Atlanta Falcons Need a Youth Movement to Right the Ship: With the Atlanta Falcons currently having a losing record, it doesnt make sense to play the same aging and slow players for the majority of the snap counts. The veterans need to stay fresh for the fourth quarter when their experience is needed. Atlanta has been competitive in five of the six games they played, as they either led heading into the fourth quarter or were down by only a single score when the fourth quarter started. The Falcons are 2-3 in these competitive games, with the losses resulting from fourth-quarter collapses. When breaking down what the real issue is behind these fourth quarter woes, it comes out that the Falcons play guys like Steven Jackson or Paul Soliai over the younger, stronger, faster players on the roster who perform better earlier in games when they are inserted in lower-pressure situations. If the Falcons kept their veterans from taking the majority of the snaps, they would have fresher players in the fourth quarter when they really need them. That crucial 4th-and-1 at an enemys 30-yard line would be easier to get with a fresher Jackson over a guy like Devonta Freeman. That being said, this issue involves the entire team—running back, offensive line, defensive line and off the edge of the defense. The Falcons need to make sure that the RaShede Hageman-types, the younger guys who need the reps to develop, now get the wear and tear instead of veterans like Jonathan Babineaux, who should have their snap counts monitored more closely. Running Back Its the snap counts divvied up at this position that show how illogical the coaching staffs approach to playing time has been. Through six games, Antone Smith has just 60 snaps, and hes been arguably the Falcons best running back. The second-best back has easily been Jacquizz Rodgers, as hes shown the best pass-blocking prowess. However, the fact that Steven Jackson has seen nearly 160 snaps through six games is a bit ridiculous—especially since hes the oldest player at running back and has the most mileage on his tires with nearly 3,100 career touches and over 14,500 career yards. The Falcons should get him to his milestones of 11,000 yards on the ground and 15,000 yards total by the end of this year and help further improve his chances for making the Hall of Fame. But they also need to focus on getting touches to the more explosive backs on the roster. Rodgers has a shiftiness, despite being arguably the slowest straight-line speed of any running back the Falcons have. Hes also an asset as a receiver, especially on screen passes. Freeman is similar, but he has a good bit more speed and is much rawer as a pass-blocker. The real key is Smith. The Falcons dont play him as much because they say hes not a great pass-blocker. Pro Football Focus has him with just one hurry allowed on his eight pass blocks all year. That seems at least serviceable given what he really provides. The issue right now is that the Falcons arent properly spreading the ball between their running backs. Jackson is getting 13 touches per game, but Rodgers, Smith and Freeman each average somewhere between four and six touches per game. The Falcons need to change that around. Jackson should only see around five or six touches per game, because he doesnt have the speed to do anything more than take advantage of what the offensive line gives him. Hes an ideal short-yardage back at this point. The other 20-25 touches per game need to be split evenly between Freeman, Smith and Rodgers. Atlanta needs to make sure each of these three backs gets to touch the ball in every quarter. They need to make sure to develop the 22-year-old Freeman and 25-year-old Rodgers while Smith (29) showcases his explosiveness on the field. Running back is the one spot that teams can replace pretty easily due to the abundance of talent throughout the league. But when you have a potential Hall of Fame player and three quick-strike running backs, it makes sense to let the potential Hall of Famer take the big chunk of snaps off and use him only when you really need him. If Jackson is fresh heading into the fourth quarter, they can use him to close out games. And right now, the Falcons have shown they can play competent football for three quarters. If they can switch to a ground-and-pound style in the fourth, relying on the power of Jackson and the speed of the other three running backs, they can rest their defense for those crucial moments—and hopefully score some more points while they are at it. Offensive Line The issue with the offensive line isnt that the Falcons are playing someone old. Gabe Carimi is just 26-years-old, but he is way too slow to handle the current pass-rushers in todays NFL. Ryan Schraeder has