You might think it a holy mess when the Falcons’ defense takes the field Sunday afternoon against the Panthers, like FEMA missing its director and first assistant amidst a hurricane, but the locals seem OK with what’s happening.
And, maybe, if those in The Brotherhood are right about the absence of middle linebacker Deion Jones and strong safety Keanu Neal, the loss of two defensive starters who went to the Pro Bowl last year will not be a big deal.
Jones and Neal are down for the count after suffering injuries in Atlanta’s season-opening loss at Philadelphia.
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That’s a bum run of luck for the birds, and dominoes are tumbling.
Second-year pro Duke Riley will move to middle linebacker from weakside linebacker – where he was rarely on the field before because Atlanta does not often deploy its base defense – and second-year pro Demontae Kazee will start at free safety with Ricardo Allen moving from free safety to strong.
Or, sometimes newcomer Jordan Richards – acquired just before the season from New England by trade -- will play one of the safety positions, probably the strong/run force, as he's the last big dude left on the back line.
Before we get to all the backup situations, which will feature young and/or new players, head coach Dan Quinn will try to put Falcons fans at ease and suggest that what you’ll see will be what you’ve recently seen.
“We wouldn’t change what we do because [Neal and Kazee are] both physical guys and they’re different in how they apply it,” Quinn said. “[Kazee]’s got even more coverage stuff than Neal does based on his ability coming out of college as a corner.”
Ok, yeah, so, well, wow!
After Neal went out last Thursday at Philadelphia, Allen moved to his position and Kazee took over at free safety.
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The Falcons’ starting STRONG safety Sunday, Allen, goes 5-feet-9, 186 pounds. He like Kazee, who’s 5-11, 174, was also a cornerback in college. That generally means not big. Perhaps obviously.
Neal goes 6-1, 212, and he packs a wallop when dropping ballcarriers.
“Where [Neal] is strength and size and plays more like a linebacker . . . their style and attitude are the same,” he said of Kazee. vs. Neal. “How we feature the players will be the same, but we’ll certainly miss Keanu based on that size.”
That wasn’t quite right because there is no way the Falcons will feature Kazee or Allen the same way as Neal, yet it’s difficult to predict how the Falcons’ defense will change.
There’s zero chance that Quinn and defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel will expect Kazee or Allen or Richards to play strong safety like Neal, who was the Falcons’ second-leading tackler last season behind Jones.
The Falcons’ No. 1 thumper is gone for the season with a bum knee.
The coaches haven’t gone out of their way to explain it, but upon probe, they suggest that three safeties – and maybe even Keith Tandy, who was signed to the roster Monday – will play in the back.
“One man is not going to replace these men. It’s going to be a group of us that dominate our roles that replace them,” Manuel said. “It’s going to be a combination.”
The same figures to be true at linebacker, where you can count on one thing: De’Vondre Campbell will man the strongside and work in the Falcons’ nickel defense.
Here’s where things get especially tough.
Jones in just two years has become respected as one of the NFL’s top linebackers, and he’s surely among the top five pass coverage ‘backers in the league.
If he were playing Sunday, he’d spend a lot of time covering Carolina running back Christian McCaffrey, who drove the Falcons nuts last October in Charlotte when the Panthers beat Atlanta 20-17.
Credit: Wilfredo Lee
Credit: Wilfredo Lee
He won’t cover him at all Sunday. A lot of that work will fall upon Riley.
He did a lot of work in the preseason at middle linebacker, and after sketchy returns early, he appeared to better grasp his work as the regular season grew closer.
“Actually, I’ve been preparing for this Mike [middle linebacker] role the whole offseason. I barely played Will [weakside], only in base,” he said.
Truth be told, it’s rare anymore for NFL teams to deploy a base defense, other than when they’re defending in the red zone. Mostly, defenses function in nickel and dime until the ball moves inside their 20-yard line and then heft becomes more valuable.
In those situations, the Falcons figure to have another newcomer, rookie weakside linebacker Foye Oluokun, a thick sixth-round draft choice from Yale, who adds, “I’m going to have to learn Mike a little more this week.”
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The fourth linebacker will be Kemal Ishmael, who spent the bulk of his career as a safety but is not in the running – at least not now -- to return to that spot, according to Quinn.
Getting back to the safety spot, Richards fits the physical bill as a strong man, a run-game enforcer. He goes 5-11, 210. The majority of his NFL playing experience, however, has been spent as a special teamer.
This is not to say that there are not gains to be had.
Kazee’s pass coverage skills grade higher by a big margin over those of Neal.
That may be important against the Panthers, what with the McCaffrey conundrum. He was a horrible matchup for Neal and others last season on the rare occasions that Atlanta’s defense called for him to defend the running back.
Kazee intercepted 15 passes in his last two colleges seasons at San Diego State, and was a two-time Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year award winner. He had piles of tackles as a collegian, leading his team in solo hits as a junior, which is why the Falcons drafted him in the fifth round in 2017.
Even with his coverage skills, even with that light weight, Quinn and the Atlanta brass believe he can bring it when he needs to bring it. They started training him to play safety soon after he was drafted. Safeties are counted upon to make a lot of tackles.
“We saw him tackle and he was such an aggressive player,” Quinn said. “So, right when he arrived here, we put him at safety and at nickel. When we said okay, let’s just leave him at one spot to learn it, we settled at free safety.”
That leaves Allen, he of modest stature himself, to bring Sunday’s wood.
“He’s tough enough. I know everyone looks at his stature . . . but he’s one of the best tacklers in the league,” Manuel said. “Brian Dawkins [a former Eagles/Broncos safety who went into the Hall of Fame in August] wasn’t that big. It’s a combination of guys.”
Well . . . Dawkins was 30 pounds heavier than both Falcons safeties, as he played at 6-feet, 210 pounds .
Everything will be OK, said Quinn, who suggested, “our style will look very much similar.”
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