Atlanta Falcons owner recently praised the team’s head coach and general manager for building a potentially dangerous defense in 2017.
For a head coach and general manager, other than winning, there may not be anything better than getting support from the team’s owner. That being said, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank has been a great supporter of every regime this team has had since the early 2000s, which creates a very attractive environment for any football coach and player.
I, for one, have been very impressed by Blank’s character ever since he bought the team back in 2001. If you’ve been a fan of the Falcons since then, you know just how much this guy has been through trying to build a winning franchise.
Whether it was Michael Vick getting arrested for dog-fighting charges, former head coach Bobby Petrino leaving the team mid-season to be the coach at Arkansas or watching the Falcons blow multiple substantial leads in the NFL Playoffs, Blank has always stood by the team and it’s coaching-staff. Regardless of how a game or season turns out, Blank has truly made this franchise a family.
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That being said, the Falcons’ owner is back to his normal habits, taking to the media to praise head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff for how well they’ve built this young defense in only three seasons.
Take a look at the quote from Arthur Blank in Vaughn McClure’s article on ESPN:
"“I think that Coach Quinn has done a fabulous job,” Blank said. “Thomas Dimitroff, our general manager, a fabulous job; I think all of the coaches and the personnel department and the players. We’ll have one of the youngest defenses in the NFL. And we do have the fastest defense in the NFL right now.“And when you’re being led by the Most Valuable Player in the league last year as your quarterback last — Matt Ryan, who lives up to MVP both on the field and off the field — and the tremendous about of talent behind him [with] Julio and many, many other players, we’re in a good position to compete. But everybody is that way.”"
Blank is dead on with his assessment of how well these two guys have done over the past three years working to build this defense. Not to mention, I love the shout-out to the Falcons personnel department. Those guys have done a fantastic job of not only identifying talent, but finding players that will fit well their system.
That’s exactly what has made the NFL Draft so exciting for Atlanta fans lately. The mock drafts are usually never correct, as Quinn and Dimitroff are willing to take the player they want no matter what pick they have on the board. For example, taking studs like Deion Jones and Keanu Neal much higher than they were projected by experts.
Next: NFL 2017: Predictions for MVP, every award
What’s even more exciting for Falcons fans is that this 2017 defense has the chance to be the team’s best unit in decades. We have seen some great offenses come through the Georgia Dome, but never a defense that puts fear into opposing teams. However, don’t be surprised when that reputation changes drastically moving forward.