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After his Trade Request From the Broncos, Could Brandon Marshall Be a Falcon?
Published: June 17, 2009
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Did the Falcons release Michael Vick too soon?
Word out of Denver is that WR Brandon Marshall is seeking a trade out of Denver.
The Broncos already lost starting quarterback Jay Cutler, who also forced a trade, and Denver would have been a good spot to send Vick.
This could have been a win-win for both teams. Vick would have provided a back-up (or potential replacement) to the inconsistent Kyle Orton, while Marshall would have provided Matt Ryan with another dangerous receiver.
Actually, Marshall is good enough to supplant Michael Jenkins at the second WR spot. Jenkins has size similar to Marshall but lacks the play-making ability Marshall has.
Vick would not have been as sure a bet to start, but his versatility would have allowed him to be used as a gimmick player or in the now popular wildcat formation.
Trading Vick would have also left Atlanta with enough money to sign Marshall to the contract extension he was seeking.
Atlanta lost over $7 million dollars of cap space by releasing Vick, which could have been better spent trying to sign Marshall. They may still recoup some of that if Vick signs elsewhere but that is not a given.
As it is, Denver is probably going to look for something similar to the first and third round draft picks Detroit got for trading WR Roy Williams to the Cowboys last season.
Atlanta and Denver could have worked out a deal that wouldn’t have required trading away such high value picks, but alas we will never know what could have been.
Rumors are that Marshall is headed either to Chicago, where he would re-join Cutler, or to the Baltimore Ravens where he would give second-year quarterback Joe Flacco a big, young target he can grow with.
WR Derrick Mason was Flacco’s main target last year but he is 35 years old.
Many speculate that Baltimore won’t be willing to give up valuable picks to get the 25-year-old Marshall, but this team went pretty far last year and a receiving threat like Marshall could be the difference.
Wherever Marshall goes, he is going to have to tone down the off-field distractions or it won’t matter who he plays for.
If he continues to have issues off the field, then he will develop a T.O.-type reputation making him virtually untouchable.
Falcon’s Defense Looks To Soar In 2009
Published: June 16, 2009
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Atlanta’s defense did one thing right last year. They were successful pressuring the QB.
Led by sack master John Abraham, Atlanta registered 38 sacks on opposing quarterbacks last season. This is a feat he will be hard-pressed to repeat this upcoming season though.
With that in mind, somebody else has to step up if Atlanta is going to be successful pressuring the QB this year. Of the eight players besides Abraham who had sacks, no player had more than four sacks and only two of the eight had more than two sacks.
“A good pass rush covers a multitude of deficiencies.” Now I’m not sure where I heard this, but I do know that this fit Atlanta’s defensive personality to a tee last year.
The Falcons were tied for 11th in sacks with the Baltimore Ravens last season but unlike Baltimore, their success in that area didn’t extend to other parts of their defense.
Case in point, the Falcons were 29th in tackles, tied for 27th in interceptions, and tied for 19th in passes defended during the regular season. They were also tied for 29th in forced fumbles and tied 20th in fumble recoveries.
Both Coach Mike Smith and General manager Thomas Dimitroff were concerned about their defense’s lack of speed and physicality, and have devoted the off-season to improving these areas.
One step they’ve taken was to use seven of their eight draft picks on defensive players. Another step they’ve taken is to sign a number of undrafted rookies and young players released from other teams in order to bolster competition in training camp.
One more thing that will help is getting back players who were injured last year like CB Brent Grimes, DT Trey Lewis, and CB Von Hutchins.
Here’s how the defense is shaping up so far:
Falcons’ 2008 Offense Mirrors 2001 Steelers
Published: May 26, 2009
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Atlanta Falcon’s Mike Mularkey is in his third stint as an offensive coordinator (he was also the Buffalo Bills head coach from 2004-2005), and there are some alarming trends that Falcons’ fans may want to know about.
Judging from his past stints, you shouldn’t look for Atlanta’s offense to improve.
