William Moore is going to miss Thomas DeCoud

The Falcons' glaring hole at free safety is something we've discussed at length since free agency began. We've laughed, we've cried, we've even accused the Falcons' front office of negligent roster management. But if you're honest with yourself, it will be a little different without DeCoud in the secondary. There's a good chance it will be better, at least eventually. At present, it appears the Falcons' plans are to pursue a free safety in the early rounds of May's draft.

Moore paused for a second, then gathered his thoughts as he reflected on the criticism DeCoud absorbed going out the door.

"For his name to be torn down so badly, from what I've seen, it really hurt me as a player,'' Moore said. "I know this guy. He busted his tail every day. At some point, every dog has his day. We're going to have a bad season. And your name is all you got. You play for the name on the front, but you also have to understand the name on the back of the jersey is what you've got.''

I can't really blame Moore. It's his friend. What's he going to say? "The guy's horrible, get him out of here!"

DeCoud wasn't always bad; he was just bad more often than he should've been. For us, as fans, it's very easy to accuse him of incompetence. But as Moore pointed out, DeCoud put in the effort, and in the end, the results simply weren't there.

Your thoughts?