Is The Falcon Cornerback Depth Chart Really Wide Open?

by Dave Choate on Jul 25, 2010 8:00 AM EDT in Falcons News

From the grain of salt department that brought you Peria Jerry's knee concerns comes this Sunday's discussion thread.

We're discussing a ProFootballWeekly report this time around, and it's got nothing to do with the defensive line. Instead, we're grappling with "some observers" who see Brian Williams as the front-runner for the job opposite Dunta Robinson. By now, you should have a pretty clear idea how I feel about that possibility.

The PFW report characterizes it as an open battle between BW, Chris Owens, Brent Grimes and Chevis Jackson. I think we can safely eliminate Jackson from consideration for a starting spot, unless he turns up to camp looking like a new man. That leaves Grimes, Owens and Williams. I've said before that I think Williams is a valuable player, even at this stage in his career, but he's no starter. Owens or Grimes should be given every opportunity to win a spot, and I fervently hope they will get that.

But what I really want to hear is what you think. Do you believe this will be an open competition? If so or if not, who will win?

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Brian Williams

He looked a cut above the rest before his injury last year. I have him to play above expectations.

Remember im the first guy to ever notice Jason Snellings talents so im pretty much God…..

go hard or go home

by TO falcon on Jul 25, 2010 8:21 AM EDT reply actions

I think it's an open competition

The beauty is that it’s not an open competition for two corner spots. Surely we can find one.

I see Williams as a steady player, nothing special, but will be in the right place at the right time. If Owens is the real deal, however, he should be able to beat out Williams to start outside. I love Grimes in the slot but not up against 6’4 wide receivers on the outside, even though his leaping ability continues to amaze me.

by LetsGoFalcons on Jul 25, 2010 9:19 AM EDT reply actions

Who knows

if Williams is even his old self again with his injury last year. Brent Grimes is really short despite his 19 foot vertical, and Chevis Jackson is just a sub-par corner at best, I feel it is a very open competition and we should be able to atleast find something that works

Chicago Blackhawks = Champs
Let football season begin. GO FALCONS!

by mc29012 on Jul 25, 2010 9:31 AM EDT reply actions

What about Franks?

I’m pretty sure Owens/Grimes are going to both see time opposite DR23. I personally feel if DR23 is playing well that we are stacked. Remember Grimes didn’t start the whole season I think only 6 or 7 games and he still amassed 6 pix.

Rule #1: Double tap.

by Ball Hawk on Jul 25, 2010 11:35 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

I like Franks

I seriously doubt he’s in the conversation as a starter in his first year. As a matter of fact, he may not even make the active roster/boot Jackson if the team is serious about carrying or starting Williams.

by Dave Choate on Jul 25, 2010 12:13 PM EDT up reply actions

If he's on the practice squad

Some other team will sign him to their active roster immediately. If Wilfrey Fontenot III and William Middleton can get signed off our squad, Franks (having significantly more value) will no doubt follow in turn.

by TheAreopagite on Jul 25, 2010 8:42 PM EDT up reply actions

We would be insane to put Franks on the practice squad.

He was a steal where we drafted him. He could’ve easily gone in the 3rd or higher, and as far as I know, he’s said and done all the right things. I’m not sure if injury or character was a concern in college. It probably was not character, as we’ve stayed away from character issues since Comrade/Smitty’s arrival.

I’m going to very briefly count up the offensive/defensive projections to see where we stand. This is me going quickly and guessing on some, so be nice.

QB – 3 (Duh, duh, and duh)
WR – 6 (Roddy, Jenks, HD, Meier, Wolfe, Harvey) Iffy on Finn here, I’m gonna say he’s gone.
TE – 3 (Gonzo, Peelle, Peek)
OL – like 9 (Clabo, Dahl, McClure, Johnson, Hawley, Ojinnaka, Reynolds, Baker, and that one backup I can’t remember. Actually Klecko works.)
RB – 4 (Turner, Norwood, Snelling, Mughelli)

Offense has 3+6+3+like9+4 = 25.
ST has Koenen, Bryant, Zelenka, so we’re up to 28 players. 53 – 28 = 25.

DT – 5 (JA98, Jerry, Walker, Johnson, Babs)
DE – 3 (JA55, Beer, Sid)
LB – 6 (Peterson, Spoon, Lofton, Wire, Adkins, Nicholas) I almost wanna say Wire’s gonna be a numbers casualty, but we’ll see.
S – 4 (Coleman, DeCoud, Giorgiano/Schillinger, Moore)

That leaves…….25-4-6-3-5 = 7.

DB – Dunta, Grimes, Owens, Jackson, Franks. That’s 5, and that leaves 2 spots to play with (Which are probably taken on the DL somewhere, and probably should be filled up with linemen, but I digress.)

