Falcons’ offense hopes to get its groove back in 2018

Ryan believes that Jones will get back up to speed quickly once he reports to training camp - whenever that may be. Players report on Wednesday.

“I don’t’ think that will be difficult,” Ryan said last month. “He’s such an incredible player. Such a talented player and he’s been working hard. He’s in great shape. I think he’ll pick those new things up really quickly and he’s got a lot of time on task with 95 percent of our system.”

While the Falcons wanted Jones on hand over the offseason, they are ready to welcome him back with open arms.

At the end of the offseason program, Falcons coach Dan Quinn said that conversations had already started to settle Jones’ situation.

“He knows this system inside and out,” Ryan said. “He is always extremely well prepared. I’m confident and positive that he’ll be ready to go.”

The Falcons need Jones. He’s their top weapon.

Jones caught 88 passes for 1,444 yards and three touchdowns last season. He reached 9,000 career yards receiving faster than any other player in only 95 games. Lance Alworth, who’s a Hall of Famer, previously held the record of 98 games.

The offense averaged 33.8 points per game under coordinator Kyle Shanahan in 2016 and dropped to 22.1 last season, which ranked 15th, nearly out of the top half of the league.

The Falcons had 19 explosive touchdowns from outside of the red zone in 2016, but only seven last season.

The Falcons fell off drastically inside the opposition’s 20-yard line, the red zone. They were 64.5 percent in 2016, which ranked eighth in the NFL. Under first-year offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, they were 49.1 and ranked 23rd last year.

Left tackle Jake Matthews, who’s up for a contract extension, believes the offense can get back on track.

“It’s just consistency,” Matthews said. “Last year, we did a lot of really good things at certain times. But there were times when we needed to get it done and we fell just short and it didn’t click.”

The Falcons, who only must replace fullback Derrick Coleman and stabilize the right guard position, have a talented unit which includes four former Pro Bowlers in Ryan, Jones, center Alex Mack and running back Devonta Freeman.

“We have all of the pieces of the puzzle to win,” Matthews said. “Now, it’s being consistent and executing.”

Here’s a position-by-position look at the offense and some of the key issues it will face when training camp opens:

Quarterbacks: Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub, Grayson Garrett and Kurt Benkert.

Ryan, who signed a six-year, $150 million contract extension on May 7, is set to enter his 11th NFL season.

He completed 342 of 529 passes (64.7 percent) for 4,095 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 2017.

Ryan threw 18 fewer touchdowns and five more interceptions than the previous season. His 20 touchdown passes were his lowest since he tossed 16 as a rookie in 2008.

The Falcons know that Ryan is most effective when he can step up in the pocket and deliver the ball. With shaky play from the guard position, Ryan rarely had a firm pocket.

Ryan was on the move too much. He rushed for 143 yards, the second-highest total of his career. He had 145 yards in the 2014 season.

Schaub, who’ll turn 37 in June, played in four games and completed 1 of 3 passes.

New quarterbacks coach Gregg Knapp believes he can challenge Ryan to keep on pushing.

“When you work with a vet quarterback, it challenges you as a coach because they’ve had so much game examples and performance examples to pull back from,” Knapp said.

Running backs: Devonta Freeman, Tevin Coleman, Ito Smith, Terrence Magee, Justin Crawford and Malik Williams.

New running backs coach Bernie Parmalee, replaces Keith Carter, who spent one season coaching the position after the legendary Bobby Turner left to join Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco. Carter left to become the offensive line coach for Tennessee.

Parmalee, who starred at Ball State in the Mid-American Conference, is a former NFL player. He spent nine years playing for the Dolphins (1992-98) and the Jets (1999-2000).

He task: keep the Freeman-Coleman running back combination potent.

Freeman suffered two concussions and a knee injury last season. While Freeman continued to run with authority, he did not pile up Freeman-like statistics. After back-to-back seasons of compiling more than 1,500 all-purpose yards, he had 1,182 last season.

Coleman rushed for a career-high 628 yards and five touchdowns last season. He also caught 27 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns.

Sarkisian said he under-utilized the running backs in the passing game last season and he plans to rectify that situation in 2018.

The Falcons signed Freeman to a six-year, $43 million contract last season. Coleman has a base salary of $791,268 for the 2018 season and if the Falcons can’t work out an extension, he’ll become a free agent.

Fullbacks: Daniel Marx, Luke McNitt and Ricky Ortiz. 

The Falcons will have three inexperience players competing for the starting fullback position in Marx, McNitt and Ortiz.

Parmalee said it was hard to evaluate the fullbacks over the offseason because they were not working in full pads.

“You develop the techniques, but the physicality of it, you have to wait to put the pads on,” Parmalee said. “When you put the pads on you can take that technique-work and put the physical aspect and the technique together. Usually, you should be a step ahead.”

