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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Atlanta Falcons · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:24
Speaker 1: Welcome to Opposition Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
0:27
Speaker 1: podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
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Speaker 1: you are on YouTube watching us right now. If we
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Speaker 1: are in your ears, we appreciate you subscribing and listening
0:41
Speaker 1: on whatever podcast platform you're listening to us on. This week,
0:44
Speaker 1: we've got a great Opposition Territory podcast and we're gonna
0:47
Speaker 1: be diving into the Atlanta Falcons what their off season
0:50
Speaker 1: has looked like. It's a very interesting team heading into
0:53
Speaker 1: this NFL season, and with us from the Locked On
0:57
Speaker 1: Falcons podcast, we've had a more before love talking to him.
1:01
Speaker 1: We've got Aaron Freeman. How you doing, Buddy.
1:03
Speaker 2: I'm doing all right, Jeff. I love to be talking
1:05
Speaker 2: ball with you, especially, you know, for these Eagles coming
1:09
Speaker 2: off a great year. Yes, you know, ride and high.
1:12
Speaker 2: You know, it seems like it every seven years the
1:15
Speaker 2: Eagles are right and high coming off a win.
1:17
Speaker 1: So exactly we'll get it to ye absolutely, I hope
1:21
Speaker 1: it's not going to be like that long, like seven years.
1:23
Speaker 1: And look, I know i'm talking to I'm talking to
1:25
Speaker 1: somebody who's here.
1:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, for me, I will take that out exactly.
1:31
Speaker 1: I shouldn't be complaining about anything, and I'm not complaining
1:33
Speaker 1: about anything by any stretch of the imagination. But Aaron,
1:36
Speaker 1: I wanted to really dive into what the vision has
1:41
Speaker 1: been for this Falcons organization during this off season, because
1:45
Speaker 1: it has been at least as somebody loves ball loves
1:48
Speaker 1: talking about various teams in the NFL, they've had an
1:52
Speaker 1: interesting off season, a lot of concentration on the defense,
1:55
Speaker 1: which we're going to get into in a little bit
1:57
Speaker 1: more detail in a bit, but I wanted to first
1:59
Speaker 1: dive into again that vision for what this Falcons front
2:03
Speaker 1: office has been doing and even how it's been perceived
2:07
Speaker 1: by the fan base. So I'm wondering, can you talk
2:09
Speaker 1: about that vision just based on where things are at
2:12
Speaker 1: during this offseason for this Falcons team and organization.
2:16
Speaker 2: Well, I think you touched on it, Jeff. Where the
2:19
Speaker 2: expectation going into this offseason was that the Falcons were
2:21
Speaker 2: going to make major investments on the defensive side of
2:24
Speaker 2: the ball because of the many investments that they've made
2:27
Speaker 2: over the last four years under general manager Terry Fontino.
2:30
Speaker 2: On the offensive side of the ball. You've seen that
2:32
Speaker 2: with their first round picks, selecting four straight years of
2:35
Speaker 2: offensive skill position players, and the expectation was like this
2:39
Speaker 2: was going to be the year where they would finally
2:41
Speaker 2: go defense in round one. To the point that immediately
2:45
Speaker 2: after the season, sort of the running gag Unlockdown Falcons
2:49
Speaker 2: was that we know that the Falcons are definitely taking
2:51
Speaker 2: a first round pass rusher right because they have to.
2:54
Speaker 2: There's no reason that we can take this organization seriously
2:57
Speaker 2: if they pass on that, given the struggles of their
3:00
Speaker 2: pass rush over not just the last four years, but
3:03
Speaker 2: the last twenty years with this football team. And so
3:07
Speaker 2: I think, you know, the expectation going into this off
3:10
Speaker 2: season that there would be aggressive trying to upgrade the defense.
3:13
Speaker 2: And it's kind of this sort of dichotomy where at
3:17
Speaker 2: the outset of the offseason in free agency, they were
3:20
Speaker 2: not as aggressive as I expected, and I think many
3:23
Speaker 2: other Falcon fans expected them to be. You know, they
3:26
Speaker 2: did sign some players, but none of them I think
3:29
Speaker 2: you would point to and say that's a needle mover.
3:31
Speaker 2: That guy is going to change the landscape of this defense.
