Atlanta Falcons Off-Season Recap (2022)

by CypherSimile | 3 years ago | 3 Comments

FLOWERY BRANCH – After an uneven 7-10 season, the Atlanta Falcons went into the off-season with a litany of holes on the roster and a full complement of draft picks to make things work. The thing to be done was to jettison players that played below their contract demands and to add impact players where they could. In FA, it played out this way:

 

Key FA Additions

HB Marlon Mack 

LG Connor Williams

CB D.J. Reed Jr

FS Marcus Williams

WR T.Y. Hilton (cut immediately after preseason began for cap reasons)

 

Key FA Subtractions

RG David DeCastro

HB Mike Davis

WR Russell Gage

TE Hayden Hurst

CB Fabian Moreau

FS Duron Harmon

K Younghoe Koo

 

Overall, it was a solid FA class that had players fill needs and actually be impact players with the highlights being new star FS Marcus Williams helping to give stability to the safety position and star HB Marlon Mack with an opportunity to be the featured back for the first time in his career. The idea by HC Steps was to revamp the team to have an entirely new identity on both sides of the football as it was determined that their current play style was not conducive to winning SFL football. First order of business after FA for the brain trust was to find QB Matt Ryan’s successor as he’s 37 years old and only has an 84 THP now. With the #15 pick in tow and the top QBs fully scouted, it was determined that to get one of the top 3 QBs, he was going to have to be traded up for. In comes the first deal they made to make that happen:

Falcons Trade

1^st Round Pick 2022 (15)

1^st Round Pick 2023

LE Grady Jarrett

Jets Trade

1^st Round Pick 2022 (5)

2^nd Round Pick 2023 

First off, shoutout to the Jets organization for being straight forward and rightfully selective during the process of getting this deal accomplished. In totality, this was a major move with little ramifications. Big picture, the Falcons traded up in the 1^st this year, traded down in next year’s draft and also gave up X-Factor LE Grady Jarrett who had a monster season last year as he went off for 23 TFL and 9 QB tackles. He was in the final year of his contract and at age 29, was beginning to show a slight bit of wear and was possibly a trade candidate during next season. Coach Steps decided to pull the trigger and possibly get after one of those top QBs in the draft this season and not be stuck with another season of low throw power. 

After the deal to move LE Grady Jarrett, the Falcons had to make a decision on the direction of the defense. Once a multiple based defense with a lean towards a 34 base, the defense was ready to re-identify as a 46 defense with a lean towards a 43 base which has always been a staple of Coach Steps’ past defenses. With this switch, LE Grady Jarrett’s spot was needing to be filled since there wasn’t a player on the roster that could fill it as a 43 end. Upon scouting the defenders in the draft, there was a targeted player that the Atlanta Falcons decided they had to have. Even the commissioner knew about this player prior to the draft after Coach Steps notified him that the team had their eye on him. In order to get him, the Atlanta Falcons decided they needed to get back into the back-end of the 1^st. At the very VERY last minute (literally, 1 minute until the deadline), the Atlanta Falcons were able to find a trade partner that would allow them to get their 1^st round pick which happened to be in the back end of the 1^st round. The trigger was pulled and the trade was submitted with 1 min left on the clock and that trade was as follows:

Falcons Trade

2^nd Round Pick 2022 (15)

2^nd Round Pick 2023 

Titans Trade

1^st Round Pick 2022 (24)

This trade was indeed an overpay and was even met with some critism from the league office but the trade calculator called it a “fair trade” despite the value difference so it was agreed upon and processed. If the player the Atlanta Falcons wanted wasn’t there at that pick, this trade would’ve been a massive failure, an overwhelming loss and setback for the franchise. It was a giant risk that the Atlanta Falcons felt like they had to make despite the initial reaction from those respected league office officials.

Now, to the draft. The Falcons had two goals in mind. Get a new QB, get impact pass rushers and fill out the rest of the roster where there were roster spots open. The following is the list and brief analysis of the Atlanta Falcons 2022 draft pick selections. 

 

Atlanta Falcons 2022 Draft Class

1^st Round - Pick #5 – 72 OVR QB Gerald Atkinson – 6’0” 216 lbs – Florida

The 22-year-old out of Florida has been tagged to be the next signal caller for the Atlanta Falcons and so far, his attributes seem legit. He’s fast with an 86 speed, 89 acceleration and 92 change of direction. He can work the short game and throw on the run really well as he was often tasked to do at Florida. He needs to polish his middle accuracy and to work on his ability to carry the football but other than that, he looks to be in the mold of a QB Russell Wilson type. He’ll have QB Matt Ryan to show him the ropes but don’t be surprised if you see QB Gerald Atkinson early and often this upcoming season.

