atltillidie

The only key player that the Falcons lost this offseason was Tony Gonzalez. We were able to get Corey Peters and Peria Jerry back. We released S Thomas DeCoud, OG Garrett Reynolds, CB Asante Samuel, LB Stephen Nicholas. We gained OG Jon Asamoah from the Chiefs, DE Tyson Jackson from the Chiefs, Devin Hester, and DT Paul Soliai from the Dolphins in FA. Earlier on after the 2013 season we picked up OG Gabe Carimi for roster depth.

As for the free safety position, I think you guys were overestimating Thomas DeCoud. The reason I say that is because from reading posts around here, some of you were interested in picking him up. From what I've seen, he's probably one of the worst tackling free safeties in the league. I'm not trying to make him seem bad, it's just that he is. This is the truth. He was absolutely dreadful in coverage, although I will say prior to this season that he always seem to be a little bit of a ballhawk, but still was not very impressive with that. As for Dezmin Southward, I really do like his upside. His athletic ability is excellent for a safety. He ran a 4.38 40 time at his pro day because he missed the combine due to injury. He had a 42 inch vertical leap as well. I'm not saying he will be a star, but he does have the potential to become an impact player for us at free safety. His versatility could be useful, too. He did play some snaps at cornerback at Wisconsin even though it wasn't his natural position.

We will be playing a hybrid multiple front defense. Mike Smith said that we would have no base defense and will rotate between 3-4 to 4-3 during the season. We drafted a few pass rushing LBs that will probably be sticking their hand in the dirt when we play 4-3 and standing up in a 3-4, like Prince Shembo, Tyler Starr, and Marquis Spruill. We drafted Yawin Smallwood to compete with Akeem Dent for the Second ILB spot. I think that Smallwood will eventually unseat Dent, as I think that he's got potential. All of the LBers that we picked up in the draft do have experience playing ILB some in college, so I think that we will be sticking them all over the place in our scheme.

On the defensive line, we added huge bodies. Tyson Jackson and Paul Soliai both weigh over 300 pounds as does our second round pick Ra'Shede Hageman. We will be playing Ra'Shede and Tyson at DT in our 4-3 packages and DE in our 3-4 packages. Since all three of those guys excel at stopping the run, I expect stopping the run to be a strength for our defense.

On offense, besides injuries, the source of all our problems was the offensive line. RG Garrett Reynolds was by far the worst lineman on our offense and we replaced him with Jon Asamoah. I'm sure that you know that we got our franchise LT in the draft with Jake Matthews. Sam Baker will move to right tackle. Those two with out a doubt make our line better. Blank, TD, and Mike Smith all said that they wanted the trench players on both sides to be tougher than last year and I believe we accomplished that and that's partly why I think that we will take a step forward in 2014.

WhoDat!656

failclowns fans have the pre-season to look forward to!!

The Dude

I'm glad we get the Falcons away the first game. I am very confident in a win here. One reason why division foes are so tough is because they play each other twice a year and are very familiar with the opponents schemes. We have a brand new defense and what looks to be a very different offensive scheme and philosophy.
The Falcons will not be able to rely on history or familiarity this go round.
For us they are just the same old Falcons that we have beaten, what is it now 12 out of the last 15 times?

WhoDat!656

[QUOTE...what is it now 12 out of the last 15 times?[/QUOTE]

Only if you are counting!

lee909

I do think they had a decent offseason.

I think they overpayed to fill in the massive holes in the defensive line though. Matthews is a great prospect as is Ra’Shede Hageman.
Looks like in the later rounds they threw a lot of mud at the wall at LB hoping at least some will stick. Safety looks thin though and wasn't really filled in the draft by a starter.

I think the team will live or crumble by Julio Jones and Roddy White,ryan showed last year without the many options round him is isnt going to deliver the goods. The problem is White is at the age when your body cannot keep recovering from niggles between games and injuries just take longer to recover.He is pretty banged up it will be interesting to see how he holds up(similar here with Colston),no bashing of Roddy today with the recent news,just wish him the well. Julio Jones is a amazing talent but seems a bit of a perma-crock missed three games as a rookie and 11 last year and always seems banged up each week.

"Two receivers to the left, Garcon to the right. Manning in the shotgun, puts Collie in motion. Looks in his direction...it's picked off! It's picked off! It's Tracy Porter again! He's runnin' free! He's gonna go all the way!

hagan714

goal #1 win the south!

right off the bat Falcon pie!

TheGambler

One guy the Falcons could usually count on to give the Saints problems was Tony G. I remember they had a young TE that was raw, but had serious potential. However, will Matt Ryan have the same chemistry with him that he had with TG? Replacing a future Hall-of-Famer is rarely easy.

hagan714

Levine Toilolo? If he ever gets it all together in the receiving department he is a handful at 6-8 but that is why we drafted Jean.

I am not sure what the falcons are doing but they loaded up on TE for camp. 6 i think

lee909

Jerry Jones would draft himself.

CoreyO

I think our offseason was just as good, just watch out for our DBs cuz your not getting a pass off this year against the saints