Mularkey has usually done a good job at improving a team’s offense the first year he is with a team, but for reasons not always under his control, his teams usually rank a little lower his second second year there.
The only time he was around for a third year (as Pittsburgh‘s offensive coordinator), the Steelers’ offense dropped into the bottom of the league.
When looking at the 2008 Falcons offense, you can see a lot of similarities to the 2001 Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense that Mularkey coached.
Pittsburgh’s offense ranked third in the league that year, after having ranked 18th the year before. The Falcons offense made a similar jump from 23rd in 2007 to sixth last year.
After taking over Pittsburgh’s offense, the Steelers went from 9-7 in 2000 to 13-3 and the AFC championship game in 2001.
Mularkey helped Atlanta make an even bigger jump, going from 4-12 in 2007 to 11-5 and a playoff birth last year.
But Pittsburgh’s offense would drop from third to fifth behind injuries to their starting quarterback (anybody remember Kordell Stewart?) and running back (Jerome “The Bus” Bettis).
Their offense would then drop all the way to 22nd in Mularkey’s third season.
I also noticed something about Mularkey’s offenses that struck me as kind of odd.
Although Mularkey is a former tight end, tight ends aren’t usually very productive in Mularkey’s system.
Out of the seven years that Mularkey has been either an offensive coordinator or a head coach, only once has a tight end has caught more than 19.
When he was offensive coordinator in Miami, TE Randy McMichael caught 62 passes that year, but was coming off seasons where he had caught 73 and 60 passes respectively.
Tight end Justin Peele caught 15 passes for Atlanta last year—after having 29 catches the previous year with Miami.
No tight end in Pittsburgh caught more than 13 passes when Mularkey was there.
Looking at Mularkey’s playing career, it’s not surprising that tight ends don’t contribute much to the passing game in his system.
As a player, the most passes Mularkey ever caught in a season was 32.
In his nine-year career he caught 20 or more passes only twice, so how he uses tight ends reflects how he was mostly utilized as a player—as blockers in both the run and pass game.
This season will represent a big adjustment for Mularkey in trying accommodate a tight end like Tony Gonzalez, who is coming off back-to-back 90-catch seasons.
Even though tight ends aren’t usually that productive, wide receivers seem to thrive in this offense.
Wide receiver Hines Ward went to his first Pro Bowl in this system, and went every year Mularkey was offensive coordinator.
Last year, wide receiver Roddy White followed suit by being selected for his first Pro Bowl in Mularkey’s initial season in Atlanta.
What allows these receivers to have such outstanding seasons is the emphasis placed on the running game.
Mularkey’s offenses have consistently produced 1,000-yard rushers like Bettis, Willis McGhee (Buffalo), Ronnie Brown (Miami), and Atlanta’s Michael Turner.
Look for Turner to play well again this year barring injury.
Turner carried the ball 376 times last year because the Falcons were able to play with a lead in most games.
Atlanta made little improvement during the offseason though, so don’t look for Turner to repeat the 1,699-yard season he had last year.
One last similarity that may scare Falcons’ fans: for all the hoopla about Matt Ryan being the long term answer at QB, his stats last year were eerily similar to Kordell Stewart’s 2001 numbers.
ATT/COMP YRDS COMP% TD INT SACKS RATING
Matt
Ryan
2008 434/265 3440yds 61.1% 16 11 17 87.7
Kordell
Stewart
2001 442/266 3109yds 60.2% 14 11 29 81.7
Ryan’s numbers weren’t that bad for a rookie QB. What’s troubling is the fact that Mularkey hasn’t had much success developing quarterbacks in this system.
Head coach Mike Smith has to hope that quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave will help Ryan improve.
During his NFL coaching career, Musgrave has been successful helping other quarterbacks elevate their games.
But if things stay true to form, you can expect Atlanta’s offense to drop a few notches.
If that is the case, then let’s hope that Smith can improve Atlanta’s defense the way he did Jacksonville’s because of their offense .
