Falcons: Analyzing a trio of ex-Chiefs, now Falcons

[FormerKCfan]

Before I start on the thread topic, I've found this time of year is not a good time to switch teams. I was hopeful of finding a past Falcon's game or two on NFL Channel's Replay series but so far, no luck. I like to particularly look at the schemes, execution and overall effort of the various players in order to educate myself about the team. Then, time permitting, sharing my views on the board.

In that connection, I thought it apt to go over my past notes on three current Falcon players who once played for my old team, the Chiefs. I haven't really watched any of the three play this past year in any detail so what I'm about to report may or may not still be true. That advisory aside, let me dive in:

Mike Cox-FB. A GA Tech product who played for Chan Gailey. When Gailey was named OC of the Chiefs for a time, Cox made the team primarily because of his familiarity with Chan's system. Most of the other offensive players used Cox as their private tutor and would check with him on assignments coming out of a huddle. He's a bright guy who retains complex info and is liked by his team mates.
He blocks well enough, seldom misses an assignment for what's being asked of him, has okay but not great hands for ball catching and is about an average runner for a FB in the NFL.

Will Svitek-OT. A longterm project who spent some time in the now defunct NFL-Europe, where these notes on his play in one of those NFL-E games now reports:
"Svitek was able to keep his QB clean the entire game. He tends to be too upright, needs to bend his knees more for better leverage and likes to use his hands to the point of chicken fighting defenders on occasion. In the NFL-E, he gets away with this technique but would be roadkill in the NFL against superior athletes. His feet are just okay. Again he relied too much on his strength and not enough on good technique. On balance, he has good size, instincts but must work harder on his aforementioned knee bending and foot movement to elevate himself from project to contributor at the next level."

Tony Gonzalez-TE. As a rook in '97, it was evident even in pre-season games that Tony G was something special, most notably his soft hands and the way he could snare a ball out of the air, away from his body and able to muscle or block out defenders while making the catch. An early problem was his route running in not finding the open area to help his scambling QB. His blocking was marginal in the early days but good enough. He's never had blazing speed but probably in the 4.55-4.6 range in his younger years to be a constant medium and sometimes deep threat if the opposing defense wasn't rolling a man to his side of the field.

Anyway, that's a small snapshot of these guys and I would be interested in knowing how much of what I observed in years past is accurate or agrees with their current play?

[Knight of God]

right on target

[FullMetalFalcon23]

(01-23-2012 04:39 PM)FormerKCfan Wrote:  Before I start on the thread topic, I've found this time of year is not a good time to switch teams. I was hopeful of finding a past Falcon's game or two on NFL Channel's Replay series but so far, no luck. I like to particularly look at the schemes, execution and overall effort of the various players in order to educate myself about the team. Then, time permitting, sharing my views on the board.

In that connection, I thought it apt to go over my past notes on three current Falcon players who once played for my old team, the Chiefs. I haven't really watched any of the three play this past year in any detail so what I'm about to report may or may not still be true. That advisory aside, let me dive in:

Mike Cox-FB. A GA Tech product who played for Chan Gailey. When Gailey was named OC of the Chiefs for a time, Cox made the team primarily because of his familiarity with Chan's system. Most of the other offensive players used Cox as their private tutor and would check with him on assignments coming out of a huddle. He's a bright guy who retains complex info and is liked by his team mates.
He blocks well enough, seldom misses an assignment for what's being asked of him, has okay but not great hands for ball catching and is about an average runner for a FB in the NFL.

Will Svitek-OT. A longterm project who spent some time in the now defunct NFL-Europe, where these notes on his play in one of those NFL-E games now reports:
"Svitek was able to keep his QB clean the entire game. He tends to be too upright, needs to bend his knees more for better leverage and likes to use his hands to the point of chicken fighting defenders on occasion. In the NFL-E, he gets away with this technique but would be roadkill in the NFL against superior athletes. His feet are just okay. Again he relied too much on his strength and not enough on good technique. On balance, he has good size, instincts but must work harder on his aforementioned knee bending and foot movement to elevate himself from project to contributor at the next level."

Tony Gonzalez-TE. As a rook in '97, it was evident even in pre-season games that Tony G was something special, most notably his soft hands and the way he could snare a ball out of the air, away from his body and able to muscle or block out defenders while making the catch. An early problem was his route running in not finding the open area to help his scambling QB. His blocking was marginal in the early days but good enough. He's never had blazing speed but probably in the 4.55-4.6 range in his younger years to be a constant medium and sometimes deep threat if the opposing defense wasn't rolling a man to his side of the field.

Anyway, that's a small snapshot of these guys and I would be interested in knowing how much of what I observed in years past is accurate or agrees with their current play?

Dude it's a shame you aren't based outside of the US. Would let you recap via my game pass. But if you have questions on any of the players or the things our team does. Let me know, I'll send you a write up and any articles I can get. Drop me a message and I'll hook you up

[papachaz]

spot on! great break down. someone posted a link to some site to watch previous games. if i can find it i'll post it again for you. no idea if it still works or not, but if it did you'll have a blast with it.

enjoying your threads/posts very much. another plus one from me

ok here's the thread. i clicked the link, but didn't bother to sign up to see if it still works.

http://atlantafalconstalk.com/showthread.php?tid=6169

[FormerKCfan]

(01-23-2012 05:38 PM)FullMetalFalcon23 Wrote:  Dude it's a shame you aren't based outside of the US. Would let you recap via my game pass. But if you have questions on any of the players or the things our team does. Let me know, I'll send you a write up and any articles I can get. Drop me a message and I'll hook you up

Thanks for the offer and I'll be sending you a PM soon on this. --Former

[FormerKCfan]

(01-23-2012 08:54 PM)papachaz Wrote:  spot on! great break down. someone posted a link to some site to watch previous games. if i can find it i'll post it again for you. no idea if it still works or not, but if it did you'll have a blast with it.

enjoying your threads/posts very much. another plus one from me

ok here's the thread. i clicked the link, but didn't bother to sign up to see if it still works.

http://atlantafalconstalk.com/showthread.php?tid=6169

Thanks for the link. I'll give it a try. I can't wait for training camp at Flowery Branch as I hope to be there several times to see for myself what the players bring to the dance in real time.

[Radical]

Ask away. I can pretty much give you a detailed evaluation of every player that saw a decent amount of play time for us these past few years.

[Paprika Neck]

michael had some funny parents