3:34
Speaker 2: Is just like they're more just kind of trading the
3:37
Speaker 2: trading water type of free agent signings for this team,
3:40
Speaker 2: and then they contrast that with a much more aggressive
3:43
Speaker 2: approach in the draft, taking not only one pass rusher
3:47
Speaker 2: in the first round and Jalen Walker out of Georgia,
3:49
Speaker 2: but then trading back into the first round to get
3:51
Speaker 2: James Pearce out of Tennessee. They went and got two
3:54
Speaker 2: more defensive pieces in the secondary in the draft. And
3:58
Speaker 2: so I think a lot of people came out of
4:00
Speaker 2: the draft loving the Falcons aggressive approach to improving the
4:03
Speaker 2: defense with the draft. But you kind of have that
4:05
Speaker 2: dichotomy of like typically with draft picks, it takes some
4:08
Speaker 2: time for those guys to develop and impact on the
4:10
Speaker 2: football field, as opposed to free agents, where if you
4:13
Speaker 2: want that immediate return, and so you wonder a little
4:16
Speaker 2: bit about the balance of if you want to see
4:18
Speaker 2: significant improvement for this Falcons defense this upcoming season, maybe
4:22
Speaker 2: you flip that and go, we're going to be aggressive
4:24
Speaker 2: in free agency and you know, still try to make
4:27
Speaker 2: the moves in the draft, but maybe let things come
4:30
Speaker 2: to us a little bit differently in that. And so
4:32
Speaker 2: I think that's where you sort of some of the
4:37
Speaker 2: confusion on maybe not the right word, but sort of
4:41
Speaker 2: not necessarily seeing the vision of what this organization is doing,
4:44
Speaker 2: is like, are they feeling that sense of urgency to
4:47
Speaker 2: get this defense up to another level because of how
4:50
Speaker 2: they approach the offseason like you can again, the draft
4:52
Speaker 2: tells you that they do see it, but you do
4:54
Speaker 2: wonder a little bit where you didn't see that aggressive
4:56
Speaker 2: approach throughout the entire offseason.
4:58
Speaker 1: Absolutely great points. I think that after I took a
5:02
Speaker 1: look at what the Falcons draft was, it basically told
5:05
Speaker 1: I think NFL fans, you know who really follow teams,
5:09
Speaker 1: that this Falcons team, Yes, we want we want to
5:12
Speaker 1: turn that corner, and we want to turn it sooner
5:14
Speaker 1: rather than later, but we have to get younger. We
5:16
Speaker 1: got to get younger from a defensive perspective, and that's
5:19
Speaker 1: what I think the beginning of their their draft really was.
5:22
Speaker 1: I think you really hit on it, Aaron, and you
5:24
Speaker 1: know it goes you know, if we do a one
5:27
Speaker 1: to eighty. You know, we were kind of talking about
5:28
Speaker 1: the defensive standpoint and foundational structures that the front office
5:33
Speaker 1: is looking to put into place here for the future.
5:36
Speaker 1: We have to talk about the future of the offense.
5:37
Speaker 1: We got to talk about Michael Pennix Junior. I cannot
5:42
Speaker 1: wait to see what he is going to be able
5:44
Speaker 1: to do on the field this year. I mean, during
5:45
Speaker 1: his three starts this past season, team averaged thirty two
5:49
Speaker 1: points per game. I mean, that's that's pretty incredible. It's
5:52
Speaker 1: pretty it's pretty interesting. So for all you fantasy folks
5:55
Speaker 1: out there, keep that in mind as you know you're
5:58
Speaker 1: gonna be going into your drafts this so well, he's
6:01
Speaker 1: certainly not perfect by any stretch. He's gonna learn a
6:03
Speaker 1: lot he's going to develop this first full season as
6:08
Speaker 1: an NFL quarterback. Here, Aaron, I'm wondering, like I'm wondering
6:12
Speaker 1: what the logical floor and ceiling is for Michael PENNOCKX Junior.
6:16
Speaker 1: I'm sure you've given it some thought. I know you've
6:18
Speaker 1: talked about it as well on the Locked on Falcons podcast.
6:21
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts here?
6:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you know it's gonna be interesting. This
6:26
Speaker 2: is this is the challenge of a young quarterback where
6:29
Speaker 2: you're just like, we don't know exactly what you know.
6:32
Speaker 2: It's probably similar to I think how Eagles fans thought
6:35
Speaker 2: of Jalen Hurts going into his second season. Yeah, you know,
6:37
Speaker 2: coming off those four starts where you're like, yeah, there's
6:40
Speaker 2: some positive things that he did in those four starts
6:41
Speaker 2: that give us some optimism, but it's not enough of
6:44
Speaker 2: a sample size to really nail down like he's definitely
6:48
Speaker 2: going to be the guy. And that's kind of the
6:49
Speaker 2: thing with Michael pais where you saw some of the
6:51
Speaker 2: flashes that you know, you get excited about if you're
6:54
Speaker 2: a Falcon fan, and sort of you're looking at him
6:57
Speaker 2: being that potential top fifteen to upper half of the
6:59
Speaker 2: league type of quarterback that can lead a team like
7:02
Speaker 2: Jalen Hurts did in his second season to the postseason,
7:05
Speaker 2: even though he's not necessarily the fully formed version of
7:08
Speaker 2: the player he's come into being. And then you sort
7:11
Speaker 2: of wonder, are you going to get that sort of
7:13
Speaker 2: typical rollercoaster that you get with young quarterbacks that again
7:16
Speaker 2: the Eagles fans are familiar with with the early career
7:19
Speaker 2: of Jalen Hurts. And I think you feel when you
7:21
Speaker 2: look at the floor of Michael Pennicks, I think you
7:23
Speaker 2: feel a lot better than you feel than you felt
7:27
Speaker 2: as a Falcon fan in you know, two years ago,
7:29
Speaker 2: when the Falcons were making that bet on Desmond Ritter,
7:33
Speaker 2: where you don't expect Michael Pennix to come in and
7:37
Speaker 2: basically be the worst starting quarterback in the NFL this season,
7:39
Speaker 2: Like you feel like that floor is higher than that
7:42
Speaker 2: based off of what you saw in these first three games.
