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Falcons Sign CB "Baron" Von Hutchins

By Dave Choate

If this guy happens to read this blog, he's going to have to contend with me calling him Baron Von Hutchins for the duration of his contract. I urge you all to do the same, for we are true Americans.

Unlike Erik Coleman, Hutchins shouldn't be asked to start unless Chris Houston is dead. It's more than a little frightening that we're getting Hutchins from the Texas. Lewis Sanders, as you'll recall, was constantly engulfed in flame thanks to every NFL receiver with two legs. Still, I can't imagine the still just 27 year-old Hutchins being a bad bet if he's signed for a year or two. If Hall is moved, the Falcons will need some veteran fallbacks. Cross your fingers and hope Hutchins is capable.

I'll be looking for comments from Tim at very shortly, so stay tuned.

Update [2008-3-3 1:52:7 by Dave the Falconer]: What's the word? Here's Tim from Battle Red Blog has to say:

My pleasure, Dave. Frankly, I think you guys got a helluva deal by signing Von to a deal for four (4) years, $9 mil, and only $2.35 mil guaranteed. Hutchins isn't going to make you forget about Deion Sanders, but he's a versatile DB who'll be able to play CB or FS. He was forced into the starting lineup in Houston very early this season due to an absurd spate of injuries at the safety positions, and he played very well at SS and FS (mostly the latter). After Dunta Robinson went down, Hutchins was shifted from FS to starting at one of the CB spots, and his performance suffered. I don''t know if there was some specific trouble transitioning from FS back to CB (his natural position, though he did play safety in college at Ole Miss), but Von looked considerably worse at CB than FS this year. Of course, you could argue that not having Dunta on the field made everyone worse.

That said, I like the deal a whole lot for you. Very little guaranteed money (relatively speaking), and you got a guy with starting experience who can play more than one position in the secondary. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to try to figure out why in the hell the Texans let Hutchins go but signed Jacques "Throw At Me" Reeves.

Thanks Tim!

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