Falcons interview Stanford tight end Coby Fleener

The Falcons have studied the tight end position intensely over the past three drafts and have flirted with taking the likes of Brandon Pettigrew (Detroit, 2009), Jermaine Gresham (Cincinnati, 2010) and Kyle Rudolph (Minnesota, 2011). This may be the year the Falcons pull the trigger at tight end.

Fleener would have to slip past San Francisco, which is now coached by former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, to get to the Falcons’ slot. The thought of playing with the Falcons and learning under Gonzalez sits well with Fleener.

“Absolutely, I’d like to learn from Tony Gonzalez,” Fleener said. “I’d be excited to.”

Hill ready to run

Former Georgia Tech wide receiver Stephen Hill knows he has to run a fast time in the 40-yard dash to impress NFL scouts.

Since declaring for the draft Jan. 5, Hill has spent most of his time at the IMG training facility in Bradenton, Fla. He worked out with draft hopefuls such as quarterback Russell Wilson from Wisconsin, quarterback Kirk Cousins from Michigan State and wide receiver Mohamed Sanu from Rutgers. He also spent a week in Atlanta receiving instruction from former Falcons wide receiver Terance Mathis.

“My 40 time has improved a little bit,” Hill said. “It’s going to be interesting.”

How interesting?

“I want to run a 4.4,” Hill said. “But I feel like I can run a 4.3.”

At last year’s combine, four wide receivers ran in the 4.3 range (including Falcons draft pick Julio Jones) and 11 in the 4.4 range (including former Georgia star A.J. Green, now with Cincinnati). Hill said he also wants to put up a 40-inch vertical jump, which six wide receivers did at the 2011 combine.

“I know I’m going to turn some heads in the 40,” Hill said, “but mostly I just want to show that I can show the change of direction in the 5-10-5 [short shuttle] and the L-cone drill.”

The wide receivers’ workout drills will be held Sunday.

Rivera on Newton

Carolina coach Ron Rivera expects quarterback Cam Newton, from Westlake High, to improve in his second season with a full offseason program.

“The expectations are going to be raised because of the success that we had on the offensive side of the ball,” Rivera said. “I thought he handled the situation very well. I thought that the plan that we put in place as far as developing our young quarterback went well.”

Newton won several rookie-of-the-year awards and broke Peyton Manning’s single-season rookie record for most yards passing in a season. Newton passed for 4,051 yards. Manning passed for 3,739 in 1998.

Newton, who guided Auburn to the BCS title and won the Heisman Trophy in 2010, was the top player selected in the 2011 draft.

“He was the player that we thought he would be, showing up early and staying late,” Rivera said. “He did the things that were needed. He worked some things out on his own. ... He really exceeded the expectations of a lot of people. He most certainly did shine.”

Hiring issues

Tampa Bay coach Greg Schiano has had difficulty hiring his staff. Teams have blocked him from hiring some of his coaching cronies.

“When I left the NFL in ’98 it was kind of unspoken rule that if you had [a chance for] advancement you could move from club to club,” Schiano said. “I also understand that abuse leads to restrictions, and that’s exactly what happened with all of the half-baked titles.”

Staff writer Ken Sugiura contributed to this article.