Dan Quinn will have to rebuild the Atlanta Falcons defense from scratch
By Nick Ziegler
The day after the Seattle Seahawks lost Super Bowl XLIX, the team’s defensive coordinator, Dan Quinn, officially accepted the job to become the new head coach of the Atlanta Falcons – as expected.
Quinn is going to have his work cut out for him on the defensive side of the ball, as he will be going from the No. 1 ranked defense in the NFL the past two seasons to a team with little talent on defense.
This past season, the Falcons allowed the most total yards in the league and were also 32nd at defending the pass. Atlanta wasn’t the worst team in the NFL at points allowed but did give up 26.1 points per contest (27th in the NFL).
Priority No.1 for Quinn and the Falcons this offseason has to be to lay the building blocks for a solid defense.
Quinn will be inheriting one good player on defense in cornerback Desmond Trufant. In 2014, Trufant was graded as the sixth-best cornerback in the NFL by Pro Football Focus and he could be a piece that Quinn builds around. The hope is that the coach can develop Trufant into the next version of Richard Sherman in his defense.
After a 6-10 season, the Falcons hold the No. 8 pick in the NFL Draft this spring and it is a choice that could land them another cornerstone defensive player.
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In Seattle, the “Legion of Boom” got much of the credit for the success of the Seahawks’ defense. But a strong defensive line, led by Michael Bennett, was just as important in their success. Quinn will likely try to replicate that in Atlanta and that should start in the NFL Draft.
The top of the draft has a lot of talent on the defensive side of the ball and the Falcons would be wise to select one of the lineman. An intriguing option who could be available is Arik Armstead from the University of Oregon.
Armstead is coming out after his junior year but physically is a beast and ready for the NFL. Armstead is listed a 6′ 7″, weighs 285 pounds and looks to project similar to Bennett in the NFL.
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Getting to the quarterback was an issue for Falcons last year, which makes drafting a pass-rusher a good decision. It also makes sense because the Falcons’ could be losing two of their best pass-rushers from last year in free agency.
Both Kroy Biermann and Osi Umenyiora could become free agents this offseason. Despite only combining for seven sacks last season, that production will need to be replaced if Biermann (4.5 sacks) and Umenyiora (2.5 sacks) opt to leave.
With Quinn coming in he will likely try to bring in players that will fit his system. And given how poor the Falcons defense was last year, starting from scratch isn’t all that bad of an idea.
The Falcons have a good amount of money to spend. However, with the looming contract of Julio Jones coming, that could but a dent into that cap space.
Rebuilding the Atlanta Falcons defense this offseason into a Top 10 defense isn’t going to happen. But with Quinn at the helm things are looking up for the Falcons and their defense.