Isaiah Oliver, a second-round draft pick of the Falcons in 2018, is ready to take over one of the team’s starting cornerback spots.
“It really just comes down to confidence,” Oliver told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the OTAs workout Thursday. “That’s something where I have a lot more confidence this year than I did last year. It’s probably going to be like that throughout my career from year to year. But yeah, that’s the biggest jump that I made. Becoming more confident in the scheme of things.”
The Falcons moved on from Robert Alford, who was the starter at right cornerback for the past six seasons. Since coach Dan Quinn arrived, the Falcons have been trying to get a bigger cornerback to take over that spot.
The Falcons drafted Jalen Collins, who was 6-foot-1 and 203 pounds, in the second round of the 2015 draft. On his way to the starting lineup, Collins kept getting suspended before the team released him in November 2017.
He currently plays with the Colts.
Oliver, listed at 6-foot and 210 pounds, was taken 58th overall last season. Oliver, who also was on the track team at Colorado, has run the 100 meters in 10.7 seconds and has long-jumped 24 feet.
Oliver played 240 defensive snaps (22 percent) and 143 special-team snaps (32.5 percent). Left cornerback Desmond Trufant led the defense with 1,059 defensive snaps (97.1 percent).
Credit: ccompton@ajc.com
Credit: ccompton@ajc.com
Alford played 857 defensive snaps ((87.7 percent) last season. So, Oliver’s workload is about to triple.
Coach Dan Quinn, defensive passing-game coordinator Jerome Henderson and defensive backs coach Doug Mallory believe Oliver is ready to be a NFL starter.
“What I’ve seen from him is his patience at the line of scrimmage,” Quinn said. “All of this length that he has, he’s really on it in that space.”
The Falcons have practiced Oliver at both the right and left cornerback spots. They may want to match him up on bigger receivers from time to time.
“He’s always been a really mature guy,” Quinn said. “Now he’s added the technique with the sense of maturity. I think you’ll like the results from that.”
Henderson also is high on Oliver.
“You see athleticism,” Henderson said. “His size. His poise. His intelligence. His work ethic. When you put all of those things together, you just know that this kid is going to figure it out.
“He’s going to be a good player in this league. He’s going to be a solid pro. The sky is the limit, how high he can go?”
Mallory, who played defensive back at Michigan, thought Oliver played well in a backup role last season.
“He showed well on tape with the limited reps he had last year,” Mallory said. “He’s got very good ball skills. He’s an effective tackler. He only missed one tackle all of last year. He has a lot of physical qualities. We feel good about the direction that he’s going.”
Oliver’s father, Muhammad Oliver, played in the NFL from 1992-95 for five teams. He played in 21 games and made two starts.
“It was big,” Oliver said about his dad’s influence. “Obviously, from what he did as athlete. It was something that he had a lot of knowledge about and things like that.
“I was able to ask him questions. He was able to train me and coach me. I was always able to have that in the house. I think that propelled me a lot.”
Oliver believes that going against Falcons wide receivers Mohamed Sanu, Calvin Ridley and eventually Julio Jones, will help him get ready for the season.
“These guys, in my opinion, are the best receiver corps in football,” Oliver said. “Being able to go against that every day, come to Sunday and you know it’s not going to be as difficult as it was in practice. That’s everything that you would dream of really.”
Oliver planned to take a starting spot even before the team released Alford, who was signed by Arizona.
“It was something that I expected of myself to compete for it and work for it myself,” Oliver said. “But in terms of having those type of conversation with coaches, not so much until recently.”
Getting the Falcons’ techniques down was the key for Oliver, who changed his uniform number from 20 to 26 in the offseason.
“Really just adjusting to the way, not the defense in terms of scheme, but the defense in terms of technique would be the most difficult thing,” Oliver said. “Because everyone plays a different type of coverages within those techniques, but everyone plays it differently in college and the NFL, really from team to team really.”
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