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Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Lombardi trophy is won in April
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Free agents in the NFL? Too risky. For every Reggie White, you’re likely to get five Peerless Price clones times a Gus Frerotte and a Monte Beisel. Not only that, few teams ever have traded their way to a world championship. If you wish to play in February someday, as in the Super Bowl, it’s about April right now, as in the draft, as in the Falcons had better continue flashing signs that they finally have a clue when they’re on the clock.
So I’m happy to report that Falcons general manager Rich McKay was studying film of prospective draftees Tuesday in Flowery Branch when I called.
“The core of your team is always going to come from the draft, because free agency is an expensive venture and is mainly used to complement your team and is not used to build your team,” said McKay, who has turned such words into results. He did so in Tampa Bay when he used the likes of Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks to build the Buccaneers into a perennial contender that went all the way. Plus, since McKay began running a Falcons franchise two drafts ago that was noted for picking tight ends — you know, just because — and relatives to Bozo The Clown, they’ve kept the circus music away during the NFL’s two most famous days in New York.
Twelve of McKay’s picks for the Falcons have played significantly during the past two seasons. In other words, those other moves for the Falcons are mostly for show. McKay disagreed, of course, saying of his four key acquisitions in the offseason, “I expect all of them to help us significantly, because they come at positions where last year we didn’t get the performances that we needed.”
That’s true. But here’s the rest of the story as I see it. As for the good, the Falcons recognized that they were absolutely brutal in the secondary and that they had some ugliness along the offensive and defensive lines.
They responded through the combination of (uh-oh) free agency and trades to acquire Lawyer Milloy and Chris Crocker for those safety positions, John Abraham to play right defensive end and Wayne Gandy to protect a scrambling Michael Vick at left tackle. Just by lining up and breathing, they are better for the Falcons than their predecessors.
As for the bad, how much time do you have? Courtesy of nearly 33-year-old legs, Milloy left his highly productive years with the Patriots when he departed New England after the 2002 season for Buffalo. Then there is Crocker, who likely is better than Keion Carpenter and Bryan Scott, the Falcons’ starters on a squad that was a quarterback’s best friend. Still, if Cleveland Browns coach Romeo Crennel, a defensive wiz, didn’t wish to keep Crocker around to improve one of the league’s worst defenses, you have to wonder if Chris Crocker has a tendency to resemble Betty Crocker.
You also have Wayne Gandy, a stud for the Pittsburgh Steelers. That was back during the dark ages when Milloy was a stud for the Patriots. The New Orleans Saints couldn’t wait to move their fading 12-year veteran and his 315 pounds. The thing is, given the significant number of times that defensive ends used previous Falcons left tackle Kevin Shaffer as an open door toward smacking Vick to the ground, Gandy is an improvement. If nothing else, Gandy has 25 more pounds than Shaffer for a defender to battle his way through.
Finally, Abraham is the certified pass rusher that the Falcons need. In six NFL seasons, he has 53 1/2 sacks, including 10 1/2 last season. The problem? Just like Brady Smith, the Falcons’ previous right defensive end, Abraham has accumulated more than few bumps and bruises. He has missed large chunks of games courtesy of everything from a sports hernia to a damaged knee.
The Falcons are 17 days from what matters the most, though. They won’t have their No. 1 pick (traded to acquire Abraham), but they’ll have six other ones, starting with the 47th in the second round. “We just feel like those guys (Milloy, Crocker, Abraham and Gandy) can help us a lot and help us a lot this year,” McKay said, before adding quickly, “But, typically the guys who are going to help you win year in and year out, those guys come through the draft.”
Yeah, he gets it.
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