Report: Atlanta Falcons ranked 19th in broken tackle percentage in 2014

Good football teams have offensive weapons that break tackles. It's not a necessary condition, but a high broken tackle percentage (broken tackles over offensive touches) undoubtedly makes an offense more dynamic, threatening, and effective. Football Outsiders breaks down 2014 broken tackle percentages in this article. Give it a read, if you have a moment.

With respect to broken tackles, last season was a bit of a mixed bag for the Falcons. Steven Jackson only broke 20 tackles in 209 touches last season. Marshawn Lynch, the league leader, broke 88 tackles. Granted nobody came close to Lynch, but Jackson simply wasn't himself. Roddy White had the 9th worst broken tackle percentage among tight ends and wide receivers, breaking tackles in only 1.3 percent of his touches. He actually only broke 1 tackle in 80 touches.

If there was a bright spot in 2014, it was our franchise wide receiver. Among tight ends and wide receivers, Julio Jones ranked 6th in broken tackle percentage, breaking tackles in roughly 13.3 percent of his touches. Rob Gronkowski led that category.

Overall the Falcons ranked 19th in broken tackle percentage, breaking tackles in 6.5 percent of their offensive touches. That was a slight improvement from 2013, when the Falcons broke tackles in 5.9 percent of their offensive touches. 2012 was a particularly good year for the Falcons; they broke tackles in 7.2 percent of their offensive touches, the 4th highest percentage in the league that year. Jacquizz Rodgers helped set that pace, breaking 26 tackles on his way to a broken tackle percentage of 17.7, the second best percentage in the league that season.

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