7:44
Speaker 2: But at the same time, you know, could he be
7:48
Speaker 2: only the twenty fifth best quarterback in the NFL this
7:50
Speaker 2: upcoming season. That's a real possibility if you get those
7:53
Speaker 2: sort of rookie, you know, first year starter sort of
7:56
Speaker 2: ups and downs, And is that going to be good
7:59
Speaker 2: enough for this team to achieve their goals of making
8:02
Speaker 2: the postseason? Probably not. But at the same time, I
8:05
Speaker 2: think when I look at sort of my vision of
8:08
Speaker 2: where it goes with Michael Pennix, I'm expecting kind of
8:11
Speaker 2: those ups and downs early in the season as he's
8:14
Speaker 2: working through those things and some of the challenges with
8:16
Speaker 2: the Falcons upcoming schedule in twenty twenty five. But the
8:20
Speaker 2: hope is that there's a point at the end of
8:22
Speaker 2: the season where he kind of turns a corner. And
8:25
Speaker 2: the two players I would compare it to is Jordan
8:28
Speaker 2: Love with the Green Bay Packers and Baker Mayfield with
8:30
Speaker 2: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Where you look at Jordan Love
8:32
Speaker 2: that first season as a starter and back in twenty
8:34
Speaker 2: twenty three, where it was very up and down for
8:36
Speaker 2: like the first ten or so games of that season,
8:38
Speaker 2: but then something clicked for him. He played outstanding down
8:41
Speaker 2: the stretch and that guided the Packers to the playoffs.
8:45
Speaker 2: And then you look at Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers.
8:47
Speaker 2: They've won the NFC South the last two seasons primarily
8:50
Speaker 2: because Baker Mayfield has played really well in the month
8:54
Speaker 2: of December, and so you kind of deal with you
8:58
Speaker 2: Baker Mayfield issues for you know, three months of the season,
9:01
Speaker 2: and then by the end of the season he's playing
9:03
Speaker 2: his best football and it's been one of the best
9:05
Speaker 2: late season quarterbacks the last couple of years combined. And
9:08
Speaker 2: that's kind of what I'm expecting and hoping from Michael Pinnix.
9:11
Speaker 2: It's like, you're gonna deal with some ups and down
9:13
Speaker 2: play over the first two three months of the season,
9:15
Speaker 2: but hopefully by those last four to six games of
9:17
Speaker 2: the season, he's figured it out and you're starting to
9:20
Speaker 2: see the franchise quarterback emerge. And so, you know, one
9:23
Speaker 2: of the things I say constantly on Lockdown Falcons is
9:26
Speaker 2: not how you start, it's how you finish. Yeah, And
9:28
Speaker 2: I think Michael Pinnix has shown enough that you feel
9:30
Speaker 2: like there's the potential for him to finish strong, and
9:33
Speaker 2: that's going to be the thing that the Falcons can say, Okay,
9:36
Speaker 2: this is our guy. We found our Matt Ryan replacement
9:39
Speaker 2: that we've been desperately searching for for the last couple
9:41
Speaker 2: of years. And I think, you know, Pinnix has shown
9:43
Speaker 2: enough that you feel optimistic about that is just ultimately,
9:46
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, you got to see
9:48
Speaker 2: it on the.
9:48
Speaker 1: Field, high floor, high ceiling. I mean, that's what I'm
9:50
Speaker 1: feeling when it comes to Michael PENNOCKX Junior and what
9:52
Speaker 1: we may see from him this coming season. Here again, folks,
9:56
Speaker 1: talking to Aaron Freeman from the Locked on Falcons podcast. Eric,
10:00
Speaker 1: can you tell everybody where they can find you on
10:01
Speaker 1: social if they want to follow you, if they want to,
10:04
Speaker 1: you know, listen to what you guys are doing over
10:06
Speaker 1: at Locked on Falcons.
10:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can find Locked on Falcons, you know anywhere
10:10
Speaker 2: you find podcasts on YouTube and other audio platforms, and
10:14
Speaker 2: of course you can find me on Twitter at Locked
10:17
Speaker 2: on Falcons. You can find me on Blue Sky at
10:19
Speaker 2: falk Fans. That was my old Twitter account, but unfortunately
10:23
Speaker 2: he got locked because of things on Twitter, so you know,
10:27
Speaker 2: I have to split my time.
10:28
Speaker 1: In the crazy world out there.
10:30
Speaker 2: My friend.