1^st Round - Pick #24 – 79 OVR LOLB Johnny Edison – 6’3” 249 lbs – Texas

Prior to the draft, LOLB Johnny Edison was identified by scouts and personnel within the organization as a “can’t miss” pass rusher and they promptly made a huge trade to the back end of the 1^st round to select him if he were there. Thankfully, he was and he does not disappoint. 86 speed with 90 acceleration, 96 stamina so he’s always on the field and he already has a solid swim move, spin move and bull rush move with an 82 finesse move to tag along with it. The idea is to convert him to defensive end and it looks like he will be able to be a very productive one from the get-go. This player could potentially become the best pass rusher the Atlanta Falcons have had since John Abraham.

3rd Round - Pick #15 – 72 OVR LOLB Eric Benson – 6’1” 234 lbs – LSU

With relation to the type of player drafted and the actual ability of that player, this may have been the Falcons’ best pick. Interestingly enough, he is an undersized linebacker that comes from LSU which has produced many players of that mold. One of them already being on the team in MLB Deion Jones. LOLB Eric Benson was another linebacker that was coveted but mainly due to his speed. Upon selection, it appears as though the Falcons accidently found their new starting strong-side linebacker. He’s another fast linebacker to pair with the dual 90 speed linebackers MLB Deion Jones and ROLB Foye Oluokon and he has the ability to both pass rush and drop back into coverage and not be a liability. He also has good tackle, hit power and pursuit ability too. Overall aside, he looks to be a complete linebacker and looks to be a LOLB/RE tweener depending on situation and should be a star on this budding defense.

4^th Round - Pick #15 – 70 OVR HB Malik Hilliard – 6’0” 214 lbs – Charleston Southern

After the jettison of HB Mike Davis and HB Cordarelle Patterson, the Falcons found themselves in need of backs who can take those touches themselves. The Falcons gave HB Marlon Mack a 1 year deal but still needed another back to get those carries as well. Enter HB Malik Hilliard who was quite the find in the 4^thround. The HB from Charleston Southern shows good speed with a 92 speed and 90 acceleration and a solid ability to spin and juke with a 77 and 78 respectively. He was also gifted with a 93 kick return. Where he struggles is his 82 carry that he needs to work on in order to get carries and continue getting carries. Going into camp, he will be the #2 HB option and if HB Marlon Mack proves to be a dud, look for HB Malik Hilliard to become the featured back and potentially go off.

5^th Round - Pick #15 – 66 OVR CB Phillip Basnight – 5’11” 182 lbs – West Virginia 

CB Phillip Basnight from West Virginia was a depth selection and he looks okay but needs a lot of work to become a member of the secondary. A positive is that he’s fast with a 92 speed and 92 acceleration but the downside is that he has a 59 for man coverage and a 67 for zone coverage. Truly needs some work but he could potentially find himself playing some safety at some point this season if there’s a need for speed next to newly acquired FS Marcus Williams. Overall, not a bad depth selection for the Falcons.

6^th Round - Pick #15 – 66 OVR TE Bernard Hancock – 6’4” 253 lbs – Ohio

After TE Kyle Pitts, there were not many options at TE that the Atlanta Falcons could have. So they decided to get a back-up TE in Bernard Hancock and he seems to be a fairly regular 66 overall TE. He has 79 for catch, 77 for catch in traffic and a 75 for SPC with an 81 speed and 87 acceleration. He also has some decent blocking ability with a 64 for run block and 62 for impact blocking. With the way the cap is situated, TE Bernard Hancock is locked in as the #2 TE and will get immediate play time opposite and sometimes next to TE Kyle Pitts.

7^th Round - Pick #15 – 63 OVR HB Luke Golden – 6’0” 198 lbs – Cincinnati

The Falcons’ Mr. Irrelevant is HB Luke Golden out of Cincinnati. He was selected merely to be a depth option at HB since the Falcons only rostered two to begin the draft. He actually has some numbers that show he may perform better than a 63 overall. His 88 speed, 90 acceleration, 78 SPM, 80 JKM and 87 COD may all prove important when you figure that his kick return is an 88. Between him and fellow draftee HB Malik Hilliard, the Atlanta Falcons, at minimum, found themselves two players capable of being valuable kick returners.

 

Overall, the draft was viewed by the organization as a success. Many will question the selection of QB Gerald Atkinson over QB Joe Kirkland who looks to be a star in the making. After years of Coach Steps having immobile QBs and witnessing the state of the league turn more toward having mobile passers, Coach Steps didn’t want to miss the chance of joining that new trend and having his own signal caller be mobile. This could potentially lead to Coach Steps having an offensive rookie of the year as long as he stays healthy. Same goes on defense as having a new pair of star defenders in LOLB Johnny Edison and LOLB Eric Benson, there may be a chance for both of them to perform on the highest level and potentially become defensive rookies of the year. 

Time will tell how all of this off-season work by the brain trust of the Atlanta Falcons will fare on the field. It was a busy off-season with many hours poured into the team so anything short of success may be deemed by many as a waste of time. Again though, we shall see.