Atlanta Falcons: Tampa Bay Game Gives Glimpses of Paul Worrilow's Potential
Paul Worrilow has the potential to be one of the best linebackers in the NFL. The current NFL tackles leader isn't just a tackling machine for the Atlanta Falcons. He's a linebacker with potential to be a complete all-around player who showed flashes of all three facets of a linebacker's responsibilities against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In coverage, he showed he can contain and create plays after the ball has been caught. Against the run, he showed he can properly flow to the ball and stuff runs within a few yards of the line. As a pass-rusher, he showed he can create enough pressure to force bad throws on either inside or outside blitzes.
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Pass Coverage
Playing in coverage isn't extremely important for some linebackers. But Paul Worrilow plays starting middle linebacker and needs to show competence in this aspect since he's a three-down starter in the NFL. He showed some great flashes against the Buccaneers when the ball wasn't thrown his way.
However, two plays stand out when the ball was thrown his way. On one of them, he tackled a tight end short of the first-down marker on a long third down. This doesn't seem like an important play for him to be good at, but the Falcons couldn't stop this play in 2013 until he started at middle linebacker.
Play 1: 3rd-and-21 from the Tampa Bay 24, 5:51 Third Quarter
Play Result: Mike Glennon passed it to Brandon Myers. Paul Worrilow came over from his zone to tackle him for just an eight-yard gain, forcing the punt.
As you can see in the original alignment, Paul Worrilow lines up in the A-gap to fake a rush up the middle before dropping back into a mid-level zone. Atlanta has the pass-rush package of Malliciah Goodman, Jonathan Babineaux, Jonathan Massaquoi and Osi Umenyiora on the field as the offensive linemen with Prince Shembo as the other linebacker in the defense.
After Worrilow drops into his own zone, he notices that Tampa quarterback Mike Glennon is tracking to the tight end over the middle who is hitting the seam in the soft zone that the Falcons are playing. In doing so, Worrilow reacts and stuffs Brandon Myers after he catches the ball.
From the catch point to the point Worrilow tackles him, Myers was only able to gain three yards. On the stat sheet, this doesn't look like an amazing play. But on a 3rd-and-21 from the 24-yard line, it's an ideal result because it forces fourth down. Worrilow minimizes the damage and shows where he wins in coverage.
Play 2: 2nd-and-10 from the Tampa Bay 20, 1:59 First Quarter
Play Result: Josh McCown passed it to Bobby Rainey for 13 yards. Paul Worrilow caught up with the receiver and forced the fumble that was later recovered by Dwight Lowery.
On this play, the Falcons are aligned in a pure 3-4 look against a base personnel set in a shotgun formation. Atlanta stacks six at the line and has Worrilow set back in his normal middle linebacker spot. At the snap, this looks like a small blitz with Cover 2 and press-man coverage.
As you can see, Worrilow winds up dropping back and covering the tight end who enters his zone. That tight end was running a short crossing route to try and clear out Worrilow from the play. He has to decide whether to bite and take inside leverage or play in a trail technique.
Worrilow does take inside leverage by the time the ball is thrown on the tight end and looks out of position to get to Bobby Rainey after Rainey catches the ball. It looks like Worrilow will have to shed a block in order to get to Rainey and make a play.
However, Worrilow recovers, catches up to Rainey, tackles him and strips the ball to create a turnover opportunity for the Falcons. Worrilow went above and beyond on this play for what his assignment was to force the turnover opportunity.
The ball was recovered by Dwight Lowery in the right place at the right time in a falling-on-the-ball situation. This play is important because even though Rainey wasn't Worrilow's man, it shows he isn't afraid to pursue after the fact. It shows his ability in pursuit after the play gets past him.
Run Defense
The bread and butter of an inside linebacker in the NFL is the ability to effectively shed blocks and play against the run. No linebacker is going to stop every play at or behind the line of scrimmage. Worrilow has cleaned up a lot of plays past the line where he has been blocked away by an offensive lineman.
Against the Buccaneers, he showed multiple plays that were perfect technique against the blockers he was going against. Two of these were when he flowed with the running back to the point of attack and stopped him for a minimal gain after the opposing offensive linemen got their initial push.
Play 1: 1st-and-10 from the Tampa Bay 33, 11:57 First Quarter
Play Result: Bobby Rainey ran off left tackle for one yard. Paul Worrilow flowed to the ball to force a short gain.
The play starts off with a shift by the Falcons defense. The opening alignment has Mike Evans on the left side of the formation, but as he runs down to the right side of the formation, Worrilow and the rest of the linebackers offset to match the strength of the formation to the offense's right side.