10:30
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, I know. I can't believe I haven't
10:33
Speaker 1: been locked yet. It'll get there. But in fact, my
10:37
Speaker 1: co host he got locked this past week. I'd locked
10:40
Speaker 1: up of course. Of course, anyway, as we're moving along
10:43
Speaker 1: with the conversation here, there is a lot of talk,
10:46
Speaker 1: a lot of rumors about what the Falcons should do
10:49
Speaker 1: with tight end Kyle Pitts, to keep him or trade him.
10:53
Speaker 1: And I can't believe I'm actually having this conversation with
10:56
Speaker 1: you right now, Aaron, because I mean, I know on
10:58
Speaker 1: the Locked on Falcons pod cast, the message really has been, Okay,
11:02
Speaker 1: you keep Kyle Pitts, do not trade him. I am
11:06
Speaker 1: in that camp. I have no idea why when you
11:08
Speaker 1: have Michael Pennix Junior coming in a prolific arm, someone
11:12
Speaker 1: who has vision on the field, and you have a
11:15
Speaker 1: talent like Kyle Pitts, why you would really want to
11:17
Speaker 1: get rid of him. I want to get your thoughts
11:19
Speaker 1: on this, why it would be a mistake for the
11:21
Speaker 1: front office to deal Pits to another team. I honestly,
11:25
Speaker 1: I think it's kind of crazy. What are you thinking here?
11:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the case for trading Kyle Pitts is
11:30
Speaker 2: an understandable case because he's going into a contract year
11:34
Speaker 2: and it doesn't seem, based off of the last couple
11:37
Speaker 2: of years of disappointing play from Kyle Pitts, that the
11:40
Speaker 2: Falcons are likely going to be looking to extend him
11:45
Speaker 2: beyond this year. And so the case for trading Kyle
11:47
Speaker 2: Pitts is you got to get you know, you're going
11:49
Speaker 2: to lose him for nothing next year, and so try
11:52
Speaker 2: to get something for him today. Yeah, but those offers.
11:56
Speaker 2: You know the recent reports about you know, the Falcons
11:59
Speaker 2: being opened to trade Cole Pits. You know, if covering
12:02
Speaker 2: the Falcons like this is not new, this is not
12:04
Speaker 2: a new development. There was talks last year's trade deadline
12:08
Speaker 2: that you know, the Falcons are open to trading Kyle Pits.
12:10
Speaker 2: And so the fact that he hasn't been traded is
12:12
Speaker 2: kind of telling you that teams are not making the
12:15
Speaker 2: types of offers that would make the Falcons go, Hey,
12:18
Speaker 2: maybe this is worthwhile for us to try to maximize him.
12:21
Speaker 2: But to your point, I do tend to think that
12:24
Speaker 2: if the goal or the Falcons is to break their
12:27
Speaker 2: seven year playoff drout, which is tied for the second
12:29
Speaker 2: longest in the NFL. Actively, you need a talent like
12:33
Speaker 2: Kyle Pitts, where when you look at the way I
12:35
Speaker 2: would explain it is there's a big three on the
12:37
Speaker 2: Falcons in terms of the skill positions, it's but John Robinson,
12:40
Speaker 2: It's Drake London Darnell Mooney in that order. Those are
12:43
Speaker 2: the three guys that had outstanding seasons in twenty twenty
12:45
Speaker 2: four and you're hoping to build off of that in
12:47
Speaker 2: twenty twenty five. But you kind of need a fourth
12:50
Speaker 2: guy in the event that you're going to face some
12:53
Speaker 2: games where you know some of those guys are going
12:55
Speaker 2: to be limited, You're going to face some good defenses,
12:57
Speaker 2: maybe there are games or there are injuries, and when
12:59
Speaker 2: you look at the the rest of the Falcons skill group,
13:02
Speaker 2: it's not that impressive, and Kyle Pitts is the one
13:04
Speaker 2: guy that stands out as a unique talent that can
13:08
Speaker 2: really challenge defenses. And unfortunately for the Falcons, they weren't
13:11
Speaker 2: able to maximize that. A lot of that had to
13:14
Speaker 2: do with inconsistency from Kyle Pitts. I think a lot
13:16
Speaker 2: of that had to do with how the Falcons structure
13:19
Speaker 2: their offense in treating a tight end like Kyle Pits,
13:22
Speaker 2: trying to treat him like a more traditional tight end
13:24
Speaker 2: as opposed to a player that has a unique skill
13:26
Speaker 2: set that you kind of have to make a space
13:28
Speaker 2: for that. He's not just going to be a player
13:31
Speaker 2: that you can drop in as a traditional inline wide
13:34
Speaker 2: tight end and just say, oh, he'll make it work.
