Falcons: Off season personnel plan

[ggp]

We have our Coordinators and soon, the entire coaching staff will get settled. Now is the time to talk about our players, free agents and the draft. Here is my early plan of action.

RE-Sign these guys:

Curtis Lofton: He is the heart of the defense and has the versatility to play 3-4 and 4-3. He is th quiet foundation of the defense. I liken him to Harry Carson of the NYG's .

Harry Douglas: After injuries held him back, he is ready to step into the prime time. With Koetter's plan to up the passing game, Douglas should fit into the scheme very well. Defenses will find it hard to cover Douglas when they are focussing on White and Jones. Koetter needs three WR's to make use of our cerebral QB.

Thoams DeCoud: Yeah, everyone hates him. The fact is that he is very athletic and can pluck the ball out of the air better than any other DB (except Grimes) on the team. Under Nolan, DeCoud will have a clear understanding of what his duties are. Let's not give up on him.

Jason Snelling: Once again, the passing game will be stepped up. Snelling is a good receiver and picks up the blitz very well. I expect to see him targetted on screens often. His legs are relatively fresh and he can pound the ball between the tackles.

Eric Weems: He may not be a dynamic return guy any more, but he is steady, experienced and a phenomenal ST player all around. Mike Smith likes him a lot and for good reason.

Drops:

Mike Turner: He has been terrific, but he has slowed down and is not pushing the line forward like he used to. RB's have a short shelf life and I believe that Turner is approaching his expiration date. We will not get anything for him in a trade, but we will get significant cap relief.

Brent Grimes: I like this guy a lot. Unfortunately, so will half the league. We have a lot of money invested in Robinson and we can't drop him without getting dinged cap wise. I believe in the young CB's we have and I think that we can afford to let Grimes go. Sorry.

John Abraham: He has been our best defender for years. This guy is an animal. The problem is that he is a part time player. Mike Smith has him on a strict play count and I think his number of plays has been dropping for several seasons. He will get his money from a team that is desperate for a pass rusher. We won't be desperate, after free agency. The money we save on him can go towards a free agent replacement.

Free Agent aquisitions:

Robert Mathis: He is thrity, so his price tag will not break the bank. He is also an Atlantan and might want to play in front of his family. He is still strong against the rush and an active pass rusher. I think that he can be as effective as Abraham and also play more snaps.

Demetrius Bell: He has an injury history, so the doctors have to clear him. If healthy, he is worth a shot at LT. He is equally good at run and pass blocking. I am confident that he can beat Svitek in camp. If he is injured, we will still have Svitek as a back up.

Surprise Keepers:

Sam Baker: He really sucked this season. Was it injuries? I think so. I think that he is a marginal LT that performed well, when all systems were go. However, he simply did not have the physical reserve to overcome the frequent injuries he sustained. He is a better run blocker than pass protector, so I think he could be a good RT. If he comes back to training camp in shape, shaven and ready to work, he might play well enough to allow Clabo to slide inside and play his natural position of RG.

Peria Jerry: Another injury-riddled TD draft pick. When he was drafted, I read a couple of evaluations that described him as a perfect 3-4 DE. I'd like to see if that is true. I would give Jerry one more season to prove his worth.

Chris Owens: I do not doubt Owens' physical skills. I think that he can cover, when he understands his assignment. If Nolan can develop a system that does not ask its CB's to think quickly, Owens should shine.

Dunta Robinson: It is safe to say that we way, way over paid for him. That is water under the bridge. If we dump him now, we will lose a serviceable CB and take a cap hit....not smart. We keep Dunta and let him take some snaps at FS. If he takes to the position, he may turn out to be the answer at FS that we have been waiting for.

I don't have a mock draft yet. It is safe to say that I will lean towards a Defensive draft.

[Jesus]

What is it with this fan base and the hate for Michael Turner?

He is one of the best RB's in the game. Snelling had his chance last summer to go anywhere he wanted and no one wanted to sign him. He is fine for what he does, but his role was diminished this year as Rodgers took carries and catches from him. I don't see him coming back.