shown himself to be a much better athlete than the banged-up Carimi. Schraeder benefits from having backgrounds in boxing and basketball. The bigger issue that Carimi faces is that he isnt as good of a pass-blocker as even the rookie version of Schraeder. Carimi through 333 snaps this season and 225 pass blocks has allowed three sacks, five hits and eight hurries. Through 315 snaps and 207 total pass blocks in 2013, his rookie campaign, Schraeder allowed four sacks, no hits and 12 hurries. However, Schraeder was put at a disadvantage due to poor play at the right guard position—play that free agent Jon Asamoah has rectified. Asamoah has proven to be the Falcons best lineman this season after the Falcons dealt with a revolving door of awfulness at the same position in 2013. The Falcons need to put the right person flanking his right side at tackle; such a move will only help the offense. The stabilization of the left tackle spot by Jake Matthews has only helped the rest of the line. Peter Konz also should start looking better once the rest of the line isnt completely banged up. But if the Falcons continually trot out a slow player like Carimi at right tackle, its only going to hurt the unit and, by extension, the offense. Lamar Holmes was doing well at right tackle too, but he went down for the season with a foot injury. Ideally, the Falcons would play a line that, from left to right, consists of Matthews, Justin Blalock, Konz, Asamoah and Schraeder. That would be the strongest and most athletic group they could field, and the unit also would benefit from the nastiness demonstrated so far this season by Asamoah and Schraeder. So for the love of Matt Ryans rib cage, the Falcons have to use Carimi only as a reserve lineman for the rest of the year. Hes proven to have value, but its Schraeder who deserves a shot to help rectify the offensive line issues that have popped up since Holmes and Hawley went down for the season two weeks ago. Defensive Line and Edge Players The biggest cause of the Falcons fourth-quarter woes can be found in their defense. Through the first three quarters of games, the Falcons defense in 2014 has allowed an average of 5.9 points per quarter. If they could maintain their first three-period defense over the entire game every week, they would be allowing 23.7 points per game on defense. Good enough for 20th in the NFL but a significant improvement over the teams present ranking (29th). The real issue is that the Falcons have allowed 63 points in the fourth quarters of games this year. Thats an average of 10.5 points per quarter (or what would be a league worst 42.0 points per game). The defense goes from respectable to the worst in the league the minute the third quarter ends. The secondary doesnt exactly need a youth movement either, as three 2013 draft picks—Robert Alford, Desmond Trufant and Kemal Ishmael—are now starting. The Falcons also have a relatively young player in Robert McClain splitting time at nickel and 2014 draft pick Dezmen Southward is getting snaps as the third safety. So the issues comes down to the front six or seven players. In addition to possibly playing Jonathan Babineaux out of position at right defensive end in four-man alignments, the Falcons play the 33-year-old on way too many snaps. Through six games, hes almost been on the field for 300 snaps already. A DE of that age playing over 65 percent of the seasons snaps is a bit ridiculous. The Falcons need to do a better job of rotating Babineaux in and out of the lineup. Tyson Jackson and Paul Soliai are also playing right at 50 percent of the defensive snaps, so they should have their snaps cut down just a bit—again, so that they can be fresher later in the games. Having played 314 snaps through six games, Kroy Biermann is also on the field way too much. Hes not effective enough in his current role as an every-down defensive end, so the Falcons need to make sure they put the right guys on the field at the right times. The concerns over snap distribution become quite apparent when analyzing the front seven. Linemen Corey Peters, Malliciah Goodman, RaShede Hageman and Jonathan Massaquoi and linebacker Joplo Bartu are not playing enough. (DE Stansly Maponga is not even playing at all.) Theres raw talent in these six players; the Falcons just dont give them enough opportunity to make an impact. Atlanta should look into the following rotation for their defensive linemen and edge players up front for the first three quarters of games: Strong-side 3-4 or 4-3 Defensive End The idea here would be to have the strong side taken care of by a rotation of Tyson Jackson and Malliciah Goodman. Jackson should play mostly on running downs while Goodman would come in and rush the quarterback in