June 19, 2025 • 35 mins
Tori McElhaney and Will McFadden dig into the Atlanta Falcons mailbag to answer questions from all over the Falcons' fanbase. They predict what Jalon Walker's role could look like this fall, what a "dream scenario" is for the safety position, sleeper impact players & so much more!
0:00 - Intro & Emmy's talk
4:45 - Jalon Walker's role
11:52 - Zach Harrison & Brandon Dorlus combo
15:00 - More possible roster moves?
21:20 - Most exciting position battles
23:10 - Safety dream scenario
26:55 - Zach Harrison's role in 2025
29:25 - Sleeper impact players
32:41 - Fan's guide to training camp
35:00 - Outro
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dirty Birds. What's up? And welcome to another Atlanta Falcons podcast.
I'm your host Will McFadden, joined by Tory nclaney. Tory
is just saluting and waving and she's got the summer
energy and the good vibes. And you're coming off of
a big weekend, Tory, you want to tell everybody why. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
So a group of us from the Falcons organization went
to the Southeast Emmys Awards this past weekend on Saturday
and came home with three Emmys.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Which congratulations, whoo, yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Let's go big dub, big dub one for I don't
know if people remember, but when Matt Ryan retired, our
video team put together a video where he wrote a
letter to the city of Atlanta, and it was this
really nice video of him and everything encompassing his career
in his words. And Matt Ryan was actually on the
(00:52):
trophy for that, like they submitted him as a creator
for that as they showed. So Matt Ryan is now
a ME Award winner. Let's go fun fact for people,
first step for the e goot, yeah, let's go Matt Ryan.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
He got winner. Yeah, wait for that Tony Award winning
play coming to you in twenty thirty.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Seven Get Ready so that one are on the Rise
series presented by Delta One, which is something It is
a huge endeavor, gosh, week after week, month after month
for our video team. They literally whoever the editor is
for each individual show, they go down to the editbay
and we literally don't see them for a week because
that's all they're doing.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
And then I'm like scared of the Editbate, I told,
I told Taylor Bismore for the like the other day,
I'd actually never been inside of one because I kept
hearing about it like they were the covered under the
stairs and Harry Potter. It's like, I don't even want
to go in there. I'm gonna get trapped. It's scary. Yeah,
it's dark and lonely, so I you know, I finally
saw one. It's not but they spend a lot of
time in there. They do doing amazing work.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
And then the third and final Emmy award, very close
to my heart was the Grady Chair at Year ten
Documentary one for Sports Documentary. I was so proud of
that for Mark Wating, him and I, I mean, I
said on this podcast when we talked about it, like
that was such a labor of love, that whole documentary
and getting to tell Grady Jarrett's story in a time
(02:14):
where we just kind of were like, oh, we're doing
this to celebrate ten years in Atlanta, not knowing at
the time that it was going to be his last
year in Atlanta. And so now even looking back on
that project, it's even more meaningful that we were able
to almost send him to the next part of his
career to.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Like close the chapter, yeah, and with a really nice kind.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Of fitting boat yeah, and like let him know, like, hey,
your loved in Atlanta, regardless of your hair or not. Man.
And so I think it was just, you know, we
don't do it for the trophies. We don't do any
of this, I think for the recognition or anything like that.
But when you do get the recognition, especially from your peers,
like it, it matters. It's meaningful and I'm immensely grateful,
(02:52):
and I don't know, just being able to experience that
with our team it was just fantastic. So it's a
great day to be a woman in sports, mug And
it's because it is. It is a great day to
be a woman in sports. And I'm really really proud
of the team and really excited for what we're doing next,
because we do have a lot of things on the docket.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Yes, but congratulations once again. You know, we talk a
lot about the football team here and rightfully so, but
just wanted to take a minute to shout out the
digital team of which we are at part and all
of the incredible work that everybody here does, including yourself. Honestly,
I thought you were just going to say you won
the US Open or something based on the way that
you're dressed. I didn't. I don't even know about them.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
If you were to look at me right now, you're like, Wow,
she's gonna go get in a quick nine after the
podcast is over. That's not true. I don't really play golf.