13:36
Speaker 2: He's a unique special which is why he was the
13:39
Speaker 2: fourth overall pick, and I don't think the Falcons really
13:42
Speaker 2: leaned on that, and I think hopefully they will lean
13:44
Speaker 2: more into that this upcoming season. They don't need Kyle
13:47
Speaker 2: Pits to go out there and catch eight passes FO
13:49
Speaker 2: one hundred yards every single week because they have the
13:51
Speaker 2: big three that they can rely on. But there's going
13:53
Speaker 2: to be I don't know, five ten games where they're
13:58
Speaker 2: going to need Kyle Pitts's explosive capabilities, his ability to
14:01
Speaker 2: be a playmaker, and you got to make defenses defend
14:04
Speaker 2: every blade of grass, and the Falcons become infinitely more
14:07
Speaker 2: easy to defend when it's like, Okay, well we only
14:10
Speaker 2: have to worry about Jon Robinson, so we're just going
14:11
Speaker 2: to stack the box, and if we have two competent corners,
14:15
Speaker 2: we should be able to keep Drake London and Darniel
14:17
Speaker 2: Moody in check. And there's nothing else the Falcons are
14:19
Speaker 2: going to be able to throw at us that's really
14:20
Speaker 2: going to challenge us. And when you're facing quality defenses
14:24
Speaker 2: like Philadelphia and other teams like they can do those
14:27
Speaker 2: types of things. And if the Falcons want to break
14:29
Speaker 2: through and be a type of offense that can really
14:31
Speaker 2: challenge some of the best defenses in the NFL, like
14:33
Speaker 2: you hope they can do. As a playoff contender, I
14:37
Speaker 2: think having a player like Kyle Pits with his unique
14:39
Speaker 2: traits is going to be extremely valuable for this team.
14:42
Speaker 2: And it's a hard it's a hard reality for me
14:45
Speaker 2: to buy that the Falcons can make the playoffs without
14:47
Speaker 2: Kyle Pits being at least a significant contributor, if not
14:50
Speaker 2: the main contributor in their offense.
14:52
Speaker 1: Oh, I'd absolutely agree. Key on third down. I mean,
14:54
Speaker 1: I think he is going to be a key on
14:56
Speaker 1: third down this coming season, as he should be as
14:59
Speaker 1: defense are keying in on Vjon Robinson, like you said,
15:02
Speaker 1: Darnell Mooney as well. You know that that other option,
15:05
Speaker 1: that other weapon in Kyle Pitt's especially on third down
15:09
Speaker 1: when we know third down has been troublesome for the
15:12
Speaker 1: Falcons offense over the years. So completely agree with you
15:16
Speaker 1: on that for sure. But I wanted to the flip
15:20
Speaker 1: this switch over here to the defense here and we
15:22
Speaker 1: look at this Falcons defense. I know we kind of
15:24
Speaker 1: talked about it at the top in terms of where
15:27
Speaker 1: the front office vision is at this point, Aaron, They've
15:31
Speaker 1: they've made some moves. I mean, we talked about the
15:33
Speaker 1: Leonard Floyd signing the one year deal, Morgan Fox, He's
15:37
Speaker 1: gonna join that d line with some pretty good pass
15:40
Speaker 1: rushing abilities. Got to Divine Diablo linebacker who signed a
15:45
Speaker 1: two year deal. He's a speedy guy who knows how
15:47
Speaker 1: to pursue a ball carrier. The Falcons total defense, though
15:51
Speaker 1: last year was ranked twenty third overall. Where do you
15:56
Speaker 1: see this defense really going this coming season? I know
15:58
Speaker 1: we touched on it again a little bit towards the
16:00
Speaker 1: top in terms of the vision, but this particular defensive crew,
16:05
Speaker 1: do you see just some some growing pains here or
16:07
Speaker 1: do you see a defense that really is going to
16:09
Speaker 1: be able to start laying a foundation for the future.
16:12
Speaker 2: Well, I think certainly you're hoping that they can lay
16:14
Speaker 2: a foundation for the future. As you said Jeff earlier,
16:17
Speaker 2: like they have a lot of young players that they're
16:19
Speaker 2: hoping that will form that foundation. The question is going
16:22
Speaker 2: to be how quickly can they get those guys up
16:24
Speaker 2: to speed to be difference makers for their defense. Obviously,
16:27
Speaker 2: you know Eagles fans experiences last year with guys like
16:30
Speaker 2: Quinon Mitchell and Cooper dejen in the secondary. Obviously you've
16:33
Speaker 2: had impact players like Jalen Jalen Carter, sorry confusing Jalen's
16:38
Speaker 2: at Jeordan Jalen Carter, and you know, and you've seen
16:43
Speaker 2: those guys contribute right away. But you know, the Eagles
16:46
Speaker 2: have the privilege of having an already established defense, so
16:50
Speaker 2: they don't need all their rookies to come in right
16:52
Speaker 2: away in impact. They can give those guys a red
16:54
Speaker 2: shirt season. The Falcons do not have that privilege. They
16:56
Speaker 2: need Jalen Walker, they need James Pearce, they need Xavier
17:00
Speaker 2: Watts and Billy Bowman, all the kind of carve out
17:03
Speaker 2: potentially starting roles right away. They had invested some Day
17:06
Speaker 2: two selections on some D lineman last year and Ruc
17:09
Speaker 2: of Roro at the tackle Brandon Dorles in the fourth
17:12
Speaker 2: round in Bralyan Trice. They got none of those contributions
17:15
Speaker 2: from those guys. They're expecting bigger things from those guys,
17:18
Speaker 2: and so I think, to answer your question, you know,
17:21
Speaker 2: how much better can this defense be than they were?
