[jy23]

I have read nothing about him holding out....and he's been at all the offseason activities.