Dan Quinn talks about Jack Crawford’s role, disruptive ability

The Jack Crawford signing was kind of big news earlier this offseason, and at the time, it only seemed like big news because the Falcons had one of their quieter free agency periods in recent memory. As Dan Quinn sits down and talks a little bit about him, though, you get a better picture of why the team liked him and what they’ll expect him to do.

The team put out a short video film session with Quinn on Twitter, and it’s a cool mini-glimpse at how Quinn is evaluating his players. It also further confirms, as the team has suggested before, that Crawford will primarily be playing defensive tackle after splitting his time between end and tackle over the last few seasons.

“We loved the initial quickness, the upfield burst,” Quinn said, who said he can see Crawford as a player the Falcons can “count on to be disruptive.” He’s far from an elite pass rusher—you could judge that by his contract, I’m sure—but Crawford has some power, his speed will play pretty well on the interior, and he had a combined 7.5 sacks over the last two seasons. If Quinn likes him, that is good enough for me.

Crawford should be behind several players in the pecking order, but if he’s exclusively playing defensive tackle, there should still be plenty of snaps available for him behind Grady Jarrett and Dontari Poe. Hopefully he’ll be a force for good in this growing Falcons defense.