I'm just a big, big proponent of golf fashion for women.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Anica Sorenstein over here, all right, yes, but we have
a mail bag to get here today we should maybe
get into the main reason that you guys are here,
which is to answer some questions. Thank you all to
everybody who submitted questions, be it on Twitter, still just
going to keep on saying Twitter, or if you did it, yeah,
(04:04):
just what it's a letter, get out of here or
if you did online vir mailbag submission, which you can
always send it to. We are, you know, discussing potentially
other avenues through which you can reach our shows. But
that is TVD for now. Toy you ready to answer
some questions.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I am so ready. I love I love when we
do a mailbag segment at the Pod.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
It was the perfect time I felt like to do
one right. Mini camps wrapped up, We've got a long break,
a little bit of a summer break here, so let's
tag into the first one. This comes to us from
at Dan Ski thirty two. He asks, in your opinion,
do you think Jalen will see Jalen Walker all his
snaps as an edge or will he take on more
responsibility as the season goes along? And do you believe
(04:47):
the combo of Dorles and Zach Harrison at their big
end will help with sack production this year? So we'll
start with Jayalen Walker first.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Jalen Walker, I think even though they have said from
the moment that they drafted him, he's gonna be primarily
an ed rusher, and they've really stuck with that. You
asked Jeff Ulbrick, You have asked Rahe Morris you ask
Jalen Walker himself, that's what they're saying. Do I believe
that for a second? No, personally, it's me. This isn't
(05:18):
Tory maclanny personally saying.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
This, like You're not wrong, right, like they can and you.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Know, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe at the end of the
season he has only taken predominantly edg rusher snaps in
a traditional edge rusher role. Maybe I am eating my words.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I don't think this is gamesmanship.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Like I do not think that sitting here right now today,
going into the summer and going into Jaalen Walker's first
training camp, he may start out very simplistic eddrusher role,
but I don't think that's where he ends up at
the end of the season. I think that you go
out and you get a talent like Jalen Walker, but
the reason you get him is not solely because of
(05:57):
what he does as a traditional edge rusher, him because
of what the versatility he provided in the chess piece
that he is, like, that's why you value him at
a number fifteen overall pick. So I think that while
it's I understand exactly what they're saying, they don't want
to overwhelm him they don't want to give him too
much on his plate in his rookie year. They don't
(06:17):
want to do all this. They want to kind of
ease him in and maybe one day they'll add in
some different looks for him. I think that actually that
one day comes quicker than what maybe they even think
it will, because I think when you're looking at Jalen
Walker and his football IQ and what he's already done
at Georgia, and the different ways that this roster is
constructed along the defensive front, and I don't know this
(06:40):
attack style front that they want to play, there's no
reason to not, in my opinion, utilize, utilize his talent.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Well, and you're you're completely right, and thank you later,
Thank you later on. I recently spoke with ESPN's Ben
Solac and I asked him like, literally this question, yeah,
and he gave a very similar answer. So stay tuned
for that. You guys can hear that coming on the
feed a little bit later on. But you and I
(07:08):
spoke about this on our mini camp kind of wrap
up podcast, which spoiler alert that's going to prove to
be a little bit of a Rosetta stone for today's
episode as well. So if you have not heard that
and you want to press pause, maybe go check that
one out first, because we touched on a lot of
great stuff there, and one of the topics was this
idea of the hybrid style defense, right and the three
(07:31):
to four which is really a five man front versus
a four to three. And that's where I kind of
think you can be both, like both can be true
with Jalen Walker. I do actually think that because the
most valuable asset and the most needed asset for this
Falcons defense would be a pass rusher, So it makes
sense to utilize him their most. He is your highest
(07:51):
investment in this offseason. He has a really high upside
in that area, so using there and using there often.
But when you do maybe go to that four three
look bring him back into that linebacker spot. That doesn't
make sense to necessarily just take him off of the
field right when he can play multiple levels. So I
do think that he could very well play like sixty
(08:12):
five percent of his snaps off the edge de seision
and probably should. That would be a good role for him.
But I would also love to see thirty five percent
of those snaps moving all around the field.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Yeah, because to dam Sky's question.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Damn Ski, let's go Dan Ski.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
In your opinion, do you think Jalen will see all
of his snaps at edge. The answer to that is no,
I do not think that. And I think that something
that I know Jeff Ulbrick is really cognizant of is
he doesn't want to be like just this gimmicky defense.