That also leaves 2 spots in case I forgot anyone. Finn could easily be one of those two spots, and that lineup also gives plenty of room for our new rookies, especially the three receivers, any of which could be a star in this league. I know we haven’t talked about Ryan Wolfe much, but he has all sorts of college records. He could be a dark horse in the WR running this year.

I’m probably expecting a bit much from the rookie receivers, but that’s for another topic. I’m very excited to see who wins the DB spot opposite Dunta. Whoever it is will have earned it, that’s for sure.

"Ryan, under center. Single receiver set, to either side. Ryan, gonna throw. First professional pass.....CAUGHT!! Jenkins! 30! 25! 20! 15! 10! 5! He lives in Atlanta!!!" -Wes Durham

by Zippo729 on Jul 25, 2010 10:03 PM EDT up reply actions

You missed

Chauncey Davis from the Defensive Line. Hes virtually a starter.

go hard or go home

by TO falcon on Jul 26, 2010 8:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Where is Corey Peters?

I belong to NO ONE...and no one belongs to ME.

by brotherbrown on Jul 27, 2010 5:40 PM EDT up reply actions

B. Williams is done.

They only brought him back in the off-chance that the corners we have were significantly worse than last year. Almost like a “you bring enough of them, you’re bound to find two good ones.”

Obviously, Dunta is on one side. They didn’t spend that much money on him to have him sit on the bench.

Last year, they were comfortable (whether by choice or not) with Owens/Grimes on the field. I think Owens has the most to gain this year and will be starting opposite of Dunta. Grimes, as much as we love him, is just too short to start. However, his magnetism to footballs should land him safely in the nickel spot. At that point Chevis Jackson and Franks can just be backups, at least until Franks proves himself to be better or worse than one of the current two players.

"Ryan, under center. Single receiver set, to either side. Ryan, gonna throw. First professional pass.....CAUGHT!! Jenkins! 30! 25! 20! 15! 10! 5! He lives in Atlanta!!!" -Wes Durham

by Zippo729 on Jul 25, 2010 1:04 PM EDT reply actions 3 recs

Rec’d.

Williams will be cut. And you’re dead on about everything else.

by FrankyWren on Jul 25, 2010 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't know yet

I think Brian Williams is the most experienced, but if we were starting the most experienced Grady Jackson would still be on the team. Not just to play, but also to cut his teammates hair. Brent Grimes is the most athletic, and I could see him starting for the first few games. Owens is still just coming into year two, and I think if he continues to shine he will end up the starter for the majority of the regular season and the playoffs.

by Mattyice318 on Jul 25, 2010 2:49 PM EDT reply actions

i might be late but

does anybody know when the single game tickets go on sale??? tryna get the monday night tickets in december asap. will be my first time going. thanx

by DEMBIRDZCUZ! on Jul 25, 2010 6:57 PM EDT up reply actions

The way I see it, is the 2nd spot is for Owens to lose. He is entering his 2nd year, and BW is coming off a knee injury and is at the end of his career. He will be slower, but his experience, like Mike Peterson for Sean Weatherspoon will be invaluable. Grime will most likely be the nickelback,

If Owens plays poorly I see BW taking the spot back over until Owens is ready. BW will not be cut, and I think Franks will be relegated to Weem’s spot. Weem’s will most likely be demoted back to the practice squad this year, considering Douglas is returning, and if Meier makes the final cut, there will be no room for him.

I don’t know about William Moore, but the way people talk about him, he should have an impact this year. With Thomas Decoud stepping up, our secondary should be much better this year.

On a side note, anyone else think we should have drafted Darelle Revis instead of JA98 in 2007? Of course you do .

by Whyte Bler 000 on Jul 25, 2010 10:02 PM EDT reply actions

Hindsight is 20/20, as they say.

We had no way to know Revis would be a superbeast. You win some, you lose some.

"Ryan, under center. Single receiver set, to either side. Ryan, gonna throw. First professional pass.....CAUGHT!! Jenkins! 30! 25! 20! 15! 10! 5! He lives in Atlanta!!!" -Wes Durham

by Zippo729 on Jul 25, 2010 10:04 PM EDT up reply actions

I gotta believe it's Owens to start the year

o Dunta’s a lock for the one spot. Hopefully, the Houston fans are wrong, because he’s too expensive to warm the bench.
o Williams’ knee isn’t going to ready for prime time until well into the season. I think he’s just not going to recover from the injury as fast as a 23-year-old.
o Jackson will be good IF he can get some of the hunger he had at LSU back.
o Grimes, I gotta agree with Zippo (my favorite Marx brother), is just too little for man coverage. Good for zone, GREAT for nickle or dime.
o Owens played passably well at the end of the season. He covered well and tackled well but needs safety help on the longer bombs.

