Dispelling the "we're having a bad year soley due to injuries" myth

mdrake34

Below is copied and pasted directly from the Falcon's website. This list does not account for Roddy, SJax, and Spoon missing multiple games. Our worst play has come from the offensive and defensive lines, by far. The list shows that our projected starting tackles are hurt, and one starting DE. That's it from our lines. There are other teams in the league with more injuries to their lines getting better play from them. That's coaching folks, and roster management. We've gotten just as much bad play, if not more, especially with the d-line, from the healthy players. If we keep losing like yesterday, I think Smith gets, nor does he deserve based on the above, another year.

Reserve/Injured

# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Age Exp. College 72 Baker, Sam T 6-5 30128 5 USC 71 Biermann, Kroy DE 6-3 25528 5 Montana 34 Ewing, Bradie FB 5-11 24323 1 Wisconsin 11 Jones, Julio WR 6-3 22024 2 Alabama 26 Lee, Saeed CB 5-10 18222 R Alabama State Nissley, Adam TE 6-6 26725 2 Central Florida 12 Renfree, Sean QB 6-5 22523 R Duke , 0 79 Johnson, Mike T 6-6 30426 3 Alabama

Beef

I don't know who's making that argument anymore. Maybe towards the beginning of the season because nobody expected the OL and DL to be THIS bad. We sorta knew the OL and DL would struggle, but we thought they would be adequate enough that the offensive skill positions would make up for the OL and our ability to cause turnovers on defense would make up for the DL, but the OL and DL are so beyond horrible and the defense can't cause a takeaway to save their lives, at this point, it's pretty clear the problems are much worse.

Matt has no time to throw. He has no trust in anyone around him except Tony. He can't time his throws at all. Routes can't be finished. In practice, you get used to the dropback and release and the timing of it and the location and trajectory and speed of the throw. In these games, that entire process is shot out the window and gone. He's a great QB, but he's got no help anymore. He can't do anything with so much disturbance in the process.

We have UDFA's all over the place playing better than our draft picks. I really don't think people understand the significance of this. These UDFA's wouldn't be playing on any other team and not only are they playing a ton of snaps, and a few of them even starting and playing whole games, but they're out-performing other players.

Warrilow getting 16 tackles, for instance, doesn't mean he's playing great. It's just that everyone around him is playing that bad. He wouldn't have 5 tackles in Denver or SF's defense. Even NO's defense he'd be third rate and below average. A UDFA leading the team in tackles is an incredibly bad sign.

TD has built an incredibly shitty team with zero depth.

mdrake34

The people saying Smith gets one more shot at it are repeating this. At a certain point, that goes out of the window when we lose like we did yesterday and to Arizona.

Beef

Blank already said it openly. 5 straight winning seasons means they've earned the right to stay. Period.

So they're going nowhere.

phocis850

^ I agree with this. You don't just drop them because of one bad season. Two in a row? Yes.

RnB

Smitty is getting another shot, whether you like it or not. So is TD. Whining about it for half a season, another entire off-season, and another full football season isn't going to change it.

Sorry, thems the breaks.

mdrake34

I'm going to continue to whine about it until they fix the lines and stop the one player away bullshit.

JDaveG

This season really is the culmination of a concern I had when Koetter was hired. I think Koetter is a really good coordinator, despite what people are saying this season. When he was hired, a lot of people thought he was Mularkey 2.0, but he's not. At all. Koetter's system running a lot of four verticals and similar "stretch the field" routes works really well -- if there is protection. But the problem is you cannot max protect with such a system. When you run it, you're leaving 5 in protection, plus MAYBE a running back (if he's not leaking out as a checkdown route). I said when he was hired his offense would work here IF we improved the o-line.

We didn't, and we see what it gets us.

The reality is there is a disconnect between what we have and what we want to be. Whether Dimitroff fixes it or not is open to question, but on offense and defense (where we seem to be trying to run a hybrid 4-3, but we don't have any front 7 help to speak of), we lack identity because our players do not fit the systems our coaches run. If they don't figure out how to block plays on offense and get pressure from the front 4 on defense, this will never get better. Which is why I was shocked that Dimitroff really didn't address these issues at all in the offseason. We added no pieces to speak of on the o-line, and in fact lost one. We traded Abe on the d-line and otherwise stayed pat. This was foreseeable. I'm hoping they simply viewed this year as a stopgap and plan to address it in the offseason, but honestly I've thought that for a while now, and outside drafting Konz and Holmes, we haven't.