obvious passing situations. Nose Tackle Paul Soliai would be the main NT on first down, given his prowess as a run defender. Similar to the Jackson-Goodman rotation at defensive end, RaShede Hageman would be inserted on passing downs. Hageman would do better lined up in the 1-technique to help maximize his explosiveness and ability to penetrate. Peters seeing some snaps here to keep Babineaux on the field is helpful too. Under Tackle/Weak-side 3-4 Defensive End Corey Peters should be the main defender at under tackle on running downs. However, he should also get a shot as a pass-rusher. Rotating him here and at nose tackle should get him enough snaps to be effective. Hageman seeing some snaps here would be nice as well. Babineaux should be the featured pass-rusher for from interior in passing situations. Weak-side 4-3 Defensive End/Weak-side 3-4 Outside Linebacker This is the role that John Abraham used to play, and its the role that should be given to Jonathan Massaquoi. Hes a solid run defender, and rotating him to keep him fresh wouldnt be a bad idea. Stansly Maponga could come in on run downs, and Osi Umenyiora could be inserted on passing downs. Strong-side 3-4/4-3 Outside Linebacker Joplo Bartu is a better outside linebacker than inside linebacker. With a healthy Prince Shembo returning, the Falcons should have Bartu move back to his more comfortable strong-side linebacker role. Rotating in a fresh Biermann on passing downs and Maponga on running downs would allow both players to develop and get Bartu some well-needed breathers. As you can see, this distribution of playing time would result in a drastic decrease in snaps for long-term veterans, while the younger guys would eat up the most reps. It breaks down as follows on the per-player snap rotation: By using these players in this rotation, the Falcons would keep their players fresh enough to maintain a pass rush for the entire game. Theyd be able to test the pass-rushing prowess of some of their younger linemen while also having the right players in the right positions to succeed. Ideally, the Falcons would see these young players improve with such a trial-by-fire approach. Then, later in games, Atlanta could have some rested veterans who know how to get the job done in clutch situations. This could be the solution to help with the defensive collapses. Because allowing double-digit points in the fourth quarter is just way too much to win in the NFL. Its what has been killing the Falcons all season. More Reps for Younger Players Will Help Them Grow Faster Tom Brady once said in an interview with Michael Lombardi on NFL, Theres only one way to improve, and thats to get reps and to be under the gun. What that implies, of course, is that when a young player doesnt get reps, he doesnt get better. Its tough for a player to grow when he doesnt have the chance to come in and show what hes made of. When it comes to the Atlanta Falcons, they have a ton of players who need more reps than they are seeing. Those players are all around the team. Atlanta has a player-usage issue, and the Falcons need to address who is seeing the most snaps at a number of positions. They need to look at touches at running back. They also have to completely replace an experienced starter along the offensive line because of ineffectiveness. Within the front seven, the Falcons havent been playing the right players in the right spots. Theres just too many logical inconsistencies with how the personnel is being used, and it just makes sense to put the guys who need experience out there to learn and grow. At this point, you know what you have in Paul Soliai, Tyson Jackson, Jonathan Babineaux and the like. Why not allow some of the younger players to get some playing time? With the team on a downward spiral, what is there to really lose? Some pride? Some games? Sure, this may be a Hail Mary of sorts. But honestly, is there any other better idea? Because if head coach Mike Smith doesnt hit on a Hail Mary or two from this point on, the Falcons will be looking for other options this offseason. And general manager Thomas Dimitroff might be heading out with him. All stats used are from Pro Football Focus Premium Stats (subscription required), ESPN, CFBStats or NFL. All combine and pro day info is courtesy of NFLDraftScout. All contract information is courtesy of Spotrac and Rotoworld. Scott Carasik is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He covers the Atlanta Falcons, college football, the NFL and the NFL draft. He also runs DraftFalcons. Follow @ScottCarasik Read more NFL news on BleacherReport #NFL #NFCSouth #AtlantaFalcons #Opinion
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 21:50:11 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015