How many more days, Lord, must I walk through the wilderness?

by AnOldBird on Jul 25, 2010 10:55 PM EDT reply actions

Houston Fans still can't stand us for believing in DR23

It’s almost like if another team took JA98 or MJ12 and CH23 (to Det and saying he’s their savior) or how Arkansas Razorbacks got their third year coach (you know who I’m talking about) and I believe they are loving him.

I have reason to believe we will see both sides of Dunta Robinson good and bad this season because Texans and us Falcons fans i believe have merit in our beliefs of him.
Moreso I think the good will shine at least at first. You can fill in the blank later depending on circumstances.

I belong to NO ONE...and no one belongs to ME.

by brotherbrown on Jul 27, 2010 6:04 PM EDT up reply actions

CBs

I love you optimistic guys, there are two major issues.

One is a solid number 2 corner probably isn’t on the roster.
Two, can Dunta play to his contract, is he a shutdown CB? The last three years he has been ~half of what he was the first three.

Normally, TD overreaches in the draft, he may have done it on a free agent this time.

by Whopper Dawg on Jul 25, 2010 11:06 PM EDT reply actions

Owens

will be a solid number 2 DB. All the DB’s will play better with an improved pass rush.

Also, explain how TD has over reached in the draft. It’s easy to make comments without a down being played.

by mwalex on Jul 25, 2010 11:19 PM EDT up reply actions

To my knowledge, Dunta's contract was loaded with incentives.

There was a huge commotion here about how much we were paying him, but most of it was incentives based, if I remember right.

Anywho, you can’t really claim a GM has “reached” for anything past the third round at the absolute latest, because at that point there’s no guarantee you’re going to get anything at all.

‘08
R1, Ryan (Top QB, we knew what we were getting, we got it.)
R1, Baker (Franchise LT with potential injury problems. Can’t really call it a reach because that was his projected value, late first.)
R2, Lofton (A safe pick and one to build a D around. Did I mention it was a safe pick, yet one of need?)

Picks in terms of “reaching” tend to fizzle out by R3 because most if not all of the big names are off the board and the later talent is less evaluated than the earlier birds. By R3, sexy picks are often replaced with picks of need, unless GMs that are influenced by the Patriot way simply go safe picks the whole way unless there is a surefire home run.

’09
R1, Jerry (Everyone and their brother predicted this one. Again, he went where he was projected.)
R2, Moore (Good value for the talent. More injury problems. A gamble, but not a reach by any means.)

’10
R1, Spoon (2nd early LB in two years, very athletic. experts had him anywhere from top 15 to early 2nd. we were right in the middle. an extremely safe pick with some value, considering where he could have gone.)
R2, Tony Gonzalez (who is this guy)

In terms of free agents, I knew we had a winner when we signed Turner. He may have been a backup, but Turner had 3 of SD’s longest runs EVER, and this was while being a backup? He was the steal of the century.

Tony Gonzalez, I’d liked to have laid an ostrich egg when my dad called me and told me we traded for THE Tony Gonzalez last year. I only wish he wasn’t so old. :(

The thing about TD is that in his career, he has scouted college talent around the entire country. The man knows what to look for in players and if he sees something he likes, he’s bound to pull the trigger on them. I have complete confidence that Dunta will be just fine with us.

"Ryan, under center. Single receiver set, to either side. Ryan, gonna throw. First professional pass.....CAUGHT!! Jenkins! 30! 25! 20! 15! 10! 5! He lives in Atlanta!!!" -Wes Durham

by Zippo729 on Jul 26, 2010 5:09 AM EDT up reply actions

grimes will start

Weatherspoon1stFalconsPick???

by JJWatt1stfalconspick on Jul 26, 2010 2:10 AM EDT reply actions

I'm thinking Owens

But what a good problem to have.

by CollegePark4Life on Jul 26, 2010 10:59 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

1st Post

Don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun, but I just checked the Falcon’s personnel chart: Robinson, 5’10"; Grimes, 5’10; Owens, 5’9". The others are 5’11. I know that these stats aren’t always (often?) accurate, but if height is such a deciding element, doesn’t Grimes get some props, esp. with the six INTs? And all the playing time? I know about Owens’ speed, and he’s good, but it’s going to be decided on the field. Personally, I have a hunch Grimes might edge Owens out: the guy has proved he can get it done. He’s athletic. One of those guys is worth ten with potential.

by steps2 on Jul 29, 2010 2:29 PM EDT reply actions