He doesn't want to And when you have someone like
Cayden Ellis, who already lends to kind of this like
(08:48):
hybrid role in and of himself that we saw him
have a lot of success with last year and even
his last year with the New Orleans Saints organization, you
don't want to do too much of that gimmick yess, right,
because then it becomes.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Well, just think about last year when they started using
Cayden in that different way, they started losing the games.
Like That's the thing is I think what Jeff is
getting at is that when you have to start creating
with scheme ways to manufacture pressure ground quarterback, you have
to give up something somewhere else, right, And if you're
able to just generate with your players, you can scheme
(09:26):
for other elements and allow your players to then execute
and win because of their own natural ability and dominance
and kind of traits like that. So I kind of
think that's where he was getting at, and last season
you kind of saw that that may have been they
tried that approach early on, and then it was like,
we gotta get Cayden unlocked here a little bit, and
we got to start amping up the simulated pressures. We
(09:46):
got to start dropping Matthew Judaan into coverage a little
bit more because we're bringing Cayden. So it's kind of
where you get into.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
That, and you do have the trade off of if
you're not if you're bringing Cayden up. You know, at
the time you had nothing against Nate Laman, but he's
not really someone that you want in coverage too often.
So now you have a little bit personnel has changed
a little bit with Divine Diabolo. Like I do think
that to the point of scheme versus players. It's why
I think we have heard so much about having this
(10:13):
like proactive attacking front where they're not sitting back and waiting.
Kind of the conversation we talked about being proactive, not
reactive upfront, having your players just go win their one
on ones. If you have your guys winning your one
on ones. I don't really care like because that like,
at that point, if JPJ is getting after getting the
(10:34):
quarterback off of his spot once every two to three plays, cool,
sounds good.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Well, and it's going to allow you also to play
a more aggressive style on the boundary, which we know
Jeff Hulbrick likes to do. He played a little bit
more man than the Falcons did last year, and they
were playing this off zone coverage, partially because I think
that they they needed to blanket the receivers to give
the pass rush time as opposed to will jam and
disrupt and if if we lose them after that, there's
(11:01):
some risk associated with that. But we trust that our
pass rush in the time that we're jamming and disrupting
that route, they're going to get home.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Well. That was something that I specifically talked to my
cues about because I was like, how can this front
in this new year? How is it different? How do
you think from a scheme perspective, from a mentality perspective,
how do you feel like it's different. How do you
feel like this helps you guys in the back end?
And he said this exact same thing. He's like, it's timing. Yep.
He was like, it's not allowing the receivers to get
(11:29):
to the top of the route because the quarterback is
having to make a decision well before then he was like,
that helps us. That allows us to maybe get some
more hands on the ball, Like that allows us to
maybe cover up some routes. So I to your point,
it all plays in off of each other, and it's
all something that I think these players are cognizant of.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Yep. So two players who are going to be playing
off of each other and the rest of the defensivelyne
Brandon Dorlesac Harrison. Do we think that those two if
they're being situated as kind of these like Big five
technique and is that more for run defense or do
you think that that is by design to get this
pass rush going.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I do think that if I'm just thinking about it
and having seen what I think Zach Harrison put on
tape last year, And granted he was in a bit
more of a different role, a bit more of a
traditional interior guy. That's what they wanted him as with
this It's going to be a bit more fluid for
him in this year, in this game. But I really
(12:27):
liked what I saw from him in his run defense,
and I think the reason why you kind of have
him as this big in type of role is to
set that edge to make sure a running back can't
bounce it to the outside. So that to me is like, yes,
it's everything. The goal is obviously going to be for
this this defense. No, there is literally no andsifts or
(12:48):
butts about it is pass rush. You had to put
everything you had into pass rush in order to get
even to the middle quartale of the.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
League and pass rush stats.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
But I think what we're actually going to see, especially
with this Zach Harrison specifically Brandon Doyles is a bit
more of a question mark to me because we haven't
really seen him all that much. I feel like I
know a lot more about Zach Harrison in the way
that he performed as a run stopper last year.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yeah, when you think of Zach Harrison, there are like
five plays that immediately come to mind. Right when you
think of Brandon Dorlys, it's a little bit.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Fuzzier, right exactly. So I think for if Brandon Dorles
is following along in this like Zach Harrison, mold, then okay, yes,
I get it, and I but I will say that
even though everything we're talking about is past rush, this
is still a defense that has to stop the run too.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Like you know, like you can't.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
You can't have one without the other because then one's
going to get taken advantage of.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Because the reason the pass rush also benefited last year
was better performance first and second down exactly, So you
got those all married together.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
And I do think that Zach Harrison was a big
part of that. And I think that to me is
why even though yes, we're talking about Zach production, we're
talking about all that kind of stuff, perhaps in run defense,
in run stopping ability, that matters even maybe a little
bit more, yes.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
One percent. I will also add, just with kind of
the run fits in the way you're playing defense, if
you if they do get to a point where they
are manufacturing with some of this creativity and they're moving
guys around, and let's say you've got Jayalen Walker outside
of Zach Harrison and they kind of loop and twist
to have that, you want to be able to bake
in at least a level of comfort with the run
if you are still moving guys after the snap. So
(14:30):
Zach Harrison could be a good pass rusher off the edge.