As for Turner he has been the second or best RB in the NFL in the three most important categories over the past four years. He has not shown any sign of slowing down as you say, did you not see the TB game? Give him a better RG and C up front and he will have holes for days to run through. He still lead the NFC for the second straight year in rushing despite that all the problems you claim he has.

Since 2007:
Turner 1279-5290-50
AP 1168-5411-52
MJD 1151-5145-40
Other fans aren't asking for their leading rushers to go away. In fact Turner was the only back on that list to play in four winning seasons.

As for his age. Turner has 1417 career carries, AP 1406 and MJD 1484. They are both younger but by the time they reach 30 they will be close to 2000 carries or more and their careers probably over. Turner at 30 has at least 3 more good years in him maybe more. There is no telling where AP will be next year or beyond. He shredded his knee. That's the first sign of the end of a runners career. Turner has yet to have a major knee injury.

[cnasty]

Personally, I'm done with Baker. I could actually see DeCoud back in, Abe is probably gone. I think we are all getting ready for the departure of Grimes. Snelling is out. Turner will be back, but I could see us going to a RBBC as that is the way of the league right now. I like Mathis coming in, really like it. HD & Lofton should be priority this offseaon. All others seem about right. I wouldn't be heartbroken if we let Biermann walk, I suppose.

[Radical]

Don't see why we keep Sam Baker, at all. He's a failure at any and every position he's ever started at.

[papachaz]

wrong a more than one:
keep: Michael Turner - he showed this year he can actually catch a pass when thrown to him. get him over the freaking groin injury, get him some blocking and he still has some 'truck em' left in him.

John Abraham - bring him in on a one year deal that fiscally responsible.

Dump:
Sam Baker - time to dump that cap eating salary, low production reach at left tackle wanna be

Eric Weems - we have other people who can actually field a punt and return it. Douglas, Franks....hell even I could stand on the field and watch it bounce and roll to inside the ten. while he is a solid tackler and coverage guy on ST, there again we have other people who do that well also.

Peria Jerry - blew his knee out in his rookie season. didn't show much until towards the end of the 2010 season. looked like he was gonna light the world on fire in the Philly game this year, but then didn't show up a lot after that. been a big disappointment. sometimes it just gets to a point where you have to cut bait and move on.

as for FA, i'd like to see mathis come over maybe on a 1 or 2 year deal, if the deal is done right. Bell, well, don't we have enough guys who are injury prone around already? I'd prefer trying to steal Nicks if we can.

[FireDawg85]

If we drop Abe, we need to make a HARD charge at Super Mario since he's more than likely leaving Houston

[RnB]

I can not agree with a number of these moves.

Getting rid of Turner and Abe has to be the silliest shit I have read since all the Dirk Koetter hate the other day. Keeping Baker, Owens, and signing your two FA picks are also very questionable calls.

[DemBirds]

There is nothing wrong with DeCoud's game that can't be fixed, I don't hate him, far from it. He just takes bad angles. He had 4 picks (I think) He can be a player and is a surprisingly hard hitter (when he does take the right angles lol)

Turner isn't going anywhere, Abe and Grimes may very well not return but we won't drop Turner unless some great offer is made for him, which it won't be.

Owens isn't going anywhere, I don't even think that's a surprise. And while Robinson has under performed like a mother fucker, unless someone takes on his salary, we can't afford to just release him. I think most people realize that, making it less of a surprise that we'd keep him.

[FullMetalFalcon23]

If we keep DeCoud. I really hope Nolan can help that guys mental game. It's weak. His physical tools are there, I mean Brandon Jacobs got the better of him, but he doesn't need to be reminded of the lick DeCoud put on him in 09 which if I recall right ended his season. That being said it was predictable DeCoud seldom seems to hit at the body midriff area. And if he fails to break down he just gets skipped over as he is going in too fast to maintain control.

I just don't know if we bring a guy who after 4 years is that much of a liability and holds a starting position for us. It's not like it's a problem that has just surfaces. It's been there for a long time.

All this being said, if anyone can turn DeCoud from mediocre to great I believe it is Nolan. I also believe that Moore is going to be the best DB on our team within 1 to 2 years, but we need him healthy.