As the play starts to develop, Worrilow comes up and attacks his gap to make sure he was properly positioned to attack the running play. He has to shed a block to get to the running back if Bobby Rainey ends up coming his way.
He sheds the block easily and ends up hitting Rainey in the backfield. He then drags Rainey horizontally down the field before Babineaux comes up to help him close it out.
This may not seem like anything out of the norm, but by aligning the defense into the right spot, Worrilow made sure that he would have a clean lane to the ball. After shedding the block and hitting the tailback in the backfield, he was able to show he can attack running plays at the line.
Play 2: 1st-and-10 from the Tampa Bay 20, 1:47 Third Quarter
Play Result: Bobby Rainey ran over right guard for four yards. Paul Worrilow shed a block from the center on a run blitz to flow to the ball for a short gain.
In what looks like Mike Nolan experimenting with a new defensive alignment, Worrilow and Joplo Bartu are aligned inside in the A-gaps. Malliciah Goodman and Ra'Shede Hageman are in the B-gaps. Kroy Biermann and Jonathan Massaquoi are in the C-gaps, and Robert McClain and Dwight Lowery are holding the outside.
In opening the play, Worrilow gets popped off the ball by the Buccaneers center. He'll have to shed the blocker to get to the running back.
He uses a rip move to the inside to disengage the center and flow to the interior of the play. In doing this, he shows he can get around offensive linemen easily in order to make plays to the ball.
He hits the running back right as he gets to the hole, but the angle isn't ideal to take Bobby Rainey down. So he still gives up a couple of yards after contact.
While this play is considered a good play by most standards since it helped cause an offensive failure, it's a tough play for an inside linebacker to take on a center and still make the play on the ball. It's a play that he wouldn't have made in 2013 because he didn't have the strength to disengage centers.
| 2014 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 18.8 |
| 2013 | 78 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 18 | 18.3 |
Pass Rushing
An underrated aspect of any linebacker's skill set is the ability to attack the quarterback on passing plays as either a blitzer or as a pure pass-rusher. Worrilow has shown he can attack on a blitz either inside or outside and create pressure despite being in one-on-one matchups with offensive linemen.
On two separate occasions, Worrilow made offensive linemen look like rookies when they tried to block him. One was on a delay blitz to the inside, and the other was on an outside blitz through an amoeba-type set where Worrilow floated to the outside before the play.
Play 1: 1st-and-10 at the Tampa Bay 35, 6:57 Third Quarter
Play Result: Paul Worrilow gets pressure on an outside blitz, forcing a hurried throw by Mike Glennon and an incomplete pass because the ball was too high.
In this initial alignment, Worrilow lines up as one of the two linebackers in a nickel alignment. Kroy Biermann is in a 6-technique at right defensive end, while Ra'Shede Hageman is in the 3-technique. Corey Peters is in the 1-technique, and Stansly Maponga is playing left defensive end.
After the motion, Worrilow notices that there is no one on the weak side for his blitz call and adjusts to play right off the left shoulder of Maponga. This allows him to see minimal resistance or at least get the angle and leverage on the right tackle with his pass rush.
In his initial burst off the line, Worrilow engages with Demar Dotson and gets under his pads to gain control. He then executes a rip-under move so that he can angle his way into the spot that the quarterback looks like he is dropping back to.
He executes it almost perfectly to force the quarterback to step up into the pocket and make a poor throw. He also forces him right into the waiting arms of Biermann after Biermann finally disengages from his blocker to make a play.
This kind of play is important for Worrilow to flash on because he's going to be asked to blitz from multiple angles in Mike Nolan's scheme. In showing he can create pressure off the weak side and that his rip-under move works against a tall offensive tackle, he shows his value as a pass-rusher.
Play 2: 3rd-and-6 from the Tampa Bay 6, 7:31 Second Quarter
Play Result: Josh McCown throws an incomplete pass after Paul Worrilow bowls over Logan Mankins and barely misses McCown in the pass rush. Robert McClain hit McCown on the play.
In this alignment, Jonathan Babineaux is in the 1-technique with Corey Peters at the 3-technique. Osi Umenyiora is playing a Wide 9 alignment, while Jonathan Massaquoi is in the 6-technique. Worrilow is lined up directly behind Babineaux, looking like he is about to drop into coverage.
Right after the ball is snapped, the zone blitz call is evident. Massaquoi drops back, while Worrilow blitzes from his middle linebacker spot. Peters and Babineaux shoot their gaps while Umenyiora tries to stretch the left tackle out wide for the corner blitzing in.