Wide receivers: Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Calvin Ridley, Justin Hardy, Reggie Davis, Lamar Jordan, Taj Williams, Mohamed Sanu, Marvin Hall, Russell Gage, Christian Blake, Dontez Byrd and Devin Gray.

When Jones returns, the spotlight will not only be on him, but on the entire receiving corps. The unit led the league in dropped passes (30) and was a major part of the offense’s descent from first in the league in scoring to 15th. The group, along with the running backs, had seven deflected passes that turned into interceptions.

Here’s are the drop count: Jones (seven), Sanu (six), Freeman (four), Coleman (three), tight end Austin Hooper (three), Taylor Gabriel (two), Hardy (two), Hall (two) and tight end Levine Toilolo (one).

The drops were staggering after the team had just 16, the third fewest in the league, in 2016.

“We’ve got work to do in that area,” Quinn said. “It wasn’t just one player, and it wasn’t just one position.”

With Jones, Sanu and Ridley, the Falcons hope to have a talented trio or wide receivers. Gabriel and Nick Williams were not re-signed.

Hardy and Hall return. The Falcons are high on Reggie Davis, who spent last season on the practice squad.

The Falcons drafted LSU’s Russell Gage in the sixth round and there are five other undrafted wide receivers on the roster.

Tight ends: Austin Hooper, Logan Paulsen, Eric Saubert, Alex Gray, Troy Mangen and Jaeden Graham. 

The Falcons, who didn’t draft a tight end after heavily scouting South Carolina’s Hayden Hurst, are counting on Hooper to mature. Hurst went to Jacksonville with the 25th overall pick. The Falcons selected Ridley with the next pick.

“He’s got a real good understanding of the offense,” tight ends coach Wade Harman said of Hooper. “So, I think he’s started to pick up more of the details, not just about what my route is, but how to work it go get open. Where’s Matt expecting me on this coverage? What Matt expects me to do if this happens. I think he has a real good understanding and feel with Matt about that. That will be huge for his development.”

Harman, who coached Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe in Baltimore, said Hooper had a strong offseason.

“It really doesn’t mean much until we put the pads on,” Harman noted. “One thing that we’ve talked about is just being consistent.”

The Falcons parted ways with Toilolo and signed veteran Paulsen to a one-year, $1 million deal.

Paulsen, 31, is 6-foot-5 and 264 pounds, and has played in 105 games and made 55 starts. He has caught just 82 passes for 816 yards and six touchdowns. He’s a blocking tight end.

Paulsen could be a positive influence on Hooper.

“He works very hard at his craft and he does a really good job with the young guys,” Harman said. “He’s a really good leader. He knows what it takes to survive in the NFL.”

Saubert, a fifth-round pick in 2017 out of Drake, played 30 snaps on offense and 212 on special teams last season.

Offensive line: Tackles -- Jake Matthews, Ryan Schraeder, Ty Sambrailo, Austin Pasztor, Daniel Brunskill and Matt Gono. Guards -- Andy Levitre, Brandon Fusco, Wes Schweitzer, Ben Garland, Sean Harlow, Jamil Douglas and Salesi Uhatafe. Center -- Alex Mack and J.C. Hassenauer.

Mack, who was voted second-team All-Pro last season, is the anchor of the offensive line.

“We’ve grown a bit since I first showed up,” said Mack, who was signed as a free agent in 2016. “But really, you want to see that, every day, every season, just getting better, one day at a time.”

The Falcons are counting on continued growth from left tackle Matthews and right tackle Schraeder.

They are hoping that Levitre, the starting left guard, has recovered from his torn pectoral injury.

The Falcons signed Fusco in free agency. Fusco and Schweitzer both spent time with the first-team line at right guard over the offseason.

Right guard was the leaky spot along the line last season.

Garland and Schweitzer combined to surrender 46 total pressures, with Garland also playing 341 snaps in relief of Levitre was injured.

“Wes got better every game,” offensive line coach Chris Morgan said. “He got better as the season progressed.”

The Falcons signed Fusco to a three-year, $12.75 million contract. He’s started 80 of 83 games he’s played for the Vikings and 49ers. He started all 16 games at right guard for the 49ers last season.

The Falcons drafted Harlow in the fourth-round of the 2017 draft. He played tackle in college and Oregon State and was converted to guard.

“It’s a big adjustment moving a guy to becoming an inside player when he hasn’t really done it a whole lot,” Morgan said.

Harlow was inactive for all 16 games last season. He must make make a good impression during live contact in the exhibition season.

“He’s grown up,” Morgan said. “He’s maturing. His strength is in a good spot. His understanding of the offense is better. I want to see the best version of him.”