Another season, another bad Atlanta Falcons' defenseāa trend as old as the franchise. It feels like whatever this franchise does, it will never be enough.
However, if you read the tea leaves, Raheem Morris and the Falcons identified one major problem from last year: Defensive Coordinator Jimmy Lake.
Atlanta Falcons re-signings puts the blame squarely on Jimmy Lake's shoulders
Jessie Bates and A.J. Terrell were the only two consistently good defenders for the 2024 Falcons. The others were inconsistent, at best.
So, who do you blame for that? The guy who was leading the unit: Jimmy Lake. Lake was fired at season's end and replaced by a familiar face in Jeff Ulbrich.
While the firing wasn't shocking, the same cannot be said about some of the re-signings. The Falcons have re-signed defensive linemen Ta'Quon Graham and Kentavius Street, and cornerbacks Mike Hughes, Dee Alford, and Kevin King
None of those players were good last year. Hughes was decent (reflected by his 3yr, $18M deal), but his fellow defenders were average, at best.
Dee Alford is the case study; at no point in 2024 did he prove he was worthy of being re-signed. He was picked on ad nauseam and should've been benched.
But before last year he was a solid slot corner. So what changed?
Well, it is that name again: Jimmy Lake. The Falcons are throwing last year's tape in the garbage and reverting to prior years.
You can say the same for Ta'Quon Graham and Kentavius Street. Neither were good last year, combining for one sack over 23 games (13 for Street, 10 for Graham). In 2023, they were good rotational pieces who made impact plays.
Then you have David Onyemata, who we all thought would be cut this offseason after a down year. Yet, here we are in late April and he is still kickin' it with the team. Will he be the player he was in 2023 after another coaching change?
Hopefully, this simple change in defensive coordinators will help turn the defense around. They haven't been injected with talent (pending the Draft), so scheme has to be the magic wand.