Report: Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn is stockpiling cornerbacks for a reason

The Atlanta Falcons have a hated divisional rival in Tampa, Florida. You might be familiar with them. They’re a laughable, pirate-themed franchise that somehow won a Super Bowl in 2003. Lance Armstrong won his fifth Tour de France that year; iTunes launched, and Bad Boys II dominated at the box office. In short, it was a long time ago in a faraway land and I choose to pretend it never happened.

Meanwhile, 14 years later, that hated divisional rival is reloading in decisive fashion. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers recently signed DeSean Jackson to couple with imposing franchise receiver Mike Evans. But Falcons head coach Dan Quinn isn’t scared, because he’s got a weapons-grade stockpile of cornerback talent hidden in an impenetrable bunker code named Flowery Branch. (Credit to the talented Vaughn McClure for this quote. Go read his well-written article on this exact subject right now, if you haven’t already.)

"I think in this league, the way people are throwing it right now, you better have them ready to go," Quinn said. "Of course having (Trufant) coming back, that's huge. And we're pumped about where we can take C.J. (Goodwin), as a competitor. But you better have them ready. And that's the perfect example -- talking about Tampa and the addition of DeSean."

Quinn obviously knows how to best assemble a defense - he got this job for a reason. This isn’t his first trip to the rodeo. As part of that process, he obviously knows what areas to emphasize and what personnel to rely on. It’s easy to see why he’s put and will continue to put a lot of weight on defensive back depth. That’s obviously something we already knew. Even so, it’s still interesting to see him weave in that preference in response to the direct question posed to him about DeSean Jackson.

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