Why The Falcons Should Draft A Pass Rusher Over A Cornerback

It’s said over and over again, but games are won by either the O or D lines period. The Saints beat the Vikings and Colts by slapping and being in the face of the oppossing QB’s all day.

Might be Dave’s finest post ever…

Our non existent pass rush needs to be priority numero uno. I think our corners will be fine if we have the ability to get to the passer. I am with Fear Me, I would like a proven pass rusher over a rookie. Let Biermann and Sidbury continue to develop and learn from Abe and whomever they bring in.

I TOTALLY AGREE. A shutdown cornerback would be awesome, but we NEED NEED NEED, a pass rusher. We’re set with one of our LB’s Curtis Lofton, but we need a compliment to him & the front 7 with Peria Jerry coming of injury the defense WILL get better, we just need to use our 1st pick on that LB that can step in right away and make an tremendous impact, not to mention we really need a vocal leader, a real fiery guy on that side of the ball. Either way it goes, its still GO FALCONS!!!!

And for several reasons:
1) The successful 4-3 pass defenses I think about either blitz heavily with either straight man-to-man behind or zone blitz concepts (Saints, Eagles); or have two dominating DE’s and usually stick to their vanilla Cover-2 zone (Colts, Vikings). If we’re really trying to move in that direction (I thought we were; VanGorder’s zone blitzes may have been because the thought he had to do something to generate the pressure), we have got to get another pass rushing DE like Everson Griffen or Brandon Graham (or maybe even double up with a FA, too). By the way, I’m working on an analysis of the Pass Rush in 2009 – hopefully, I can have it up soon.
2) I mentioned in another post about Dimitroff’s successes drafting DB’s, but the more I think about it, the more it makes me feel like he should take a shot in the mid-rounds: 2009 Chris Owens Round 3 (too early to tell, but looks promising), 2008 Thomas DeCoud 3rd (compensatory @ end of round, looks like a keeper), and with New England 2005 Ellis Hobbs 3rd, 2005 James Sanders 4th, 2003 Asante Samuel 4th Round.
3) I know the rankings will change some after the Combine, but most of the stuff I’m seeing has several DE’s around the mid to late first, but the CB’s are Joe Haden and a bunch of second round guys.

We had no pass rush in 09. We did however detect our weakness at cb. Houston was an isue coming into this season. Grimes and Owens did well even with a poor pass rush. We could still use some help in the secondary but pass rush is critical. Pay dumervil over peppers anyday.

for the secondary. I would much prefer to bring in a veteran corner who will take the leadership role than drafting a corner in the middle of the draft to throw in with the rest of the group. With the first round pick, I don’t know if there will be a good pash rusher available who is also good against the run. Brandon Graham is a little small to play DE full time. I have not been impressed with Everson Griffen. Dunlap has a lot of questions and he reminds me a lot of Jamaal Anderson (enough said). I think the best value would be an outside linebacker who could work with Peterson and become a great future tandem with Lofton. If a good player slides, I think we grab him . But I think we are going to have to address corner and end in free agency and use the draft to increase depth at our other positions of need.

Not sure If the Draft is the way to go. If the Falcons could land Dummerville or Peppers which is a long shot considering cap money, I’d be stoked as well as the rest of Falcon nation. Pass rush should be addressed first, at least I think so.

“…Spending a first round pick on a cornerback would give us a chance to have a true top-flight cornerback on the field, something I’ve long advocated, but it wouldn’t help us solve the more fundamental problem of getting to the cornerback….” – did you mean to say “…getting to the quarterback”?

Mostly agree with you, but I’d want the team to address the DE need in free agency and not draft, and go after a cornerback in the draft. my reasoning is based on my understanding (I might be wrong) that it takes longer to develop a decent pass rusher and there is greater risk in picking a DE high in the draft and ending up with a bust. I guess it would be interesting to see how the first rounders (DE’s and CB’s) performed over the past, say, 10 years. And since we urgently need an elite pass rusher we can’t wait another year seeing a rookie DE develop. And if we get an elite pass rusher and have Abe on the field on the same plays even his numbers would improve.

And once we improve in taking down the opposing QB with proven veterans (+ maybe a 6-rounder DE) even our secondary + a 1st rounder CB could shine and develop.

I’m actually ok with our secondary as is, provided we bring Brian Williams back. I think the real trouble is the pass rush. I remember how good we looked at the beginning of the year against Miami when we were getting constant pressure on the QB, and it just kind of evaporated after that…. I wouldn’t mind seeing Brandon Graham in a Falcons uniform. However I don’t know what the risk/reward factor is for drafting a 1st round pass rusher… if we really wanted a safe pick, I’d go with Sean Weatherspoon. He looks solid.

we need to improve the pass rush, I would rather try to get a DE (preferably Kampmann who was a beast of a 4-3 DE before GB made the mistake of moving him to OLB in a 3-4) in free agency than rely on the crapshoot that is the NFL draft. We’ve got some competent , if not flashy, DEs to line up opposite of Abe (Sid, Beer-Man, and even the Bust) and don’t forget the return of Jerry, who showed some promise before going down with an injury. Drafting someone who might not be ready to be a full-time starter in the NFL is laden with pitfalls, especially in the first round (JA98 is exhibit “A”)If we DRAFT at DE, we’re still building for the future; if we sign in FA, we’re getting better NOW. That’s how I see it anyway.

because if we sign a big free agent end we get help now, but on the other hand we could end up drafting a franchise defensive end. If you twisted my arm, I would say FA end and draft linebacker or CB.

Get Peppers and Draft a CB hell you could even sign joey porter and move him to DE

about improving the pass rush it would best to talk about DT . How many times have I heard that at the the begining of the year we had a great pass rush . If you collapse the middle you force the QB and his protection to move , once you force him to move you force him and his protection to conform to your attack , thus you control the flow of the play . I like Jerry but he hasn’t yet proven to to have the stamina to play at NFL caliber . If you sign a proven DT you automatically improve the defense as a whole , and if JERRY proves he has the stamina to contend at NFL levels then you have perhaps the best D-LINE in the division , hopefully the conference

It all starts with the D Line…

2008 SuperBowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers front seven:

Aaron Smith 5.5 sacks
Casey Hampton 1.0 sack
Brett Kiesel 1.0 sack
Lamar Woodley 11.5 sacks
James Farrior 3.5 sacks
Larry Foote 1.5 sacks
James Harrison 16 sacks

Name the two starting corners… Ok I’ll tell you.

Ike Taylor (16 games) & Bryan McFadden (8 games) & some other guys not worth mentioning, who combined for 3 int’’s. Granted the X factor on that Defense was Polomalu, however when you have a front seven like they did in 08, Matt Ryan can drop into zone coverage or play man.

Maybe it’s time to implement a 3-4

Peria Jerry in the middle, Babs and Jam Anderson (I guess) with hands on the ground. Lofton and Peterson (for now) as middle backers and Beer Man & Johnny Abes as DE/OLB. Thoughts?