He's also a great run setter that can play inside.
So having him and Brandon Dorles, my favorite thing about
him coming out Oregon was just three technique, one technique,
five techniques, seven tech. It's everywhere. We're just like using
him all over the place and he was effective. So
I like both of those guys. Really interested to see
them this year. But next question comes from at Xander
(14:53):
Stickland not Strickland. You got me there? Do we think
it's Xander or Exander? Like, okay, Xander not xa No.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Yeah, okay, Well that's the thing is like with the
Xavier Watts.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
I know. That's why I'm asking, Like.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Some people call him Xavier. Some people call him Xavier.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I need to like ask him that, right, So Xander
Xander asks, are there any free agents or trades you
could see the Falcons pursuing or do you feel the
roster is pretty set going into the season.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
I'm gonna whisper this, but Kirk Cousins right, like, he's
the trade He's the trade option. He's the one that
you're always gonna kind of pencil in, You're always gonna
pull a little asterisk beside because nothing's changed. You know,
he's still an option, and I think you're whit again.
It's every conversation we've had this offseason, it's when is
(15:45):
a quarter a team gonna need a quarterback?
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Yeah, it's he's on the proverbial trade block, right right.
It's like everybody's aware that if if you need a team,
the Falcons would be on the short list of teams
that you would call.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
It's it's same way where if we're looking at the draft,
when the Falcons had five picks and we were looking
at teams where maybe if you're going to try to
accrew more, you naturally look at the teams that have
eleven picks or ten picks, not the teams that have
like six picks. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
So if we're not talking about Kirk, maybe.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Any external like if they're going to Justin Simmons, Matthew
Judhon route, do you see any guys that make sense
maybe still available?
Speaker 2 (16:21):
So I'm trying to think of like a.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Maybe Justin Simmons from Matthew Jude on themselves maybe.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
But I something that I think we have spoken about
that's flying under the radar a little bit this off
season is the wide receiver position, yep. And we know
Drake Glennon, we know Darnel Mooney, right, Ray McLeod. Cadarrel
Hodge has become this kind of jack of all trades guy,
special teams guy that the front office just a hodgepodge,
just a hodgepodge of Cadaryl Hodge and he like Sore,
(16:52):
those are your kind of core core four. But there
are also some like free agents that I undrafted free
agents that I think a lot of people are excited about.
But I also think that you're constantly with that fourth
or fifth receiver, You're constantly looking outside to see who
could maybe come in and provide special teams relief. You know,
(17:15):
there's also this whole idea of the Falcons. Now that
Avery Williams is no longer on this team, Who's you know,
punt returning, Who's kickoff return?