I agree with keeping Dougie Fresh, we news to have someone who will use him more and actually game plan for him to be a primary receiver on plays. It seemed like before we had a read system that if it wasn't a hot read was Roddy then Julio or vice Versa then Tony getting Redzone targets and Harry getting scraps.

You will get more out of your players if you have plays. Designed to spring free a receiver at a certain field position. Even if the receivers are moving around. We seemed to do it when Julio would line up in the slot for the mismatch.

Weems he is solid, I can live with him or without him on the team to be honest. I believe we have more dynamic returners but seldom do they seem to get a chance to return the balk when they are back there due to the rules. I feel that Weems needs to make some better decisions as it has put us in holes at times. I think he has struggled to make explosive returns since the rule change, but is more his tenacity than his speed that gets those yards and having a guy with that kind of heart is invaluable.

I don't get bringing back Baker he sucks ass. If he was that injured we could have pulled up a practice squad guy to back up or be that extra man on the line, and put him on IR. I think the new offense staff won't want him, and I can't see anyone else here fighting for him. You are the blindside protector. You can't afford to have an off day let alone Season or Seasons.

Lofton is a no Brainer.

Abe and Grimes could still go either way. But in reality I think we could lose Abe in a bid to keep Grimes.

Reason being with Nolan here Sacks will go up. We don't need a star sack artist if the production is there from the entire unit involved in getting to the QB. We have a bunch of young guys behind Edwards who have shown in flashes they can get to the QB. Sid, bier and Matthews. I think we have to trust Edwards to lead the pack. He came off the edge nicely from the blindside but was neutralised at the right spot a lot. I think we have the guys to split the ends in to sides and get pressure from both in a Nolan led defense. At this juncture Abe is an expensive luxury. One I would like to have because of all he has done and could do, but we could go younger for a similar price and longer, or put that money anywhere else.

[ggp]

Baker:
I read somewhere that Baker will save us $500k in cap space if we dump him. That is not much savings, cosidering that Baker is, at the least, an experienced back up at LT. Look, I know he has sucked, but there have been issues with his health. I don't know the true story about him, but if injuries have set him back AND he is over them, then he should return. At the very least, invite him to camp and see what he can do. If his health holds out, he could be a very good RT and a reliable back up at LT. That is worth more than $500k.

Turner:
Turner will count about $5million against the cap next season. He has been tremendous and I am not hating on him. I am simply looking at the odds, and not liking them. RB's of his size and running style usually do not last long. Of course there are exceptions, but they don't come around very often. The last exception, that I can recall was Jerome Bettis.

Koetter plans to move to a more sophisticated passing attack. That will require at least three reliable receivers and a committee of RB's that can catch the ball well and pass protect. Both Snelling and Rodgers are better receivers than Turner and both will come with a lower price tag.

If given the carries, I believe that the combination will garner the same (and possibly better) yards per carry than Turner. MT averaged something like 4.1 yards per carry (I think). He averaged about 80 yards and 20 touches per game. His per carry average was markedly improved by the occaisional break out long run. That has been his calling card. Turner the burner has always been a big play threat. However, with time, we can all expect that part of his game to diminish. When? I don't know, but I would rather put our money on an improved OL than a possibly declining RB.

I respect all of those that disagree. I know how good he has been. I am just trying to project how he will fit into our offense for the next three seasons. And, I think the team can put its cap space to better use.

Abe:
This is the toughest call for me. I admit that I may be wrong. The only problem that I see with Abe is that he is not on the field often enough to warrant big money. I think that Robert Mathis would be a better value going forward. Of course, if Mario Williams is a realistic option, then he would be the priority acquisition to make.

Weems:
Eric Weems is a decent return specialist (don't underestimate his decision making) but he has become a phenomenal gunner as well. He is often the first guy down field on punts and kick offs and he frequently alters opposing returners' plans. I'd like to keep him for his overall ST value.

Bell:
His injury history is of great concern. That has to be clarified. If there is any question about his health, then he should be scratched off the list. One has to be suspicious about the availability of a quality LT in free agency. I threw his name into the mix to create a little rhetoric.
Our OL needs improvement. When all is said and done, I think that Nicks and Grubbs will return to their present teams.