ATL Sports: Around the ATL 7/18/2011

[Zodiac]

As the lockout draws nearer and nearer to a close, many Falcons fans are getting excited about Free Agency, most think we'll sign a FA DE, such as Ray Edwards or Charles Johnson to improve our pass rush, but is Biermann really the problem in the pass rush. If you watch a lot of game film, many QBs eluded the rush of Biermann and Abraham by stepping up into the pocket, where there was a lack of pressure, usually because Babs was being double teamed, and Corey Peters couldn't get it done one on one. So how do we fix this? Who do we sign? The answer is no one, why? Simple the answer is already on our team. Peria Jerry who we drafted in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft, was drafted to replace Grady Jackson and help increase interior pressure and collapse the pocket, however in the first game of the season Jerry suffered a knee injury (That has yet to be disclosed, niether was the proccedure that was done on it, though most belief it was microfracture.) It kept him out for all of '09, and the coaching staff held him back in '10 because they felt the Knee wasn't 100%, however everything that has come out is that Jerry is 100%. For your information, that one game Jerry did play, we accumulated 3 sacks against Miami, including Abe who picked up one against Jake Long. So what would a healthy Jerry do? It would make teams pick their poison, who do you double team? Abraham, Babs, or Jerry. It would also give Biermann the chances he needs to gets sacks and create pressures, I mean look what upgrading our secondary did for Abe, 13.5 sacks. Imagine what a healthy Jerry would do for him?

The Atlanta Hawks are currently frozen, by an NBA lockout, one that doesn't seem to be coming to an end any time soon. The Hawks owners.. are considered some of the worst in all of sports, in their short time as owners the ASG has manage to run a whole franchise (Thrashers) out of the U.S., Sign Joe Johnson to an insane contract and hold the whole Hawks team hostage with their wasteful spending and stupid trades (see Kirk Heinrich), the Hawks really need is a new owner, but it seems like the ASG isn't going anywhere, so we're stuck with them, and what the Hawks need in terms of personell is a C that can score, Dwight Howard could be avaiable, but it's a highly unlikely option. The Hawks did draft a C in the 2nd round but his development is likely stunted by the lockout and he probably won't see the court until a few years from now. The Hawks could always sign a FA or wait until they have a first round pick, but a temporary stop gap solution could be Ben Wallace, while he's no where near his prime and is quickly heading towards retriement, he still average nearly 2 more points per game then Collins and more Rebounds and Blocked Shots then Collins and Pachulia. The ASG likes to trade away our future for old guys, so I guess Ben Wallace makes sense

[Radical]

Saying we should sign a top FA DE isn't an indictment of Biermann. It is an indictment of our poor DE depth. In our rotation based system, having at least 3 good DEs that can play the pass and the run is a must. We need to avoid putting in guys like Anderson and Davis on the field. They are one-dimensional, and when the other teams sees them, they know that it's one less quality pass rusher on the field. All the sudden run downs become passing downs, because they know they aren't going to be seeing very much pressure.

[Zodiac]

(07-18-2011 05:01 PM)Radical Wrote:  Saying we should sign a top FA DE isn't an indictment of Biermann. It is an indictment of our poor DE depth. In our rotation based system, having at least 3 good DEs that can play the pass and the run is a must. We need to avoid putting in guys like Anderson and Davis on the field. They are one-dimensional, and when the other teams sees them, they know that it's one less quality pass rusher on the field. All the sudden run downs become passing downs, because they know they aren't going to be seeing very much pressure.

That's why we drafted Cliff Matthews, I don't we should go all in on a CJ or RE guy, but I do think a guy like a Cliff Avril would be a decent depth pickup