Atlanta Falcons: 3 Players who need to step up in 2020
1. Isaiah Oliver
Perhaps the player that is going to have to step up the most right away for the Atlanta Falcons this season is cornerback Isaiah Oliver. Oliver emerged in a larger role during the 2019 campaign, but in 2020, he will take on an even bigger role at the back end of the Falcons defense.
With Pro Bowl cornerback Desmond Trufant leaving Atlanta this offseason, Oliver will take over the top cornerback role during the 2020 season while being a dominant option on the defense alongside rookie cornerback A.J. Terrell on the other side of the field for the Falcons.
Oliver will be entering his third season in the NFL this year and is still a nice young option to have take over the back end of the defense in Atlanta. Oliver, who broke in the league in 2018 as a second-round pick out of Colorado, appeared in 14 of the 16 games in 2018 while playing in and starting in all 16 contests in 2019.
A season ago, the 23-year-old finished the year with a career-best 62 combined tackles for the Falcons, finishing with one 50 solo tackles and one forced fumble during the regular season.
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Atlanta’s defense was an area of concern early on in the season a year ago, but the Falcons finished the latter portion of the regular season on a strong note and will look to continue to build onto that in 2020. There is no doubt that Oliver will be a large part of that potential success and he will have to step up in year three.