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Home > Mark Bradley > Archives > 2008 > September > 01
Monday, September 1, 2008
Falcons will hit the ground running
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On the second day of training camp, Michael Turner spoke of his job description: “I know it’s going to be somewhere around 300 carries. … I know I’m getting my touches, guaranteed.”
Memo to Turner: It isn’t quite guaranteed.
Mike Mularkey is the Falcons’ offensive coordinator, and he learned early not to let numbers be his guide. “I caught myself once — in my second year in Pittsburgh — thinking, ‘How many balls has this guy had?’ ” Mularkey said. “I stopped right then. The idea is to defeat the opponent.”
As for Turner and his nice round number, Mularkey said: “We’ll see as we go. I’ve never said he’s going to get 300, and I probably never will.”
We can assume Turner is going to carry the ball most of the time. Mularkey’s scheme is based on power, and Turner is a power back. The imponderable, yet again, is Jerious Norwood.
This is the third Falcons regime that has looked on Norwood and declared, “We’ve got to get him the ball.” But in 29 games he has 202 carries and 40 receptions, which averages out to 8.3 touches. Given that Norwood is the most spectacular talent among Falcons, is that enough? And if not, how does Mularkey fit a speed back into a power scheme?
“I think it’s going to happen by force of habit,” Mularkey said. “Whether we design a set for him, we know his talents.
Working in Bobby Petrino’s pass-first offense, the Falcons rushed 385 times last season. They averaged 531 rushes under Jim Mora, but that’s skewed by Michael Vick’s average of 115 carries those three seasons. Figure this team will shoot for 450-plus rushes, a number that would satisfy Turner and better utilize Norwood and maybe even win a few games.
Said Mularkey, speaking of Norwood: “We’ll do our best to get him the ball.”
Yes, we’ve heard that before. Five years from now, there’s a chance we’ll be hearing it still. But under Mora and Petrino, the offensive focal point was never the running backs. This time it is.
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