17:24
Speaker 2: It will entirely depend on how quickly the Falcons can
17:27
Speaker 2: get those young players up to speed and become impactful
17:30
Speaker 2: players to start living up to where the Falcons selected him,
17:34
Speaker 2: selected him in recent drafts just because the veteran presence
17:38
Speaker 2: on the team. You still have two very good veterans
17:40
Speaker 2: in the second aar and Jesse Bates and Ajterrow, but
17:42
Speaker 2: in the front seven, it's not you know, Grady Jarrett
17:45
Speaker 2: is gone, David Anyamada is coming off a down year,
17:48
Speaker 2: Morgan Fox is a solid rotational piece, Leonard Floyd is,
17:52
Speaker 2: you know, nearing the end of his sort of career,
17:55
Speaker 2: and you know, you wonder how much is left in
17:56
Speaker 2: the tank. It's a similar conversation that the Falcons had
17:59
Speaker 2: last year with Matthew drew Don, who they had high
18:01
Speaker 2: expectations for and did not quite live up to that.
18:04
Speaker 2: And you're, you know, because went through that experience with
18:08
Speaker 2: Junon last year, You're wondering, like, are they going to
18:10
Speaker 2: go through that same experience with Lindar Floyd this year
18:12
Speaker 2: to find Diablo very talented athletic linebacker, but is kind
18:17
Speaker 2: of learning the position, transitioning from safety in college to
18:22
Speaker 2: that linebacker position, and certainly has improved enough to get
18:25
Speaker 2: paid by the Falcons. But are you getting a true
18:27
Speaker 2: difference maker or are you just kind of getting a
18:29
Speaker 2: solid role player for your defense? And so those are
18:32
Speaker 2: all the questions for the Falcons. There was a lot
18:34
Speaker 2: more questions on the defense than on the offense, and
18:37
Speaker 2: I think so much of it depends on how quickly
18:39
Speaker 2: can James Pearce and Jalen Walker really contribute to this
18:42
Speaker 2: pass rush, how quickly can some of those young pieces
18:45
Speaker 2: in the secondary kind of solidify their spots, And you
18:48
Speaker 2: know how much gas is left in the tank of
18:50
Speaker 2: some of these veteran players at the Falcons have.
18:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going to be an interesting storyline to follow
18:54
Speaker 1: for sure where this defense goes, and especially within the
18:57
Speaker 1: division too, because I mean it's going to be it's
18:59
Speaker 1: gonna be a interesting competitive division at least I believe
19:03
Speaker 1: that it is. So I do want to talk about
19:06
Speaker 1: maybe some of the rumors that the Falcons could potentially
19:09
Speaker 1: look to upgrade their secondary by going after some available
19:13
Speaker 1: talent that's out there, maybe like Jalen Ramsey. Perhaps, you know,
19:16
Speaker 1: they might look at bringing in a center with some
19:19
Speaker 1: experience from an offensive standpoint, seems like the center position
19:23
Speaker 1: may need to be addressed at some point here, so
19:25
Speaker 1: as we're looking at potentially what else this team and
19:28
Speaker 1: organization can do during this off season here, Aaron, do
19:32
Speaker 1: you think the Falcons could make another splash this summer
19:35
Speaker 1: before the season starts by some sort of acquisition.
19:39
Speaker 2: It's definitely a possibility. I think a lot will depend
19:42
Speaker 2: on how training camp goes. You saw it last year
19:45
Speaker 2: with the Falcons picked up Justin Simmons the safety, yeah,
19:48
Speaker 2: and Matthew Judon late in the process in the middle
19:51
Speaker 2: of August, But a lot of that had to do
19:53
Speaker 2: with they suffered some injuries with Braylen Trice, their rookie
19:57
Speaker 2: third round pick and their presumptive starting scene and DeMarco
20:00
Speaker 2: Helms going down, and that prompted the Falcons to make
20:03
Speaker 2: a move. I don't know if without those injuries with
20:06
Speaker 2: the Falcons have been as aggressive. And so that's kind
20:08
Speaker 2: of where I'm at at this stage. I think the
20:10
Speaker 2: Falcons are pretty content with their roster as it sits
20:12
Speaker 2: right now, and so if there are injuries, they may
20:15
Speaker 2: make a move. But I think you've identity identified two
20:18
Speaker 2: areas of concern for the Falcons roster. They lose Drew
20:21
Speaker 2: Doman in free agency. They're starting Stinner for the last
20:23
Speaker 2: couple of years, and now they're replacing him with Ryan Noozle,
20:26
Speaker 2: who's a former undrafted free agent. Noozle did start eight
20:29
Speaker 2: games last year and I think twelve games combined over
20:32
Speaker 2: the last two seasons due to injuries to Drew Doman,
20:35
Speaker 2: and was solid in that role. But there's a difference
20:38
Speaker 2: between being a capable fill in starter when you know
20:42
Speaker 2: that the starter is eventually going to come back, versus
20:45
Speaker 2: being the guy for the entire season. The team is
20:47
Speaker 2: hinging their success on and the Falcons just recently signed
20:51
Speaker 2: Noozo was a restricted free agent, to a two year contract,
20:54
Speaker 2: So they're showing a lot more confident in Ryan Noozle
20:56
Speaker 2: than I think many people on the outside who probably
20:59
Speaker 2: have not heard about Ryan news at all, like who
21:01
Speaker 2: is this guy? You know, they're a little bit more
21:04
Speaker 2: confident in him that I think outsiders would be and
21:07
Speaker 2: so I don't know if the Falcons, you know, if
21:09
Speaker 2: there is a veteran center that becomes available a little
21:12
Speaker 2: bit later in the summer, maybe they look at that guy,
21:17
Speaker 2: especially to shore up depth. But I think the Falcons
21:20
Speaker 2: at at this point are pretty confident that News was
21:22
Speaker 2: going to be able to lock down that starting spot.
