Rookie OL Baker quietly gets job done for Falcons

Flowery Branch — When you’re a rookie quarterback making the kind of splash Matt Ryan is, the buzz comes in the papers, on the airwaves and over the internet. For rookie offensive tackle Sam Baker, the new player watching Ryan’s blind side, acclaim comes a little more personally.

Opposing defensive ends have taken to calling the first-round pick “Pup.” Or maybe “Youngsta.”

Outside of those facemask-to-facemask greetings, it’s been pretty quiet for Baker. And that’s been good news for all involved.

“When you’re not talking about your left offensive tackle when you have a right-handed quarterback, that speaks volumes for the way he’s playing this year,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “He’s given up a half sack so far this year.”

Baker and the rest of the Falcons offensive line have protected Ryan as well as most any quarterback in the league.

As a unit, the Falcons offensive line has allowed only seven sacks in their first six games. That’s miles ahead of where they were last year. The Falcons ranked 26th in the NFL last season with 47 sacks allowed. They’re allowing 1.17 sacks per game this year, which is less than half the 2.94 they allowed last year. Only three teams in the NFL have given up fewer sacks than the Falcons — the New York Giants (6), Denver (2) and Tennessee (2).

“I’ve been impressed with how physical and how well they’ve been playing,” Ryan said. “And how together they’ve been playing as unit.”

Ryan hasn’t taken a sack in the last two games against Green Bay and Chicago, which are two victories the Falcons used to become one of the early surprises around the league this year.

But to Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff, the progress of the offensive line hasn’t been a big surprise. For starters, he recognized that much of the problem last season was a lack of consistency. Largely because of injuries, the Falcons started seven different combinations on the offensive line last season. So far this season, the Falcons have played two. The only change came when Todd Weiner got the start at left tackle against Carolina, the game Baker missed following a concussion.

“When the dust settled, we drafted Sam on the left side, and we had Todd McClure who’s a mainstay at center,” Dimitroff said. “Todd Weiner was going to continue to help our young guys develop. And then our two guys right now on the right side of the line (Tyson Clabo and Harvey Dahl) are tough, no-nonsense guys. I think that offensive line, to me and to Mike Smith, has never been one that was going to live up to the prognostications. Or live down to them.”

It’s part of the reason Dimitroff felt comfortable making the decision to throw Ryan, and the Falcons’ $72 million investment in him, into the fire.

So far, outside of a couple of helmet-to-helmet shots Ryan took that drew fines, he hasn’t had much to slow him down. If you ask Baker, that has a lot to do with Ryan.

“He does a lot for himself,” Baker said. “He gets rid of the ball really well, hits receivers down field. He’s been doing plenty. But (also) the leaders on the line have taken pride and set a standard — guys like Tyson Clabo and Todd McClure have really set the standard. Coming out of camp, that was an emphasis that those guys put on us.”