Will Dan Quinn play chess with his defense in 2015?

The Falcons are going to move their defenders all over the formation in 2015. I can't know that for certain, but call it an extremely educated guess, and it's not one that should raise any hackles.

If you're cringing, it's because we've come to conflate the idea of players moving around the formation with Mike Nolan, who took that to an illogical extreme in 2013 and 2014 by dropping players who had no business being in coverage back as deep as safeties. We're assuming Quinn and his staff won't be guilty of doing that, and I think that's a fair assumption.

More to the point, though, most every NFL coach winds up making a lot of moves in the course of the game. Teams that have static roles for players and never, ever move those players out of those roles have no element of surprise, plus no ability to adjust to what offenses are showing them. There are situations where it will make perfect sense to have Vic Beasley lined up as a true outside linebacker, and plenty more situations where he'll effectively be a stand up end. Game situations will dictate that.

It's fair to guess that Quinn, Richard Smith and Raheem Morris will switch things up to keep players fresh and try to put them in positions to succeed, but the real question is how they're going to utilize their personnel. With rumors swirling about Robert Alford moving to free safety—not that I think that will happen—and guys like Ra'Shede Hageman likely lining up as both ends and defensive tackles, we should expect to see lots of moving around. If Quinn and his staff can use these guys in creative ways to craft a better defense, I think we'd all be on board with that.

Who do you expect to move around the formation in 2015?