This blog has moved! Yes, already!
As of Thursday, Feb. 12, this little blog has relocated to a new home on AJC.com. It’s the same newspaper, the same Web site and the same writer (feel free to groan) — there’s just a new URL.
New features: Bigger type, more graphics, comments that load 10 times faster and a larger and more recent photo that makes me look pretty doggone old. I think you’ll like it (the blog, not the photo). But I am, as we know too well, often wrong.
Home > Mark Bradley > Archives > 2009 > January > 05
Monday, January 5, 2009
Falcons offseason needs to focus on defense
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Flowery Branch — Here we see the ancillary benefits of having signed a free-agent tailback who tied for second in the NFL’s MVP voting and having drafted a quarterback who was offensive rookie of the year. Give or take a tight end, that platoon is set. And now the general manager who aced his first offseason can muster all resources in the effort to fix his defense.
For 16 games the Falcons schemed around inherent liabilities, but they were exploited to the max in a playoff loss on a Saturday afternoon in Glendale, Ariz. The Falcons ranked No. 11 in a 32-team league in scoring defense, but that was a tribute to the brainpower of Brian VanGorder and the ball-control work of Michael Turner and Matt Ryan. In every other category they were substandard — 24th in total defense, 21st against the pass, 25th against the run.
To go further, the D must improve. And here’s the good news: Thomas Dimitroff nearly has a blank slate. He has unrestricted free agents he can discard, Keith Brooking and Lawyer Milloy and Michael Boley chief among them, and he has free agency and the draft to help him restock.
Regarding the latter, Dimitroff was asked Monday if he’s apt to draft even one offensive player come April. “Yes,” he said, smiling. “One-plus.”
Something to know: The Falcons are very happy with John Abraham, duh, and the rookie linebacker Curtis Lofton. Beyond that, there are no givens.
Milloy, who was elected one of the defensive captains Sunday, figures to want too much money and will wind up signing elsewhere. Boley could fit into the same category. If Brooking returns, it almost certainly won’t be as a starter. And Jamaal Anderson, who has had two sacks in two seasons as an end, could well become a full-time defensive tackle.
In his former life as a defensive coordinator, head coach Mike Smith regarded tackles as the core position. The Falcons see Jonathan Babineaux as a comer, and they like Trey Lewis, who missed the season due to knee surgery. And they could well bring back Grady Jackson, for another tour. Regarding defensive end, the rookie Kroy Biermann showed much late in the season — did Dimitroff have a great first draft or what? — and the sheer number of bodies up front available could mean that the Falcons won’t draft a D-linemen in Round 1.
If you’re betting, bet on them using their first pick — they have the 25th choice in Round 1 — on a cornerback. They’re prepared to try Chevis Jackson, another rookie who played nickel back, on the outside, but clearly the secondary is the area most in need of upgrading.
“We will make calculated decisions,” Dimitroff said. “They won’t be emotion-driven.”
We saw last spring that Dimitroff wasn’t shy about shedding big names: DeAngelo Hall, Warrick Dunn, Alge Crumpler. We’ll see it again soon. That’s the Patriots Way — lop a guy a year too soon, as opposed to a year too late — and Dimitroff learned it in New England.
As warm and fuzzy as the season just completed was, the months ahead are a time for the cold and clinical. As much as Brooking and Milloy have done for this franchise, they were still culpable in the three biggest plays made by the Cardinals. (Milloy was beaten on two touchdowns, and Brooking whiffed on the tight end on third-and-16 inside the final three minutes.)
The new regime has made the brightest start possible, and Dimitroff is just getting going. He has already reconfigured the offense, and now he gets to redo the D. And we, once again, get to stand back and watch the man work. Prepare, once again, to be impressed.
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Bradley’s Buzz: How high would Stafford go?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The clock ticks for Stafford (and Moreno)
He refused to drop even a hint after the Capital One Bowl, but a check of the latest mock drafts suggests Matthew Stafford is gone daddy gone. (Not to sound like Dave O’Brien, but that’s the title of a nice little ditty by the Violent Femmes.) He has until Jan. 15 to decide, and it would surely be hard to stay in school if you’re going to be taken in the top five, which most everybody believes he’d be.
Here’s a mock from Todd McShay of Scouts.Inc that has Stafford going No. 3 overall, behind Sam Bradford of Oklahoma and Andre Smith of Alabama. Here’s another from WalterFootball.com that has Stafford going No. 1, and another from Draft Countdown that does the same.
More mocks: Here’s one from DraftKing.com that has Stafford at No. 3, and one from Scout.com that has him at No. 4, while The Football Expert tabs Stafford No. 1. And here, from Russ Lande of Sporting News, is a breakdown of Stafford’s strengths and weaknesses. (Lande confesses he didn’t want to like Stafford as much he does, which would seem a compliment.)
If you’ll check ESPN’s draft home page, you’ll note that Scouts Inc. lists Stafford as only its No. 7 prospect and Moreno as No. 18. You’ll also note that Scouts Inc. doesn’t have Tech defensive end Michael Johnson in its top 32. Most of the mocks have Johnson, who was once considered a top 10 possibility, going in the middle of Round 1, and the consensus on Moreno seems to place him in the second half — from the 17th pick on — of Round 1.
One final note: McShay credits Stafford for making do without a great supporting cast around him at Georgia. My question: Moreno, A.J. Green and Mohamed Massaquoi are mediocrities? (I know, I know. McShay probably was referring to the offensive line. But that’s not what he wrote.)
The hated Gators again?
Under no circumstances should Georgia fans click on this link from NationalChamps.net. If they do, they’ll find all three teams that beat the Bulldogs in 2008 are rated ahead of Georgia in this early-bird Top 25 for 2009. The good news, sort of: Georgia is only one spot behind Tech.
This just in: The Falcons lost to Arizona
I tried to be a good sport about it last week, but I’m getting tired of being wrong. And I’m especially disgruntled at being wrong about the Falcons and the Cardinals. That seemed a no-brainer, although I’m starting to think I have no brain.
Toward that end, I checked the predictions from those mavens at ESPN, at CBSsports.com and at SI.com. And I was cheered, if only slightly, to find that 18 of 24 had picked Atlanta.
So I wasn’t flying Han Solo on this one. But, in light of my continuing run of misdiagnoses, I’m declaring a moratorium: I will make no predictions of any kind until the Final Four Fiasco, which is more than two months away.
Dan the Man says he still can
According to the New York Post, Dan Reeves said on Sirius XM Radio that he has hired an agent and wants to coach again in the NFL. Me, I’m not sure what he has left to prove — when you take the Falcons to the Super Bowl, you’ve pretty much done it all — but more power to him.
For the record, Reeves will turn 65 this month.
Good news for the consumer! Really!
Going highbrow here, I’m offering a link to a story by Darren Rovell in The New Republic, in which the author declares that 2009 will be a great year for the sports fan. Why? Because with corporate finances dwindling, teams cannot cater to businesses anymore. (Meaning: The luxury box as tax write-off.) They’ll have to attract the average fan, which can mean only one thing: Lower ticket prices.
(Found an interesting link? Send it to mbra14@gmail.com. Much gratitude and an online shout-out could be yours.)
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