Drew Dalman was a fantastic center for the Atlanta Falcons for four years because of his prowess as a run blocker.
The same couldn't be said for his pass blocking. It was an area of his game that was never anything more than average, with the occasional sprinkle of downright bad—it was the reason they were content with letting him go.
But a recent rep surfaced for Bears' practice that shows the center dominating in pass protection like the Dirty Birds have never seen, leaving them wondering what has changed in such little time.
Drew Dalman can suddenly overpower defensive tackles in pass pro
Dalman always struggled in one-on-ones with big defensive tackles. His agility-over-power skillset left him vulnerable to getting manhandled by the hulking big men he saw lined up across from him, especially early in his career.
Many of us have vivid memories of the Panthers' defensive tackle, Derrick Brown, routinely throwing him like a sack of potatoes.
While he has improved each year, he never reached the level that warranted the $42-million contract the Bears gave him.
But maybe the joke is on the Falcons after an image surfaced showing the center manhandling the type of player who has manhandled him in the past.
Andrew Billings, a six-foot-one, 310-pound defensive tackle, is shown with his arms up in the air giving the look of stop! I give up! Have mercy! as Dalman dominates the rep. He even gets close to ripping his jersey off.
While this is practice, the Falcons wish they had gotten this type of strength and power from their center over the last four years.
We also don't have context that would answer some questions about the image we see. Like, why is Caleb Williams on Dalman's heels? Did Dalman somehow recover from being pushed five yards into the backfield?
Nevertheless, if he continues to show this newfound strength, the Dirty Birds could be left scratching their heads, wondering why they couldn't get that out of him the last four seasons.