After a year of grand proclamations that it was time for a youth movement, followed by a 4-12 season and 2013 postmortem confirming that maybe it wasn’t such a great idea, the Falcons took a novel approach to fixing their line problems Tuesday.
They signed players. From other teams. Large players. It turns out they make them in the NFL.
Now, if there were a movie marquee for the stars of this NFL free-agency period, Jon Asamoah, Paul Soliai and Tyson Jackson would not be in the big letters.
Asamoah is a right guard, not the behemoth (and coordinated) tackle the Falcons could use, like Eugene Monroe or Branden Albert. Soliai, a nose tackle, and Jackson, an end, are nice pieces for a defensive line in a 3-4 scheme, but certainly not the monster pass rusher, such as Greg Hardy, Michael Bennett or Jared Allen, that Falcons’ fans might have envisioned in January.
But Asamoah, Soliai and Jackson are three players the Falcons need. They should make them better. It’s a start.
Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said the team, “added toughness, size and grittiness, a goal we had set out to accomplish.”
He reiterated the team’s need to get more physical. He said that everything the team did Tuesday — including the re-signings of defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux and center/guard Joe Hawley, as well as the expected release of safety Thomas DeCoud — “doesn’t change our approach to the draft.”
Let me translate: The Falcons are still far from where they need to be. They still have a core of offensive linemen who’ve lost any benefit of the doubt. They have a defense that lacks a significant pass rusher. They need a starting safety who can do two things: 1) Be within range of a potential tackle; 2) Then make the tackle.
But this was the beginning. They can still do more in free agency (Dimitroff was evasive when asked if he had any interest in former Georgia cornerback Champ Bailey: “I think he still has the ability to play in this league. It will be interesting to see where he signs.”). They still have the draft, including the sixth overall pick, the prize for being miserable in 2013.
There remains a possibility the Falcons could try to move up in the draft for a shot at former South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. But at this point, Dimitroff might be content to stay at sixth, or even move back, knowing a top offensive tackle or pass rusher will fall to them.
Again, this is only a start. A case can be made that the offensive line needed to be blown up. The Falcons had the NFL’s 32nd-ranked running game last season. Matt Ryan was sacked 44 times, third-most in the NFL. Opposing defenses were credited with 100 official “quarterback hits,” or felonious assaults, depending on how you look at it.
Last season was like watching a 16-round fight between five squirrels and a Winnebago.
But changing every starter wasn’t realistic. Left tackle Sam Baker was a lock to return because of his contract extension last season (including a $10 million signing bonus). So was left guard Justin Blalock, who’s not bad but needs to get better and nastier. Dimitroff made it known he still likes center Peter Konz, despite a poor season, and believed if he added a tough veteran guard — such as the 304-pound Asamoah — Konz would rebound. Right tackle remains a black hole, with Lamar Holmes or Mike Johnson as possible starters.
Expect Dimitroff to add a tackle with an early draft pick.
Equally significant Tuesday was the team’s apparent change in philosophy on defense. Dimitroff and coach Mike Smith maintain the Falcons will still switch between 4-3 and 3-4 alignments, as they’ve done the past two years. But adding Soliai and Jackson scream that 3-4 is becoming the new base.
The reason more teams don’t use a 3-4 is they lack a bona fide nose tackle. But Soliai is just that. He’s 6-4, 344 pounds and he played for Falcons defensive coordinator Mike Nolan in Miami. Dimitroff’s hope is that Soliai can occupy enough space and attention to collapse the middle and free ends and/or outside linebackers for a pass rush.
Jackson was the third pick in the 2009 draft and was viewed as a major failure of former Kansas City general manager Scott Pioli, now in the Falcons’ front office. But after three mediocre seasons, Jackson has been an effective end in the 3-4 in the past two years as a run stopper and a decent pass rusher (seven sacks in the past two seasons).
Dimitroff relied on Pioli’s evaluation of Asamoah and Jackson, just as he relied on insight from Nolan and new defensive line coach Bryan Cox (formerly of Miami) into Soliai.
Much was accomplished one day into free agency. Much still needs to be accomplished. Last season was ugly reality check.
