Atlanta Falcons Veterans Who Have Been Put on Notice This Offseason
The Falcons have come into 2015 with an attitude to get better at every single aspect of their game. After playing poorly enough to have Mike Smith fired despite being the winningest coach in team history, Atlanta needs to really turn it around under Dan Quinn—Smith's replacement.
Quinn is breathing an air of competition into the Falcons in 2015. Very few jobs seem like they are safely with the incumbents on the team. Of those, there are quite a few players who started in 2014 who could very well be out of jobs in 2015.
They come from all over the team, and it's very likely that at least half of them are cut at the end of training camp. Quinn's new schemes on both offense and defense will affect a ton of players' situations with the club. Guys who were once fits for Mike Nolan's defense will be terrible fits for Quinn's, for example.
FB Patrick DiMarco
1 of 6
Yes, a fullback has been put on notice. It doesn't sound like it's that big of a deal on the surface with how little the Falcons used a fullback the past three years. However, the new offense under Kyle Shanahan utilizes a fullback quite a bit in both running situations and passing situations as more than a blocker.
Patrick DiMarco is a very good blocker. There's no doubt about that. But what does he really provide outside of that? He's got poor hands and doesn't run great routes as a receiver, and as a running back, he's completely unproven.
The Falcons also went out and signed Collin Mooney to compete with him for the starting fullback job. Mooney provides much more to an offense as an all-around player. He's a better running back when he's called upon to do that and a more effective receiver.
However, he hasn't had a touch since the 2013 season. The Falcons will have a real competition on their hands at fullback, and DiMarco will have to prove that he's the right man for the job, or he could be looking for his third NFL team by the end of training camp.
OL Sam Baker
2 of 6
With a new offensive coordinator comes a new offensive scheme. Kyle Shanahan loves to run the zone-blocking scheme with his offensive lineman. It's designed to take athletic guys who are talented pass-blockers and use them effectively in the run game with angles and a simplistic scheme.
Effectively, the entire offensive line moves together at the start of the play to either side and then cuts off defenders as they see them and can engage with them. The Falcons already have two players that fit the ideal tackle description in Jake Matthews and Ryan Schraeder.
That means that Sam Baker makes a ton of sense as someone to try out at guard. However, he's coming off of two years since his last NFL regular-season snap due to knee injuries. The Falcons would be wise to move on from Baker's massive contract at this point, too.
It's not that they need the cap space. But they do need to have the extra cap flexibility for the future when guys like Desmond Trufant, Julio Jones and Jake Matthews all have their second contracts come up. Those are guys who are more worthy of the cash than what Baker has shown to be in his career.
OL Peter Konz
3 of 6
A big reason why Sam Baker is on the bubble is his lack of athleticism. The same thing can be said of Peter Konz. His lack of athleticism and functional strength has made him nothing but a pure backup for the Falcons throughout his career unless there were injuries that let him start.
Konz will have to battle with Mike Person, Jared Smith and others to earn his spot on the starting lineup in 2015. However, should he fail to earn a starting role, he could find himself on the outside looking in. Smith has much more athleticism than Konz does, and Person has more versatility.
Then there's the signing at center for the backup role in Valerian Ume-Ezeoke. He's an excellent college center who went undrafted because he's a bit undersized. The Falcons could work well for him, as he's a perfect fit for the zone scheme and should provide depth at multiple spots.
Add in James Stone, who showed to be a solid backup in 2014, and the Falcons really don't have many places for Konz to earn a backup role unless he shows a vast improvement from what he was throughout his career. Konz has been a bust, and he's been put on notice to improve, or he's likely to be cut.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
DL Tyson Jackson
4 of 6
The Falcons needed to revamp their defensive line heading into the 2015 season. However, some big changes were also made on the interior of the defensive line. The big name that could be cut despite having a newer contract than most of the veterans is Tyson Jackson.
With new head coach Dan Quinn running a defense that utilizes a 5-/6- technique defensive end, a 3-technique defensive tackle and a 1-technique nose tackle, the Falcons need to make sure to fit the right personnel in the right spots.
Jackson isn't a great fit at any of the three spots, but he could potentially work as the 5-/6-technique strong-side defensive end or a 3-technique defensive tackle. At 3-technique, he'd have to battle Ra'Shede Hageman, Jonathan Babineaux and Grady Jarrett for playing time.
While at strong-side defensive end, he'd have to beat out Malliciah Goodman—who earned more playing time than Jackson had last year, according to Pro Football Focus—Hageman, new acquisition Adrian Clayborn and Cliff Matthews out for playing time.
This could be a very real situation in which Jackson doesn't make the roster because he's not a starter and the others just fit the substitution roles better than he does. Jackson was a poor signing in the first place, and if Quinn truly does have the final call on the 53-man roster, he could be gone before opening day.
EDGE Kroy Biermann
5 of 6
A name that most fans didn't think would be back is Kroy Biermann. Despite the coaching change, the Falcons did re-sign the reality-television star, but they aren't just handing him a starting job like what most would expect. Heck, they aren't even handing him a job.
His one-year, $1.925 million dollar contract (per Spotrac) is the equivalent to a "Prove-it" deal in today's NFL. He's only got $500,000 of it guaranteed, and the Falcons could cut him without taking on much of a cap hit outside of that $500,000.
But it's not just money that has put Biermann on notice. In the new scheme, he's a solid fit at either "Leo" defensive end or the strong-side linebacker spot. However, the Falcons have gone out and signed O'Brien Schofield to rotate in as a pass-rushing "Leo" and Brooks Reed to start at strong-side linebacker.
With the drafting of Vic Beasley as the Falcons' prime pass-rusher, Biermann goes from a starting strong-side defensive end role to what looks like a rotational role. Factor in Prince Shembo, Stansly Maponga and Tyler Starr as additional competition, and it's possible that Biermann could be cut at the end of training camp.
LB Joplo Bartu
6 of 6
With the acquisitions of Brooks Reed to play strong-side linebacker and Justin Durant to play weak-side linebacker, the Falcons don't really have too many starting positions open. Considering Paul Worrilow was a captain in 2014, the Falcons could continue to use him at starting middle linebacker in 2015.
That leaves competition for the backup jobs wide open. However, with Prince Shembo, Marquis Spruill, O'Brien Schofield, Tyler Starr, Nate Stupar and Allen Bradford all competing, the roster spots are going to be slim. There will likely be just three backup linebackers—all of whom will have to compete on special teams.
Even if the Falcons do keep seven linebackers, Shembo, Spruill and Schofield all look like the ones to win the primary backup roster spots due to their fits within the scheme. That leaves Joplo Bartu struggling to find a true spot to compete. He could end up as a backup middle linebacker if he can improve on special teams.
If he can show that he's the best special teams linebacker in a competition with Stupar and Bradford, he could take that final roster spot. If not, he'll go from starting in 2013 and 2014 to cut in 2015. That's not a great career path for someone who showed so much promise as a rookie.
All stats used are from Pro Football Focus' Premium Stats, ESPN.com, CFBStats or NFL.com. All combine and pro day info is courtesy of NFLDraftScout.com. All contract information is courtesy of Spotrac.
Scott Carasik is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He covers the Atlanta Falcons, college football, the NFL and the NFL draft. He's also the Featured Draft Analyst for Pro Football Spot.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