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Like I think Jamal Agnew I probably the pencil in
But yeah, they always like they did with with ron
No Moore.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Yeah, always kind of think about that bottom part of
the roster churning. And I think like that's the part
of if we're looking at free agents, like some wide
receiver free agents, some like core special teams free agents
like those are the ones that I think from now
until the point of training camp, you would.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
For sure looking same like with day three of the
drag you always look at Okay, yeah, they played special
teams all for special teams units. They had a thousand
kick return yards. Yeah, that's going to make it more valuable.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
But that's the team right, Like and maybe like a sinner,
you know, I know we're talking about Ryan News little
like being the guy and there's no hands if we're
butts about that. But if you know, something happens to
where you could bring in some extra competition to that position,
maybe you want to do that for camp or even
later on. I think that It's what's funny is I
do feel like the roster is pretty set going into
(18:20):
training camp. Yep. So all of these like little positions
that we're talking about, outside of Kirk Cousins of course
because he's an outlier, but all these other positions are
just kind of like for depth or for you know,
pull shoot in case of emergency.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Type of thing. Yeah, I'm trying to think back. It
does feel like this has been one of the most
just intentional but like sparse off seasons in terms of
just acquisition in some ways, like the most notable moves
were the departures, but that's not Sometimes when that is
the case, it would signal a bad offseason. I think
this was a good offseason for Atlanta because I think
(18:56):
that slowly but surely, if you look at the big
pull out four year projects, the roster has slowly been
getting kind of a step at a time in the
right direction. And we talked about this last year, you know,
with none of the rookies being on that opening day
depth chart, and it's like, that's a sign of the
strength that you have in building that depth because two
(19:19):
years ago it was it was like all rookies and
it was Doron Harmon on a one year deal, and
it was you know, a kind of piecemealed roster. And
so now, yeah, you feel like you're in a better
spot and you just really needed to go out and
add a few of those key guys. So sure I
think they could, you know, potentially always add like another
(19:39):
I don't even know. Yeah, it's like a thing like
I'm trying to be like corner, no nickel, certainly, no linebacker,
no do I know, wide receiver maybe, But this is
an offense that only like it's Puka and it's Cooper Cup,
Like those are your two thousand yard receivers and they're not.
This is kind of like the Bucks offense where it's
Mike Evans and it's Chris Godwin. So like you got
(20:00):
Darnell and you got Drake, you got Kyle Pitts, you
got John Robinson, you got Tyler ol Cheer. That's a
lot of mouths to feed. Do you need to go
get Keenan Allen? Probably not?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
You know, ye, well that's my thing is I was like,
this is like I feel like we're kind of uh,
philibustering this like the answer to this question.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
But I think I'm giving We're given great answer.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
I think that it's truly like there isn't really a
lot of needs like at this point in time until
injuries set in, which that was that was kind of
I know Terry von and Overheimoora said that wasn't the case,
that like they had Justin Simmons and Matthew Judon that
they already in the back of their mind. But I
think the injuries too Braylin Tries and DeMarco Helms and
(20:40):
when they happened like that, does it change your direction,
and I think right, and I think it accelerates maybe
conversation for sure, And I think so maybe we're having
a different conversation in training camp or even the first
part of the season. But at this point in time,
right now, I'm kind of cool letting things lie for
this summer.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Yeap, I totally agree. And I think you keep whatever
reservoir you have for any unforeseen instances. So totally agree
with you there. I think that that is kind of
the approach. Never know if any late training camp moves
will happen again, but we just at this point, who knows.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
We're cool, So we're just hanging. We're batting.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Next question comes from at Falcons playbr and it basically says,
what position battles are you most looking forward to in
training camp?
Speaker 2 (21:33):
To that, I say, go listen to the forty minutes
of podcasting that we did last week where we talked
about exactly this, which position battles that we were most
excited to see in training camp in I'll do you
give it? Yeah, just a real quick, really quick one
safety yep, Nicol, there you go, and Ed Rusher and
then also maybe a little bit I'll throw this in.
(21:54):
We didn't talk about this the last time, but I'll
throw it in as a new one or not a
new one, but Divine Diablo Troy Anderson and what they
the Falcons ultimately decide to do there. Troy Anderson returning
from injury. Divine Diablo, I think is the guy penciled
in right now. But can Troy Anderson kind of make
a I mean when he's played, he hasn't played that often,
(22:16):
but when he's played.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
He's been defensive Player of the Week.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Yeah, like he's had meaningful moments when he when we've
seen him. The problem is is we haven't seen him
that often because of injuries or what have you. So
the Divine Diablo Troy Anderson conversation for it is another
one that I would add to the conversation that we
already had previously last week.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Yeah, so go go check out that podcast. I will
add that. One I'm looking forward to is who's going
to come away with lead ball Boy. I've got my
eye on a couple of candidates. I'm going to keep
you guys really up to date on that one.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Are you throwing your hat into the ring?
