Atlanta Falcons: Four players who were misused in 2022

NFL teams have a lot to juggle every season. They have 53 players on their active roster—plus a practice squad—and they must learn each of their individual strengths and weaknesses. Most of us can’t even identify our own strengths, much less 67 other people. In other words, there is bound to be some misusage of players, and the Atlanta Falcons are no different.

It is a game that requires coaches to do a lot of mix and matching. Players aren’t always going to be put in their most optimal position but there are a few players, specifically, that were routinely misused.

Now you are asking yourself, who are those players? We will identify four players—two on offense, two on defense—who were routinely put in the wrong position this past regular season.

1. Jaylinn Hawkins, S, Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons decided to test out their two young safeties on defense this past season, one of which was Jaylinn Hawkins.

Hawkins, by no means, is a big body (6’1″, 205 lbs) but he plays bigger than his size. Coming out of college he was seen as a physical player who doesn’t have great speed. And while he played well in 2022, he was put in the wrong position.

You would think he would play closer to the line of scrimmage but that isn’t how Dean Pees used him. Out of his 955 defensive snaps, he was in the box or on the defensive line for a combined 265 snaps. Compare that to his 587 snaps at free safety and 103 snaps at cornerback and it shows that he wasn’t used to his strengths.

You cannot ignore his athletic limitations. He should be put in a position where he can use his physicality, rather than his speed, on every down.