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Knight of God · (This post was last modified: 01-01-2012 02:49 AM by Knight of God.)

(01-01-2012 02:42 AM)atljbo Wrote: I agree we missed on him... 25 other teams missed on him to... It happens .. It sucks but it happens...

I will say this about Clay Matthews.. I liked him coming out of college but he was the definition of a PURE Potential draft pick.. He didnt start at USC and finally saw the field his senior season (and he only had 4.5 sacks as a backup) .. I'm not making an excuse for TD... I'm making an excuse for 25 teams and i liked Clay Matthews.... We brought him in for a visit and like you said.. They felt he didnt fit our scheme at the time..

I get he doesnt fit our scheme.. We ask our LB's to cover mostly but im sure they would find a way to use him in our scheme.

He is known to be pretty dangerous in coverage.

Also I absolutely hate "Other teams miss out too..." I hope they do. I'm talking about us. It was a dumb excuse for a noticeable bad move. Jerry has always been known for injuries and those legs and feet are bad for big guys and especially with age...why didn't he know that little bit...I argued that point nearly nonstop before the draft that year.

FullMetalFalcon23 · 01-01-2012, 06:30 AM

I think with Jerry he took a risk at a position we needed help at for the type of player we needed a fast pocket piercer. If you go back to YouTube and look up the draft guys video on him. You can see why Atlanta wanted him. That being said, we don't know if Jerry was the top tackle on that board, or the top rated player at a position of need.

It may sound weird that we had a better grade for Peria at DT than Clay at LB, but look at it this way. I though having clay would be devastating for our Pass coverage to quote Mayock the guy high points the ball and moves with the fluidity of a safety out there. However Matthews in his 1st season didn't do very much out the gate. Year 2 there was a big difference and I believe a lot of that had to do with him upping his muscle mass and strength through the training programme. It is possible that our evaluation process concluded that he may lose some of that coverage athleticism getting up to size and therefore they didn't want him.

Something that further backs up the logic that the testing had to view there could be something wrong about Matthews is the fact that Sean graded the highest of all the LBs we have brought in for our tests.

The Falcons look for movement readings using a software programme that tracks the players during the private workout. This isn't talked about in War room as far as I remember I read this elsewhere, but what was mentioned us TDs obsession with the fluidity of someone's movement and how that relates to their athleticism. Sean apparently beat the breakes off that testing and all other types mental and physical that the Falcons went through to significantly out grade all other LBs we have brought in during these past 4 drafts.

It would have been nice if we could have gotten a more durable tackle, Peria was the 4th or 5th ranked tackle in the draft, so despite his injuries he was still perceived a top position pick, and was a projected 1st rounder. He was not a reach considering we desperately needed someone with Babs. It could have been worth us trying to slide back a bit in the draft getting a late round pick and taking him at the top of the 2nd but he might not have been there. Hindsight says this wouldn't have been a bad thing but at the time the FO made a call, it turned out to be more than likely their 1st significant bust. But on the upside it was chance and further injury that stopped it from working. Not a lack of desire to play, laziness, or an attitude detrimental to oneself and the team.

I agree at the time I was miffed. I had seen Mattews work out at USC and was like Wtf wow, please draft him. But if Sean topped that then I want to see that DVD.

JRid · 01-01-2012, 12:30 PM

(12-31-2011 06:18 PM)Va Falcon 88 Wrote: Here's an excerpt from the book.

"With sixteen picks to go before the Falcons’ selection, Dimitroff leaves the room to watch film with Vital, Les Snead, and Dave Caldwell. They return when they’re twelve picks away. Dimitroff provided a clue about what he was thinking earlier when he called to scold Pioli for pick 70, which Kansas City used to take linebacker Justin Houston of Georgia. “You told me you weren’t going to pick him,” Dimitroff says. “We wanted him.” Pioli knows he’s halfway joking. If Kansas City hadn’t taken the pass-rushing Houston, some other team would have, long before Dimitroff and the Falcons got a chance."

