Atlanta Falcons: 3 Early breakout candidates on defense for 2020

1. Isaiah Oliver

Going into the 2020 campaign, the position on defense that will likely grab the most attention as far as who is able to step up and take over the starting job in Atlanta comes at cornerback.

Although the Falcons did go out and bring in a nice young prospect in A.J. Terrell in the opening round of the 2020 NFL Draft in April, there is one player, in particular, that was already on the roster that could emerge as a new starting cornerback.

That player who is going to have to step up the most right away is cornerback Isaiah Oliver. Oliver did emerge in a larger role during the 2019 campaign, but with Pro Bowl cornerback Desmond Trufant leaving Atlanta this offseason, Oliver will likely take over the top cornerback role during the 2020 season and could see a nice jump in production.

This season, Oliver will be entering his third year in the NFL this year and is still a nice young option to have take over the back end of the defense in Atlanta. The defensive back broke in the league in 2018 as a second-round pick out of Colorado and 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.

Atlanta will likely lean on Oliver to take things over at the cornerback position and try and show Terrell the way on the other side of the field to establish a nice young cornerback duo in the back end of the Falcons defense. Oliver will see even more time on the field this year and could have a breakout campaign in his third season.