21:24
Speaker 2: And then when you look at Jalen Ramsey, you know,
21:26
Speaker 2: the reason why you see this connection with Jalen Ramsey
21:29
Speaker 2: is a lot because the relationship he has with Rahem Morris.
21:32
Speaker 2: And I don't know if the Falcons, you know, there
21:35
Speaker 2: was a potential possibility of the Falcons I think could
21:38
Speaker 2: have gone after Jalen Ramsey at some point this summer
21:40
Speaker 2: before the draft, but then when they went out and
21:43
Speaker 2: invested in Xavier Watson, Billy Bowmen who and Billy Bowmen
21:47
Speaker 2: the safety, the fourth round pick is going to be
21:49
Speaker 2: expected to contribute as a nickel corner and they like
21:52
Speaker 2: his versatility and I think that's really the selling point
21:54
Speaker 2: at this stage in Jalen Ramsey's career is his ability
21:57
Speaker 2: to play multiple roles. He can play inside, he can
21:59
Speaker 2: play out, he can potentially play some safety for you.
22:03
Speaker 2: But the issue with Jalen Ramsey is Jalen Ramsey and
22:07
Speaker 2: this is not a problem, but it's like he wants
22:09
Speaker 2: to win, and the last couple of years he's been
22:11
Speaker 2: on teams that didn't win, he immediately was like, I
22:14
Speaker 2: don't want to be here anymore. Uh. And the other
22:18
Speaker 2: flip side of that is he also likes to get
22:19
Speaker 2: paid whenever he goes to a new game and should Again,
22:26
Speaker 2: no reason for Jalen Ramsey, no shaming him. I would be,
22:29
Speaker 2: you know, if I was Jayalen Ramsey, I would be
22:31
Speaker 2: the same way. He has that privilege, given how good
22:34
Speaker 2: a player he is to basically do that. And I
22:37
Speaker 2: don't know if the Falcons are in that position at
22:39
Speaker 2: this stage to be a we can go out there
22:43
Speaker 2: and get that quote unquote mercenary that is Jalen Ramsey's
22:46
Speaker 2: going to push us over the help. I think they're
22:47
Speaker 2: gonna want to see what they have in their young pieces.
22:50
Speaker 2: But certainly I do think if the Jalen Ramsey situation
22:55
Speaker 2: in Miami lingers, you know, as we get closer to
22:58
Speaker 2: the season and in the lead up to the trade
23:00
Speaker 2: deadline and depending on if that price tag goes down
23:03
Speaker 2: maybe and the Falcons are like, hey, you know, this
23:06
Speaker 2: is a great bargain for us. I think that's when
23:09
Speaker 2: they would seriously entertain bringing in someone like Daylan Ramsey.
23:12
Speaker 2: So I do feel like those are two areas where
23:14
Speaker 2: the Falcons can get better at. But I think in
23:17
Speaker 2: the meantime, over the course of the summer, they're not
23:19
Speaker 2: going to be that aggressive at EI. They're going to
23:21
Speaker 2: play a wait and see, gotcha, gotcha?
23:23
Speaker 1: Yeah. It reminds me of the Philadelphia Eagles a decent amount.
23:26
Speaker 1: You know, when there are players who are available, it's
23:28
Speaker 1: like wait till training camp, you know, wait to see.
23:31
Speaker 1: You know what happens if certain teams want to offload
23:33
Speaker 1: certain players too. It's you know, it's one of the
23:35
Speaker 1: reasons why the Philadelphia Eagles had CJ. Gardner Johnson on
23:39
Speaker 1: the roster for two seasons. I'm going to miss him
23:42
Speaker 1: so very much. But another topic for another time. But Aaron,
23:47
Speaker 1: before I let you go here, you know, after talking
23:49
Speaker 1: about the moves that have been made by the Falcons
23:53
Speaker 1: front office, the vision for where this team may be
23:55
Speaker 1: going and heading here in twenty twenty five, I'd love
23:59
Speaker 1: for you to give the office a grade this off
24:02
Speaker 1: season here. So to close this out here, what grade
24:06
Speaker 1: would you give the Falcons front office for this off
24:08
Speaker 1: season with the moves that they've made, And why I I.