Thanks for posting this excerpt. I think this shows that TD was willing to take a chance on a guy and stray away from his usual taking only players with no issues. Testing positive for weed at the combine is pretty stupid. I don't have any problems with weed, but when you know you will be tested then "come on man".

It's very possible that TD feels he has his core of good guys and is now willing to take a chance on a guy with some issues.

JRid · 01-01-2012, 12:39 PM

(12-31-2011 09:43 PM)atljbo Wrote: We showed alot of interest in Houston during the draft season (interviews)

Yeah, but the poster made the comment very early on and he only had 1 post. I think he joined just to ask about Houston because his inside source said the Falcons were so interested in him.

At the time a few posters were saying they heard we were interested in Houston, but it didn't seem very serious.

By the way thanks to you and everybody else for posting comments from the book. I'm going to have to get it and read more.

**Greg M** · 01-01-2012, 01:11 PM

If any of y'all want the book I have it in ePub format, good for I stuff pad and phone and all android stuff.. or PC for that matter, I use Aldiko reader on my Android phone.

TAZZ77 · 01-01-2012, 01:56 PM

Sent you a PM Greg much thx Bro!

**atljbo** · (This post was last modified: 01-01-2012 02:39 PM by atljbo.)

(01-01-2012 02:46 AM)Knight of God Wrote: He is known to be pretty dangerous in coverage.

Also I absolutely hate "Other teams miss out too..." I hope they do. I'm talking about us. It was a dumb excuse for a noticeable bad move. Jerry has always been known for injuries and those legs and feet are bad for big guys and especially with age...why didn't he know that little bit...I argued that point nearly nonstop before the draft that year.

The guy is not dangerous in coverage.. Its a difference between a zone blitz and having to man coverage a Slot WR or TE.... Clay is good at droping back in a zone blitz and is a good pass rusher (even tho most are pointing out how important Cullen Jenkins was to that team.. Clay only has 6 sacks)

Its no excuse.. We missed on him... .And its a fact other teams missed on him to... I fully agree we missed on Clay tho... I dont know what Clay would have been here but i do know he would have made a bigger impact then Peria ... And this is coming from a guy that loved Peria in college...

The crazy thing is.. I think TD wants to find a guy like that now.. A guy that can play LB and rush the passer on 3rd down.. Justin Houston is one of those type guys.... But yea...We just missed on him Clay

**Radical** · 01-01-2012, 09:00 PM

Concerning Jerry, guy looks like a bust at this point, but the whole thing comes off to me as that injury he had just wrecked him for good.

Knight of God · 01-02-2012, 12:37 AM

(01-01-2012 02:28 PM)atljbo Wrote: The guy is not dangerous in coverage.. Its a difference between a zone blitz and having to man coverage a Slot WR or TE.... Clay is good at droping back in a zone blitz and is a good pass rusher (even tho most are pointing out how important Cullen Jenkins was to that team.. Clay only has 6 sacks)

Its no excuse.. We missed on him... .And its a fact other teams missed on him to... I fully agree we missed on Clay tho... I dont know what Clay would have been here but i do know he would have made a bigger impact then Peria ... And this is coming from a guy that loved Peria in college...

The crazy thing is.. I think TD wants to find a guy like that now.. A guy that can play LB and rush the passer on 3rd down.. Justin Houston is one of those type guys.... But yea...We just missed on him Clay

That's funny, but back to it...don't we drop guys back in a zone?

Knight of God · 01-02-2012, 12:41 AM

How did I know that Jerry was an injury risk and would under perform then? How did I know that Matthews would be pretty good and YES he does play man pretty well. The guy is NOT a DE, he is a LB through and through. He plays like one, covers well, and has great pursuit. Even back then if you can remember I was not thrilled with Jerry and was concerned about injuries. I'm no GM but how is it that I figured that out and he didn't? Jerry isn't the only one.

Truth is, they were obvious misses easily recognized by antone who takes the BPA philosophy seriously and has had little to very little training in Football Scouting.