Falcons Shore Up Troubled Secondary In Two Short Days

We’re on a roll! The secondary is officially a non-concern for me.

 I have felt that we’d probably be ok, but there was still that nagging sensation, like when you think you might have forgotten to use protection that night of the wild party.

The results are in… deep breath. Ahhhh everything is fine and rosy once again in Falcon land.

What’s next?

I feel pretty good about the secondary, which has been a primary concern for this team.

Ill feel better when I see the new signings in action however. Then again, not exactly hard to be better than the guys after moore/decoud and grimes/robinson

You can tell we expect to compete for a Super Bowl because of moves like this. In past years we would have let the rookies get some playing time if they are competent and see if they can grow into their potential. Now I feel like we need production, and we’re not going to mess around if no one shows they can handle the job. Nice work by TD here, and it definitely makes this team better.

CHECKMATE!

I remind you that we have another corner on the roster who has started his fair share of games in the past. I present to you… Chris Owens. Now, one man’s trash can be another man’s treasure (simply ask any Lions fan about Chris Houston). But I’m not getting too excited about that signing yet. I see it as a veteran presence who can provide tips, mentor, but also push both players to play better (although if a head to head competition doesn’t push them, will a third party make a huge difference?). The Sanders signing I really like. I don’t think he will start, but he should contribute on special teams, and provide some good rest for the starters. Good signings overall, but nothing to get too excited about.

but what about Center? Todd McClure will be out for a little while, and I don’t know about YOU, but I’m worried about two first-time starters side-by-side on the interior line. I wonder if we’ve even debated Andre Gurode from the Cowboys. I know he’s 33, but he’s also a former Pro Bowler and a better injury fill-in for McClure than anybody else on the roster at the moment.

I thought that was against the rules! Seriously, Good pickups, depth problem taken care of, giving the kids a chance to learn some more without being thrown to the wolves.

Indy’s DB coach Allan Williams does wonders with Safeties (Broken Bob Sanders, Bethea, Bullitt), but his coaching makes good corners (like Tim Jennings) look terrible. He’s been doing it for 10 years now, and there’s no sign of him leaving. Hayden is an incredible talent, and a smart guy. He played WR til his Junior year at Illinois, and he knows how receivers think. He can also jam one at the line, but the Colts just don’t do that very much. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb to say Hayden will look better in Atlanta then he did in Indy. He won’t have Williams telling him to play 12 yards off the line of scrimmage on a 2nd or 3rd and short. I think your defensive backfield just got stronger. I’d look for him to at least work his way up to the Nickel, maybe start.

We needed depth at Safety and at Corner. I think though we needed these guys for Special teams too. Our Kickoff coverage in the preseason was probably the worst in the league.

We really needed these guys and anyone who’s sceptical hasn’t been watching our preseason games so far.

Franks hasn’t stepped up and took control of the nickel spot, Chris Owens looks like Chris Houston and our safety play when the second unit rolls in stinks.

That might be a steal! The guy is a solid cover corner and can definitely play the nickel! I’m excited to see him out there on Thursday!

I do’t think we needed superstars, just solid, dependable veterans who are used to a similar scheme to the one we use. I think they learned from past experiences not to wait to fix a problem in the D backfield until the season starts.

The madden ratings stink….i guess that’s not news.

I think this might knock out both Bush and Walls out of the roster with Sanders and Hayden coming in. I like Rafael Bush quite a bit. In fact, I like him so much, I would consider cutting Owens instead of Bush, who is versatile and a good special teamer.

Our ST should look very good:

Dent, Biermann, Mo-Pete (maybe), Franks/Owens, Sanders, (With Hayden playing nickle, I expect Franks/Owens to jump on ST), Weems…I don’t see how kickoffs were returned against us last year. These guys better step up this year.

increases the likelihood that Owens doesn’t see the field has to be considered a win.

Win!

I’m not overly excited about Hayden. He hasn’t played more than 11 games since 2007, and hasn’t been very good since 2008… but he can contribute. I think I would call giving up on Owens already a “downside” (if that’s what ends up happening).

There is no doubt this helps the team, though.

I like what the front office has done to address the secondary situation now if teams spread the field with 3 and 4 receiver sets the falcons defense can match up better with hayden and sanders i honestly hope the team atleast ponders trying to bring in another cornerback.if bryant mcfadden should get cut by the steelers[not sure it will happen] signing him for 1 or 2 years would be a great move and really would give our secondary greater depth and flexability when teams spread the field in 3 or 4 wide sets.what really bugs me about the falcons defense is why does BVG insist on dropping the defensive ends into coverage i really am not a fan of that at alltheir job is to pressure the quarterback but any way enough of my rambling great signings by TD.