Dan Quinn talks about evaluating offensive players, Matt Ryan's backup

Dan Quinn has been down in Mobile to scout prospects at the Senior Bowl, and he had some interesting, candid comments in an interview with ESPN. Most of it has to do with the offense, and it's rare insight into the learning process for a primarily defensive-minded head coach trying to pick players to fit an offensive scheme.

"I've seen those positions because I've coached against them, but that probably was the area where I was still continuing to grow," said Quinn, who just completed his first year as a head coach. "Like me, looking at quarterbacks. For my whole career, that's the dude I was trying to get (down). I wasn't looking sometimes at the mechanics and where he was throwing. So, it's learning that part of it."

Considering Kyle Shanahan is not at the Senior Bowl, there's a real need for Quinn to figure some of this stuff out. You get the sense from his move for Raheem Morris that he believes coaches should be adaptable and smart enough to learn, and he's got one season under his belt as a head coach, which will hopefully help him in his evaluations.

A couple of other interesting observations:

• This isn't the first article in which Vaughn McClure has casually mentioned that Gino Gradkowski might get a crack at the starting center job in 2016. Expect him back with the team on a prove-it style deal if the Falcons can't land a premier free agent.
• The comments about Ryan's backup tells us the Falcons are going to take that more seriously than they have in years past, when the likes of John Parker Wilson, Dominique Davis, and Sean Renfree served as the team's second option. Renfree could still win out in a competition, of course, but it wouldn't be surprising to see the Falcons draft someone late.
  

For more from Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff, check in this evening for our press conference recap.