FLOWERY BRANCH – Falcons coach Dan Quinn, who was given control over the 53-man roster, is in the midst of a major collapse and a six-game losing streak.
After former head coach Mike Smith was terminated last season, general manager Thomas Dimitroff has eased over to the franchise’s hot seat for the apparent lack of talent on the roster.
“Thomas was a really big part of why I wanted to be here,” Quinn said on Wednesday. “The respect that I have for him and the partnership that I wanted to help create from a head coach to a general manager. We are in sync in every facet from the time that we got here to go through every process together to support that we give back and forth to one another couldn’t be higher for guy.”
Dimitroff’s draft record has come under new scrutiny after the recent release of tackle Lamar Holmes, which marked the full and total wipe out of the 2012 draft class. Players from that class, when the Falcons tried to revamped the offensive line, should theoretically still be with the team. Holmes was a third-round pick.
With the Falcons free-falling from a 6-1 start to a 6-7 record, speculation about Dimitroff’s future and the talent on the roster have also come into question.
“I try not to over-react to things that are outside because I know the importance that he has in the partnership and the culture in terms of he and I, together,” Quinn said. “I don’t give it a lot of credence.”
When Quinn was hired, the Falcons switched offensive and defensive schemes. One of the first projects for Quinn and Dimitroff was to determine which players were scheme-fits. The team parted ways with several veterans and former Dimitroff draft picks. In addition to Holmes, cornerback Dezmen Southward, a third-round pick in 2014 tabbed as safety, was released.
Quinn and his staff tried to salvage the pick by converting Southward to cornerback, but the experiment didn’t work.
While the offense has sputtered and the defense has faded in the fourth quarter against Minnesota and Tampa Bay and didn’t show up in the first quarter against Carolina, Quinn believes that he has enough talent on the roster.
“Absolutely there is,” he said.
There has been a constant roster churn all season. The Falcons just released wide receiver Leonard Hankerson, who was the No. 2 wide receiver for most of the season, because he didn’t fit in their future plans.
The also re-shuffled the deck on the practice squad this week.
“You keep grinding to try to find edges,” Quinn said. “Keep trying to find a difference. That’s why you keep going through it (to see if) there is a practice squad player who has some unique stuff that we can pull out of him.”
He worked closely with Dimitroff on these moves.
“We watch tape together,” Quinn said. “We go through the process whether if it’s free agency, the draft or in-season. We just take it step by step together.”
The goal hasn’t been to shame Dimitroff’s previous drafts, but to find players who best fit the new schemes.
“Anytime there is change, it’s hard,” Quinn said. “It’s a whole new system offensively and defensively. Are there certain players that fit certain styles? Of course there is. Every time, we’re going to look to see if we can get better in spots, we’re absolutely going to do that.”
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who going through his toughest season as pro, was Dimitroff’s first draft pick.
“I’ve got a great relationship with Thomas,” Ryan said. “Obviously, he was a guy, along with Mike Smith, who brought me here to Atlanta and I can’t thank those guys enough for the opportunity. I think he’s done a great job for us the last eight years.”
With a six-game losing streak, the players have their own issues.
“As far as, a distraction or anything like that, we’ve got enough on our plate,” Ryan said. “We’ve got our own issues to fix. We have to focus on scoring points on offense. That’s it. That’s where all of our focus needs to be.”