Worrilow closes in and uses his speed to get to the line quickly. For a guy who isn't supposed to be super athletic, he definitely shows great burst while he blitzes.
Worrilow then converts his speed and burst into power to throw around Logan Mankins like a rag doll and put pressure on the quarterback to step up and make a poor throw. After the throw, Robert McClain comes in, and Josh McCown's hand hits McClain's helmet and gets injured.
Sure, Worrilow didn't get the sack on this play or on the other pass-rushing play, but forcing a poor throw is just as good in some cases. On a 3rd-and-6, the pass rush is vital to end drives. Blitzing Worrilow some more could be a key to help the Falcons pass rush.
Lack of Physical Tools?
One quote from Cian Fahey's article about Paul Worrilow last week felt very out of place. Fahey claimed that, "When you consider Worrilow's standing against his peers across the league, his value is clearly limited by his lack of physical talent." However, Worrilow doesn't have a lack of physical talent. He has trouble diagnosing plays at times, because he has started just 15 games during his short NFL career.
That makes him look physically slower than he really is. Going back to pure combine numbers, Worrilow is every bit as quick as some of the best linebackers in the league. Three categories stand out when looking at linebackers.
The first is speed. The next one is agility. And the third is explosion. Worrilow has all three of them and compares well to some of the top-tier linebackers.
| Height | 6'2" | 6'3-1/4" | 6'1-1/8" | 6'0-1/2" | 6'1-1/4" |
| Weight | 238 | 242 | 242 | 242 | 239 |
| 40-Yd Dash | 4.59 s | 4.58 s | 4.37 s | 4.62 s | 4.52 s |
| 10-Yd Split | 1.57 s | 1.56 s | 1.52 s | 1.60 s | 1.58 s |
| Short Shuttle | 3.97 s | 4.12 s | 4.37 s | 4.20 s | 4.38 s |
| 3-Cone/L | 6.50 s | 6.92 s | 7.10 s | 6.70 s | 6.99 s |
| Vertical Jump | 34.5" | 38.0" | 39.0" | 35.5" | 40.0" |
| Broad Jump | 10'4" | 10'3" | 9'11" | 9'9" | 10'3" |
| Bench Reps | 30 | 27 | 22 | 26 | 35 |
| SPD Score | 159.98 | 148.50 | 146.78 | 145.43 | 436.63 |
| AGI Score | 146.86 | 136.03 | 128.28 | 134.37 | 123.52 |
| EXP Score | 209.20 | 235.79 | 248.37 | 214.78 | 242.03 |
| EXP in HP | 0.79241 | 0.89316 | 0.94079 | 0.81354 | 0.91676 |
Speed score is determined by taking the player's weight, multiplying it by a constant and then dividing it by the product of 10-yard split time, 40-yard dash time, short-shuttle time and three-cone time. Agility score is determined by taking the player's weight, multiplying it by a constant and then dividing it by the product of 10-yard split time, short-shuttle time and three-cone time. In comparing him to Luke Kuechly, Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman, he has the same kind of speed and agility that they do.
Explosion score is directly convertible to horsepower and is determined by taking the product of weight multiplied by vertical jump and dividing that product by 10-yard split multiplied by a constant. Based on explosion, Worrilow compares well to Bowman and his teammate Sean Weatherspoon. In terms of overall athleticism, he is right up there with all four of the talented, athletic linebackers mentioned here.
But experience and instincts get discounted. He can recover well when he makes a poor play on the ball, and he understands how to use his quickness around the edge when he pass-rushes. The Falcons have a good one here in Worrilow, but other analysts need to understand that he's not anywhere close to a finished product and won't look great athletically till he does. It's part of the game.
Because this isn't Worrilow at his best. He's still learning and growing as a player. He has potential to become a Pro Bowl-caliber linebacker in a Keith Brooking-mold. He needs to improve his coverage skills and his pass rushing to where he makes more impact plays. He really needs to start shooting the gaps to force the issue in run defense, but he has started to do that on interior runs.
Worrilow has been developing, and through just his first 15 games as an NFL starter, he has started to look like a long-term starter in the middle. Atlanta has its next field general for the middle of its defense. The Falcons have the guy who can make the defensive calls and take the leadership role. It will be amazing to see what happens when the Falcons finally get Weatherspoon back healthy for once.
All stats used are from Pro Football Focus' Premium Stats (subscription required), ESPN.com, CFBStats or NFL.com. All combine and pro day info is courtesy of NFLDraftScout.com. All contract information is courtesy of Spotrac and Rotoworld.
Scott Carasik is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He covers the Atlanta Falcons, college football, the NFL and the NFL draft. He also runs DraftFalcons.com.
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