Falcons cornerback Brian Poole, an undrafted rookie from Florida, has stood out to coach Dan Quinn early in camp.
Poole has been lining up at nickel back with the first-team defense. Desmond Trufant has manned the left cornerback spot and Robert Alford on the right side.
The Falcons were hoping to move Alford inside to nickel and have Jalen Collins take over at right cornerback. With Collins suspended for the first four games, the Falcons need to find a third cornerback.
Poole, who was projected to be drafted in the sixth or seventh round of the draft by nfldraftscout.com, has the early lead.
“We’ve him at nickel and we’ve played him at safety as well,” Quinn said on Tuesday. “He’s done a nice job in the zone. We are going to keep forcing it on to see where he can get to.”
Poole played outside early in his career at Florida. He played nickel and safety last season for the Gators.
“When we did the evaluation on him, we thought that (nickel) would be the best spot with him being a smaller and quicker guy,” Quinn said.
The Falcons expect the competition to be fierce for the nickel back spot.
“Robert and Tru also have experience matching inside,” Quinn said. “C.J. (Goodwin) is another. (Marcus) Van Dyke, (Akeem) King and Poole. There are a number of guys who are really battling for it.”
