The Athletic asked all 32 of their NFL team reporters for their biggest worry as training camp rapidly approaches. Josh Kendall, the beat reporter for the Atlanta Falcons, brought forth a concern that fans of the Falcons have had since the beginning of the off-season: Did the Falcons add enough depth at the cornerback position?
Atlanta tried to bolster its pass rush this offseason by taking three defensive linemen and an edge rusher in the draft. Still, the only secondary help came from free agents who are fringe roster candidates at best. The Falcons’ new coaching staff talked up their returners at cornerback, but outside of A.J. Terrell, there’s no proven player at the position. Unless Atlanta adds a free agent before training camp, fans will hope everyone stays healthy and that Clark Phillips III and Mike Hughes can take a step forward.
Once the off-season started, five looming questions needed answering if the Falcons were going to compete for a playoff spot. Up to this point, they found answers, even if they were a tad unconventional. The one question they seemingly refused to answer was at cornerback.
That doesn’t mean they did nothing to upgrade the position. They brought in guys like Antonio Hamilton, Sr. and Kevin King, but they are relying a ton on second-year Clark Phillips III and Mike Hughes making a jump in production with a new zone-heavy scheme in place.
With their inside-out approach to building this year’s pass-rush, securing the secondary, especially on the outside where they could be susceptible to the quick game, would be ideal.
In an ideal world, Hughes does look better in Raheem Morris’ and Jimmy Lake’s scheme, and Phillips does take that next step to become the CB2 of the future, but this is a massive “if” that Atlanta is banking on for a defense that needs to play well next season.