papachaz

He's drafted Baker, Reynolds, Johnson and Konz. Probably a few others that have escaped me at the moment. I'd never heard of reynolds before we drafted him.The other three came from top notch college programs. The only one who has been injured is konz. Well, other than the butt reaming mccoy gave him yesterday. I personally thought baker was a bit of a reach, but had high expectations for johnson and konz. I also think reynolds needs to move back to RT to be any where close to effective as his size says he should be. Johnson of course has become almost as fragile as norwood was...,

We might have been better off keeping boudreau as line coach, he did a helluva job the first few years. Pat hill hasn't done anything impressive at all

Aftermath

TD has drafted 9 DL and 7 OL and out of those 16 picks we have failed to develop even one reliable starter. Forget about Pro Bowl players and "elite" players, 16 picks and not one of them is a decent starter, including that injury prone piece of shit that TD threw money at this off season. All the "a few decent draft picks and we can turn it all around" means absolutely nothing considering that our pole smoking GM and pussyfart HC obviously can't evaluate talent, especially on the line, worth a shit.

mdrake34

Not to mention he's traded away the equivalent of a full draft since 2011. Though not a guarantee, some of the players we could have used those picks on might have been able to step up for the team.

phocis850

JJ still has the highest receptions and yards on the team.

mdrake34

No, he doesn't. After yesterday, Harry has 51 grabs for 754 yards, which is a career high. Julio had 41 for 580 before his injury.

JDaveG

I don't have a problem with the Julio trade at all. The problem I have is all our high picks seem to be skill position players or not living up to their draft status. Correct me if I'm wrong, but as for linemen, we have Baker, Jerry, Peters, Konz and Holmes since 2008 in the top 3 rounds. Of those, the best of the bunch BY FAR is the 3rd rounder, Peters. Holmes may develop, as may Konz. Too early to complain much about those. Baker and Jerry absolutely do not play like 1st round picks. Both are best chalked up as mistakes.

Combine that with the fact that we don't seem to be developing any studs from the late rounders, and when we do get a competent player, we let him walk in FA for reasons I still cannot understand.

I'm looking at you, Vance Walker.

keithbrooking56

The reality is TD/Smith will be here for at least another season. Frankly anyone who thought Blank would just fire them after one horrible season after so many good to great ones is just talking nonsense. If we have back to back horrible seasons THEN I completely expect Blank to can both.

My fear is this: TD has in fact wasted a lot of picks on the O and D lines and NOT ONE has panned out. He either has zero aptitude for evaluating those positions OR our position coaches are simply putrid. Maybe it is both.

mdrake34

I'm not trying to be a stubborn asshole, but the same thing was said about Gene Chizik. You can't fire a guy two years after winning a national championship they said. Well, they did.

ChrisD

Roddy White has looked like a shadow of himself since coming back. Whether he's still playing hurt or not, he's looked absolutely putrid. He's making silly drops, bobbling the football on easy catches, and he's not running routes as effectively as he used to. We can blame that on the injuries he sustained this year all we want, but the fact is that he's not helping the football team.

I'm to the point where if Roddy isn't going to step up and be the playmaker he was before Julio was in town, then we really have no use for him next season when Julio returns. Let him go and open up some cap room.

The Don™

Someone on the other board posted several examples of head coaches getting fired soon after getting the "vote of confidence" from the respective team owners...Which Blank did after the TB game. Will Smitty have the same fate?

I honestly don't think so but it is interesting...

Jesus

Fire em all. Actually who cares? You'll be a fan despite who the coach is. Coaches players Waterboys it doesnt matter all we root for is the uniform.

juraitwaluzka

mdrake34 said:
I'm not trying to be a stubborn asshole, but the same thing was said about Gene Chizik. You can't fire a guy two years after winning a national championship they said. Well, they did.

The Don™ said:
Someone on the other board posted several examples of head coaches getting fired soon after getting the "vote of confidence" from the respective team owners...Which Blank did after the TB game. Will Smitty have the same fate?

All irrelevant though. It doesn't matter what happened at Auburn or other with NFL owners. If Smith was the coach at Auburn or likely with some current NFL owners, his ass would probably be out of there. But until Blank gives me a reason to think he's a liar, which to this point he never has, I'll take him at his word. After 5 straight winning seasons, then one bad (horrific) one, they've earned the right to try and fix it. Isn't that pretty much what Blank said? I'd be very surprised for it to play out any other way.

If next year goes in the shitter, all bets are off.

This will be the true test for this regime, this is what will ultimately define them, they have to know that. I think the leash will be short. They won't be allowed a 3-5 year rebuilding plan or someone else will take the reigns.

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Reserve/Injured