Atlanta Falcons: How Dan Quinn is building his defense

It seems that many are not aware of how Dan Quinn has improved the Atlanta Falcons roster as a whole already.

Not only the current offseason but during the 2015 offseason, Quinn has slowly weeded out some of the ineptness left by former head coach Mike Smith and former defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. Day one of the Quinn era proceeded to hit home the agenda of making the team as a whole faster and more physical. Over the past two off-seasons, the Falcons defense has seen a notable transformation.

No, the defense isn’t 2000 Ravens-like nor is it even as impactful as the 2010 Steelers defense for the matter, however looking at the broad scope of things, Quinn’s fingerprints has made this easily the most athletic defense in Atlanta in quite some time.

Don’t believe me? Notice how Quinn has taken the 32nd overall ranked Falcons defense in 2014 who gave up 26.1 points per game and improved it to 16th overall in 2015 while giving up just 21 points a game. What is even more impressive is that the improvement occurred with the team still having trouble rushing the passer. Very impressive.

The agenda for this column is to dissect the defense enough to at least provide a more clearer scope of the Atlanta Falcons defense and what to look forward to under Quinn’s tutelage. Let’s get started.

Next: The defensive line