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Oh god, no, I can't do what they can do.
Have you seen these guys. They're incredible.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
I yeah, I try not to re.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Like red Lightning's just all over the place out there,
it's crazy. One other that kind of pairs back to
our conversation at the end of mini camp has to
do with safety. This comes from at Hughes Alfred. It says,
it seems like we might have a small logjam at
safety with Fuller Watts. Hellam's how do we think it's
going to work out? How do we think it'll kind
of play out throughout the season, both beginning and then
(23:17):
later on. We touched on that again kind of last week,
so go check that out. But the third part of
this question that I want to dig into a little
bit here is what do we think a dream scenario
would be for this position group? And we can kind
of start by like, what is that question even getting at.
Is it a dream scenario for the group itself in
terms of, you know, overall performance within the defense, or
(23:41):
is it more like a certain player shining or stepping up,
or how things play out? How do you want to
choose to answer this question?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
So for me, I think it's it's collectively how they're
performing as a group. Yes, but that hinges upon one name,
and that's Xavier Watts. Okay, And what I want to
get at with this dream scenario is, you know who
Jesse Bates is. I have no qualms. Jesse Bates is
already a dream scenario just in general. He is the dream.
(24:10):
So that is what it is. The part of it
that I think would make it even better dream and
even more beautiful dream is if Xavier Watts within the
first six weeks of his rookie year shows us mirror
image of what Jesse Bates was when he was young.
(24:31):
And I think that.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
I thought you were gonna ask him to be Jesse
Bates in six weeks. I was like, Wow, absolutely not.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I'm talking like, show us like that's his player comp
his player come coming out of Notre Dame, his player
camp throughout the entire pre draft. The player that he
said he mimics his game after is Jesse Bates.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
So can the first two steps on the beach of
your NFL career be the same footprints in the sand
as Jesse.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
And I think if that happens, you will see that
continue to unlock Jesse Bates, continue to unlock what the
Falcons are doing outside corner with Aj Trail and Mike Cues,
and I just think if you get Exavier Watts playing
at a high level very early on, that is a
dream scenario not only for this year and his pairing
(25:22):
with Jesse Bates in this first year together, but also
who Xavier Watts could be yep, two, three, four years
down the road. And so that to me is the
dream scenario because you know the production Jesse Bates has.
If Xavier Watts, to your point, is just like following
along in his footsteps and he mirrors what Jesse Bates
(25:43):
was in Jesse bates first or second year, I'll take
that that is the dream scenario.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I think that's a great one. I think for me
it's a little bit more if guys can find specialized
roles in this first year or in the Marco Helms case,
year three, and you maybe find your key one in
Jesse Bates and he's on the field every single play,
but then around him, and if it's Jordan Fuller kind
(26:09):
of operating in a more traditional safety role next to him,
or it's Xavier Watts, sure, but if you can find
a very key specific niche for de Marco Heellum's a
nice role for either Fuller or Watts and almost have
kind of this the way you could match an offense
the way we think about with a front seven, kind
of like, oh, they're going big at the goal line,
so now we're going big. Or now they've got you know,
(26:30):
they're spreading out, so we're going smaller and we've got
all those If you can really play with that at
the next at the safety level too, I think that
that is going to take this defense to its maximum
capacity creatively on the back end. So that would be
a dream scenario for me. Is more, can you identify
those clear roles and do they play off of each
other almost like a good basketball team?
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Love it?
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yep. So let's get to our next question. This is
from at atl underscore some mer to for zero one,
and we're going back to the defensive line. What do
we foresee Zach here person's role being in this defense?
And is it fair to assume that he will get
significantly more snaps than he did in his first two years?
