On those days when their young defensive ends struggle and the Falcons need some encouragement that they’ll get better, they need only look at the big-name free agent they brought in to help.
“They are a lot better than I was, I can tell you that,” Osi Umenyiora said of the his young teammates. “When I came out I didn’t think I was going to make it.”
That was when Umenyiora was a second-round pick out of Troy. Ten seasons later he has established himself as one of the better pass rushers in the NFL, so maybe one of the Falcons’ inexperienced ends has untapped potential ready to emerge.
The Falcons could use some unexpected production. They had one of the least effective pass rushes in the league last season, ranking 28th of 30 teams in sack percentage.
The Falcons’ pressure on the quarterback would have been much worse without John Abraham. He has departed for Arizona, and now the Falcons will rely on Umenyiora, veteran Kroy Biermann, pass-rushing tackle Jonathan Babineaux and a collection of untested ends.
Among the young linemen are Jonathan Massaquoi, a fifth-round draft pick in 2012 who played 27 defensive snaps as a rookie, and two rookies: Malliciah Goodman (fourth round) and Stansly Maponga (fifth).
“Those guys (Goodman and Maponga) are going to get an opportunity,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “We like what Jonathan has done. We are going to have a pretty good rotation, I think, at the defensive end. I don’t know that we are going to have a guy that is going to go out there and play 50 snaps, but we are going to have a nice rotation where we can put guys out there and keep them fresh.”
It would be key for the Falcons if they can find a third effective pass rusher to help make up for Abraham’s departure. Abraham’s 10 sacks in 2012 were tied for 12th-most in the league, and his six forced fumbles ranked tied for third.
The NFL statistics website Pro Football Focus also credited Abraham with eight quarterback hits, 36 hurries and seven passes batted on 436 pass rushes. Among defensive ends playing in 4-3 schemes, Abraham’s cumulative totals in those three categories plus sacks (61) ranked tied for seventh with Greg Hardy and ahead of other touted pass rushers such as as Jason Pierre-Paul (59), Julius Peppers (59) and Elvis Dumervil (56).
By contrast, in 422 pass rushes with the Giants last season Umenyiora recorded six sacks, seven hits, 32 hurries and no passes batted down for a cumulative total of 45. Biermann had 395 rushes with three sacks, nine hits, 23 hurries and no passes batted.
Massaquoi, who also played at Troy, figures to see significantly more snaps this season.
“My pass-rush skills have definitely developed,” Massaquoi said. “That goes with any young player in the league. For me, it’s just trying to get better at my craft. As far as the rotation goes, hey, fit me in wherever they need me to fit. Getting in that three or four-man rotation, but my biggest thing is I want to be in there.”
Goodman had nine sacks as a senior at Clemson. He said the transition to the NFL has been tough because of the complex playbook, intense practices and long days in training camp. All of that is in addition to the greater competition.
“Everybody out here is high-caliber,” he said. “You’ve got to be on your game and focus on how you are going to attack guys. You would be surprised at how quick a 320-pound guy can kick back.”
Umenyiora said he tries to reassure the young defensive ends on their bad days that “it’s going to get easier.” Biermann, the Falcons’ fifth-round pick in 2008, said it’s not easy to make the leap from college pass rusher to the NFL.
“Everybody is big; everybody is fast; everybody is strong,” he said. “You’ve really got to get back to the basics. Spend the time and the effort and the work. You’ve got to really work on the details of pass rush, and that’s hands, eyes, coordination, have some moves in mind. You can’t just go out there blind.”
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