Atlanta Falcons News: Keanu Neal continues to impress coaches

Desmond Trufant is the Atlanta Falcons’ most underrated player, while first-round pick Keanu Neal continues to impress. That and more in the Dirty Bird Daily.

Good morning, Falcons fans. We’re exactly nine weeks away from the season opener with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which is just 63 days.

In under two weeks time, we’ll be running our “Falcons 50” countdown here at Blogging Dirty just like last year. It begins 50 days from kickoff and runs all the way down to the start of the season. You can check out last year’s countdown to get an idea of what is to come by clicking here.

As you sip your coffee this fine Sunday morning, one of the final Sundays without football, enjoy these Falcons articles from around the internet.

Desmond Trufant named Falcons’ most underrated player — Jeanna Thomas of The Falcoholic

Trufant is without a doubt the Falcons’ most underrated player, and one of the most underrated players in the league. He didn’t even make the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016, which is unbelievable considering how well he’s played in recent years. Trufant can keep slipping under the radar. The Falcons won’t mind one bit.

Marquand Manuel: Neal’s coverage skills ‘on another level’ — Andrew Hirsh of AtlantaFalcons.com

The Falcons’ defensive backs coach has been impressed with the first-round pick, whose coverage skills has been impressive in practice. There has been nothing but praise coming out of Flowery Branch so far for Keanu Neal. It’s going to be exciting watching him at training camp later this month.

Next: Ranking the top-10 players in the NFC South

Mohamed Sanu excelled in Cincinnati as a WR1? — Matthew Chambers of The Falcoholic

Most of the analysis of Mohamed Sanu’s arrival in Atlanta has been negative. Can he make the jump to a No. 2 receiver? Well, history might suggest he can even handle a No. 1 role, which is exactly what he did for a brief stint in Cincinnati.