Why Falcons gave Divine Deablo the green dot — and a challenge to be louder

Divine Deablo often spends his nights watching old Super Bowls with a bowl of cereal in hand.

The latter may be tongue-in-check for the Falcons linebacker who’s prioritizing calcium and vitamin D to reduce risk of recurring bone injuries, but the former is second nature — Deablo, after all, is a self-proclaimed study junkie.

Offensive plays, Deablo said, are largely the same. Keying and diagnosing motions and plays in real time comes with experience, and revisiting old games only adds to Deablo’s knowledge bank. It also serves as a constant reminder of the stage Deablo ultimately wants his team to reach.

“I want to be at that level,” Deablo said, “or at that game.”

Should the Falcons make such a run this fall, Deablo will have to be a key component.

The Falcons lost starting linebacker Kaden Elliss, who was as much a versatile chess piece as the glue of their defense, to the New Orleans Saints in free agency. Elliss handled all communication responsibilities last year. He wore the green dot on his helmet, so when defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich called the play, Elliss distributed the information.

Now, it’s Deablo’s turn.

The 27-year-old has the green dot and will be the voice of the Falcons’ defense this fall. He dabbled with it three years ago as a member of the Las Vegas Raiders, but now more seasoned and comfortable in a leadership position, it’s his show.

“Gosh, he’s so unique,” Ulbrich said Wednesday. “I’ve been around guys that are really demonstrative leaders that can have that effect, where their voice just calms you down because they’re so demonstrative and so certain in everything they do and so even-keeled when it comes to whatever the situation may be. They’re that rock you can lean on.

“And he does that in a way I’ve never seen before. It’s so unique in his calmness and his demeanor and his consistency in all that he does.”

Deablo, contradictory to his new title, is quiet. He said it. So did Christian Harris, who’s aligned next to him on the first-team defense so far in camp. And so, too, did linebackers coach Barrett Ruud. It’s not much of a secret in Flowery Branch.

But the Falcons don’t view vocality as an intangible trait. That’s teachable, Ruud said. Deablo can work on how fast, loud and precise he communicates, be it while studying film or shouting calls in his own basement.

Deablo has made an extra effort to put his voice into the northeast Georgia air. He’s started casual conversations with “anybody and everybody.” He wants to show he’s comfortable talking. On the field, he’s been yelling — loud enough to ensure the other 10 players around him, along with the coaches, know he’s confident, too.

So far, Deablo said, it’s worked out. Ruud described it as an “ongoing progress,” but the Falcons made improved communication a priority and Deablo has embraced their challenge.

“He’s very intelligent and he is a good communicator, but he’s not a naturally loud person,” Ruud told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday.
”He is a very good communicator, though, so now it’s just being aware of it.

“It’s like getting better at block destruction, getting better at tackling. You can get better as a communicator, as a vocal leader, as a green dot running the show — you can work on all those traits.”

Getting vocal

Harris, who signed with the Falcons this spring after four years with the Houston Texans, said he underwent a similar process last year. Texans coach DeMeco Ryans, a former linebacker, drilled communication and being vocal into his mind. Ulbrich, also a former linebacker, has done the same with Deablo.

And Harris, familiar with the challenge Deablo’s facing, said his new counterpart is off to a good start.

“He’s super vocal — like, very knowledgeable,” Harris said. “So, he’s always in the right spot, gets everybody lined up.”

Donning the green dot gives Deablo a stage. He’s calling the defense and, with help from others, making checks. But he’s now the primary voice of the Falcons’ defense, which Ulbrich dubbed an exciting opportunity to “really push him in the direction he’s headed” as a leader.

“I think he’s got the capacity to be an amazing leader,” Ulbrich said. “A leader in his own unique way now, but an amazing leader.”

Deablo’s superpower as a leader is his authenticity. Disingenuous leaders, or leaders who try to lead like someone else, won’t be followed. They won’t be a force multiplier. Their voice won’t be heard.

The Falcons understand Deablo isn’t a big, loud, demonstrative leader who pounds his chest and addresses the team each day. His leading style is different, but it’s authentic to him, and that’s plenty good enough for Ulbrich, Ruud and the rest of the team’s coaching staff.

“I think he has so much to say, and he has so much value in that way,” Ulbrich said. “I want to keep pushing him to speak and affect people because he can in such an amazing, positive way.”

The Falcons view Deablo as a calming presence in the middle of their defense. Now in his second year within Ulbrich’s defense, he not only better understands his role and responsibilities, but everybody else’s, too. He learned that aspect from Elliss, just in case he’d need it down the line.

His preemptive intuition proved true. Now, four months into his time playing under coach Kevin Stefanski, Deablo’s made a strong impression — as much with his athletic traits as the football knowledge gained through those late night Super Bowl film sessions.

“Wired the right way,” Stefanski said. “Very, very, very intelligent. I don’t think you can overstate how important it is to have that intelligence right in the middle of your defense, right in the nerve center.

“To have somebody like Divine who can run sideline to sideline, can tackle, can play in the pass game but can also align your defense, it’s a calming influence on your defense and your head coach.”

The Falcons felt the 6-foot-3, 223-pound Deablo’s impact during Wednesday’s OTA practice, when he nearly intercepted quarterback Tua Tagovailoa after ranging to his right and deflecting a pass.

Such plays — where his length, instincts and movement skills morph together to create havoc — underscore Deablo’s significance to the Falcons’ defense.

“When he’s out there, we feel different,” Ulbrich said. “Like when he’s out there today, it was like, ‘Oh, I feel calm.’ It’s just this big avatar out there, protecting big windows. … He checks so many boxes for you.”

Wins and losses aren’t inherently linebacker stats, but it’s impossible to ignore the impact Deablo’s absence had on the Falcons last year.

The night he suffered a fractured forearm in Week 7 against the San Francisco 49ers, the Falcons fell to 3-3. When he returned five weeks later, the Falcons were 3-7. They didn’t win without him. Their season slipped away.

With Deablo on the field, the Falcons went 8-5. Without him, they were 0-4.

Across 13 games, Deablo collected 73 tackles — fourth-most on the team — along with seven passes defended, five tackles for loss and one sack. Ulbrich said the Falcons merely saw “the tip of the iceberg (of) what he can become” last season.

Deablo’s raw talent, cornerback Mike Hughes said, puts him into the category of one of the league’s best linebackers.

“Honestly, I’m surprised he’s not one of the highest paid guys in the league at his position,” said Hughes, who started 12 games last year. “He’s that special. I think this year, y’all will get more of a glimpse of that. Last year, I think he got his foot in the door a little bit, and y’all will kind of see how big an impact he can be on that field.