The media CONVINCED us it was defense at #8 for the Atlanta Falcons in the 2024 NFL draft. No other thought is possible, right? Gospel. Free $!
Wrong.
A “gentle” reminder (this coming from the man who had to take a smoke break covering Round 1 of the NFL Draft) at the end of the day the decisions of three men ultimately steer this splintery ship: Head Coach Raheem Morris, General Manager Terry Fontenot & Owner Arthur Blank.
Opinion and authority are valuable in collaborative Atlanta in their scaled differences: silver & gold.
RCB #21 Mike Hughes
If you claim to have predicted Mike Hughes as CB2 on August 1st: Sure you did honey, of course, you did.
This leaves initially projected Clark Phillips III running as the lead rotational corner for LCB A.J. Terrell and Hughes at RCB. Well, maybe Phillips is headed to Nickel? Does not seem so. Having largely been projected as a nickel to cater to his 5'9" size coming
out of Utah, Dee Alford is currently running as the starting Nickel.
Defensive Coordinator Jimmy Lake directly addressed his opinion of Hughes>Phillips III recently:
“(Hughes) had a really good spring and has earned the right to play more snaps.”
“Opinion and authority are valuable in collaborative Atlanta in their scaled differences: silver & gold.”
My opinion is to disagree and side with Phillips III>Hughes, so I’m going to have to “see it” going forward.
SS #27 Richie Grant
Secondarily surprising - Richie Grant leading snaps ahead of second-year DeMarcco Hellams.
Raheem Morris and Arthur Smith see players differently, for example:
“I told Richie when I got here that I was wrong on him,” Morris said. “I didn't think he was as good a player as he is. And he's played well and does some good things, tackles strong. I was in another place [Los Angeles Rams] when I evaluated him.”
-Raheem Morris
Thus we must remember to not put too much stock in Grant’s role change down the stretch last season favoring Hellams.
Grant faced a change drastic enough to go from 26 consecutive starts to a consecutive snap count of 11%, 38%, and 42%, even with an increase in 3-safety defensive packages by then Defensive Coordinator Ryan Nielsen. Pour salt in this wound, 3-safety defense and its safety utilization similarities to Cover 2 cater to Grant’s apparent strengths… as Terry Fontenot put it, “Where Richie excelled more was playing near the
line of scrimmage, pressuring”, even adding “He's got to improve things in coverage.”
4i/5T/OLB #50 James Smith-Williams
At 6'3", 265, and listing three positions, fight the innate response to fear that Smith-Williams has no place to call home.
Over 400 snaps of playing time as a Washington Commander on a defensive line featuring Montez Sweat, Chase Young, Jonathan Allen & DaRon Payne to name a few can find a spot in a weaker Atlanta room vs. 2023 Washington. In Jimmy Lake’s base 3-4 with surrounding personnel, project Smith-Williams in the Weakside Linebacker role directly competing with breakout-thirsty third-year Arnold Ebiketie.
Should he find himself sliding to a rotational role, the heavy “playing free” snap plan for
Smith-Williams has been there from Raheem Morris’s initial pursuit in Free Agency.
