Keep a close eye on Robenson Therezie's development

Robenson Therezie was a longshot to even make the Falcons roster, but on Sunday, he became another one of those feel-good undrafted free agent stories by virtue of circumstance.

Therezie led the team with 77 snaps on a day when the Falcons absolutely shut down the Texans offense for three quarters, and he stayed in when the backups came rolling along. Therezie had a couple of plays where he wasn't that effective against the run, and he's far from a finished product in coverage, but he held his own out there. For 77 snaps. As an undrafted rookie. We all have our own sliding scales of what constitutes impressive, but color me impressed.

You have to factor in the enduring ineptitude of the Texans passing offense, of course. It's probable that Therezie would have scuffled more against, say, the Giants than he did in this one, and the Falcons will be glad to get the aggressive Ricardo Allen back in the lineup. But Therezie's auditioning for this coaching staff at the moment, and if he strings together another decent game or two before Allen returns, it's only going to help him going into the future.

And frankly, it's not hard to see what intrigues Dan Quinn and his coaching staff about Therezie, once you look past his height. He primarily played safety but also took on a hybrid linebacker and even nickel cornerback role at Auburn, he has good wheels and is a sound tackler, and he had a reputation as a heady player coming out. That lack of height and uncertainty about his ideal role may have helped to drop him out of the draft entirely, and it may well be the Falcons' gain that he fell.

Over the next couple of years, in other words, Therezie will bear watching. William Moore is under contract until 2017 and Allen is a 2016 exclusive rights free agent, so his opportunity isn't likely to come any time soon unless injury strikes again. If the 24-year-old can bide his time and grow his skills, though, I wouldn't bet against him finding his way into the lineup before 2017.

Your thoughts on Therezie's future?