Atlanta Falcons: How Dan Quinn is building his defense
Secondary
Upon getting hired, Quinn so happened to acquire a set of cornerbacks to use as a foundation for his defense. If Desmond Trufant isn’t in your listing of the top five cornerbacks in the NFL, he better be in the top 10. The former Washington Husky has been everything the Falcons have asked for after getting drafted in the first round in 2013.
The talented corner doesn’t have the interception totals that many place too much value on but he has 44 pass deflections in his career as well as holding quarterbacks to under 60 percent completion percentage when targeted in each of his three seasons in the NFL.
Third-year corner Robert Alford has improved each season in the NFL and led the team with 15 pass deflections. Alford has taken a considerable amount of heat in recent seasons but the growth of the corner is there. Hopefully, Quinn can get the same progress over time from CB Jalen Collins who endured a tough rookie season and now the 2015 second-round pick now finds himself suspended for the first four games of 2016. Whether you see it or not, the young player was raw coming out of LSU and will take time but his size fits what Quinn is trying to do at corner.
2016 first rounder, Keanu Neal, is the aggressive safety that is needed. The defense can use a bully on defense and Neal can provide a hostile piece to the defense. In this scheme, a stout strong safety is needed to defend the run and at times he will see some coverage on the back half.
Luckily, Neal played single hight safety at times while at the University of Florida and you won’t see the value of Neal until the scheme is understood. Next to him is free safety Ricardo Allen who is a definite useful piece because of his instincts and ball skills. The scheme will be in Cover-3 looks a good number of times but will also see changes in coverage and Allen is able to be affective in all coverages. Depth at the safety spot will consist of Robenson Therezie, Kemal Ishmael, and Charles Godfrey.
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If there is a cause for concern, it is that the defense is in nickel coverage (five defensive backs) for good percentage of game. So while Quinn has a solid tandem in Trufant and Alford, one of the biggest storylines throughout the rest of the offseason is finding reliable talent for the 3rd cornerback spot. The hope is Collins and I believe he can come through, but with his suspension and current growth as a corner, it will be wise for the coaching staff to add notable talent from the remaining free agency pool.