24:13
Speaker 2: Border on like a B minus C plus depending on
24:15
Speaker 2: what mood I'm in, you know, depending on you know,
24:19
Speaker 2: that's kind of where I'm at, where it feels like,
24:21
Speaker 2: if I was just judging purely off a free agency,
24:24
Speaker 2: I'd probably give them like a C minus O And
24:27
Speaker 2: if I was looking at the draft, I'd probably give
24:28
Speaker 2: him like a B plus. And the reason why I
24:30
Speaker 2: don't give them higher than that, even though I think
24:33
Speaker 2: they did an incredible job given the limited resources in
24:36
Speaker 2: the draft, it's part of the reason why they had
24:38
Speaker 2: the limited resources is because of decisions made by this
24:41
Speaker 2: front office where you know, they had limited cap space.
24:43
Speaker 2: Why did they have limit caps because they decided to
24:45
Speaker 2: give Cousins one hundred million dollars and that blew up
24:47
Speaker 2: in their face. Yes, why did they have limited draft
24:50
Speaker 2: picks this year is because they decided to trade up
24:52
Speaker 2: in the draft or trade away those draft assets over
24:55
Speaker 2: the past, and they decided to trade away future draft
24:58
Speaker 2: assets this year. So it's it's hard for me to
25:01
Speaker 2: be too praising of it because it's like, you know,
25:05
Speaker 2: you know, overly colorful metaphor, but you kind of crapped
25:08
Speaker 2: in the bed and you gotta lie in it, and
25:10
Speaker 2: it's like you crapped in it, like this wasn't somebody
25:12
Speaker 2: else's crap, Like this is this is your a situation
25:16
Speaker 2: of your own making. So it's it's one of those
25:19
Speaker 2: things where like when I look at the limited I
25:21
Speaker 2: think they did a really good job given their limited resources.
25:25
Speaker 2: But at the same time, you do have to kind
25:27
Speaker 2: of penalize them a little bit for the fact that
25:29
Speaker 2: they had limited resources in the first place. So I
25:31
Speaker 2: do think, you know, when I'm being more optimistic, I
25:35
Speaker 2: tend to be B minus. But sometimes I'm just like,
25:38
Speaker 2: you know, this is really a C plus offstacent for
25:41
Speaker 2: the Atlanta Falcons. But yeah, I'll probably go be minus today.
25:45
Speaker 1: All Right, sounds good. Well, folks, you got to listen
25:49
Speaker 1: to Aaron and the great content that they're putting out
25:51
Speaker 1: over at the Locked On Falcons podcast. You know, we
25:54
Speaker 1: love our Locked on podcast here at the Philadelphia Sports
25:57
Speaker 1: Table podcast show again Aaron Freeman from the Locked On
26:01
Speaker 1: Falcons podcast. Buddy again, let everybody know where they can
26:04
Speaker 1: find you on the socials out there if they want
26:06
Speaker 1: to follow you.
26:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you want to check me on Twitter, Lockdow
26:09
Speaker 2: on Falcons is the place to do it. Blue Sky
26:11
Speaker 2: Foul fans, and of course you can find lockedown Falcons
26:14
Speaker 2: five days a week all summer long. You know everybody
26:16
Speaker 2: else has taken vacations. We're still going to be going
26:19
Speaker 2: through all the way up the training cab Lockdow Falcons
26:22
Speaker 2: on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts.
26:23
Speaker 1: All right, very good, and you can follow us here
26:26
Speaker 1: at Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show on various social media sites.
26:29
Speaker 1: We are over on Instagram, Twitter, slash x at Philadelphia PST.
26:34
Speaker 1: You can follow me at Jeffrey Underscore Warren and uh,
26:37
Speaker 1: if you've been listening for a while, you know that
26:39
Speaker 1: you can follow my co host Eric as well over
26:42
Speaker 1: on Twitter, slash x at Brick poll It. I'm over
26:45
Speaker 1: on TikTok, mister jeff Warren, search us out on Facebook
26:49
Speaker 1: on threads. Eric and I are both over on Blue
26:52
Speaker 1: Sky as well. Again, Aaron Buddy, it was great talking
26:56
Speaker 1: to you man, Seriously, I really enjoyed the conversation. I'm
26:59
Speaker 1: hoping maybe we can discuss some more NFL ball at
27:02
Speaker 1: some point down the road talk about the Falcons more.
27:04
Speaker 1: I'd love to have you back.
27:05
Speaker 2: On the show, Absolutely, Jeff.
27:08
Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for us here on Opposition Territory
27:11
Speaker 1: this week. Please share our podcast with your friends and
27:14
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27:17
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27:20
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