Grady Jarrett will man the nose for the Falcons. Here's what that means

By almost any metric you want to use, Grady Jarrett was impressive in his rookie season, especially for a part-time player joining the Falcons as a fifth rounder. In his second year, Jarrett's going to get a big boost in terms of his responsibilities, role, and playing time, and Atlanta's banking on that improving the defense.

You see, Jarrett's going to man the nose, which might seem like a weird thing for a 305 pounder to do until you realize that it effectively means that A) Jarrett will be asked to stop the run, which he does well, B) the Falcons don't need a hole-clogging nose on defense to be successful, particularly after adding run-stopping acumen elsewhere, and C) it means more playing time for one of the team's best young defenders.

If you're like me, you're probably thinking of a traditional nose tackle — the Casey Hampton, Ted Washington-type player who is just mammoth and eats up blocks. That won't be what Jarrett is asked to do. At 6-foot, 305 pounds, Jarrett's main objective will be backfield penetration and shedding blocks to get to whoever has the ball.

Jarrett played some snaps nose-up at times in 2015, so this isn't completely new for him, but from a traditional sense, it might be a new concept to most fans who thought they knew what a nose tackle's role is.

"We love his strength inside," Quinn told 92.9 The Game. "He's got leverage, he's strong, he can shed. He was a very productive player so we're counting on him to take over a big role for us. We think he's got a huge future in where he's heading."

The team being enamored with Jarrett is, in my humble opinion, great news for the defense. With Jonathan Babineaux getting up there in age, there's nobody else who has proven they can penetrate into the backfield on a consistent basis on the Falcons' interior, and Jarrett is already a damn fine run defender. I have no doubt he'll take this gig and run with it, and he and Ra'Shede Hageman will hopefully dominate up front. It would make a massive difference for the defense if they did, obviously.

Your expectations for Jarrett's 2016?