Speaker 2 (27:08):
So I'll start with the second part of that question,
because I think.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
He's around like three hundred and twenty Yeah SAPs last year.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Double check I know, go check that and go see
what his average was like per game, because I think
that it's actually his first year was what it was,
but I think his second year he actually had more
impactful moments and was playing more snaps like I. So
in terms of like, I also think that the best
(27:37):
defensive fronts to me sometimes are the ones that mimic
hockey lines. I'm watching a lot of the Stanley Cup
go Cats right now, so I'm thinking a lot about hockey,
but how they do have, like their rotations and guys
coming off of the bench, like that's how some of
the best I think defensive fronts and most elaborate defensive
fronts are operating. And so to me, it's like, do
(27:59):
we think we'll see Carrison more than what we saw
him last year? I do think yes, because I think
you're gonna need him a bit more and you have
more of a a more of a specific role for
him this year in terms of being a playmaker for
this defense. So the answer is yes, but it's not
like an astronomical yes. It's not a yes where I'm
(28:19):
sitting here being like Zach Harrison is going to play
in seventy five percent of the defensive snaps every single
game because I don't think that's it.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
So he played two hundred and sixty eight snaps last season,
really twenty four percent of the defensive snaps.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Oh, I think it's up.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Then in year one, he played like three hundred and
forty something snaps and that was about thirty percent of
the defensive snaps. So he actually took actually take down
in but he switched inside. And again I think the
defense interesting. Obviously there are a lot of changes. Ryan
Nielsen gone, Jimmy likeke In like, the defense was totally
differ So that happens sometimes, especially with the young player.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
It's interesting because I feel like he was more impact
Maybe this is why I thought he played more, because
he was more impactful last year than I thought he
was in his first year.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Probably a really good like efficiency. Yeah, like when he
was out there, good things were happening, and so it's
like put him out there, right. So yeah, I think
this year we would love to see an uptick in
that usage, and I think he's earned it. I think again,
more familiarity between the coaching staff and him and kind
of his familiarity with the scheme of what's being asked
(29:25):
to him. I know it's changing a little bit to
a tax style. But Jack Harrison is kind of the
type of player that can, I think, do a lot
of different things, and he has a really interesting body type.
He might just be a player who his career is
defined by the versatility and usage a little bit like
Brandon Dorls and he just moves around everywhere. So let's
go ahead and kind of wrap up quickly here with
(29:47):
our last two. This one comes from or from at
landon Costro sleeper impact player for next season. One on offense,
one on defense.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
All right, one on offense. This is not a sleeper,
but Darnell Mooney I said last year going into training camp,
I was like, put Darnell Mooney on your fantasy team
because I think that he's going to be very impactful
and he's going to give you a lot of points.
And I'm happy to report that he did. And I
do think that I know we're talking a lot. I
wrote about this in the mail bag this past week,
(30:18):
but we're talking a lot about Drake London's connection with
Michael Pennings Junior. We need to be talking about Darnell
Mooney's connection with him just as much because I think
that Darnell Mooney is going to go and he's going
to be an impact player in twenty twenty five in
the same vein that he was in twenty twenty four.
So that's my offense. Do you want to since I
took offense, do you want to take defense or do
you want me to give a defensive one.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Dara, let me give Let me give a couple on offense, actually,
because I'm trying to decide in real time between these
two and maybe you can help me figure it out.
One is Matthew Bersroun.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Yeah, I almost said Matthew Bersron.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
Okay, then let's just let's see. Matthew Berron will be
my pick. I think he's I think he's definitely going
to be a impact player. I almost toyed with Chris Blair,
but that's a real like sleeper pick for me because
I'm not even sure roster status and stuff like that.
But yeah, he looks good. He looked in mini camp
physically just like you look. You look in the best
safe of his life coming to training camp Newslash Defense defense.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
I think Mike Hes, Mike Hughes, Everyone's going to everyone's
going to talk about this, this defensive front. Everyone's going
to talk about AJ Trail. Everyone's going to talk about
Jesse Bates, everybody's going to talk about these rookies. Mike
Ces I thought had a good year last year when
he was healthy. I thought he was putting up numbers
and percentages that were very close to what AJ Trell
(31:33):
and Ajterrell as Harold is one of the best corners
in the game right now. I thought Mike Hughes held
his own as CB two, and for the first time
in a very very long time, in the first time
in AJ Traill's career, he has a running mate that
was the same as the year previous and on the
opposite side of him. And I think that Mike Q's
(31:53):
held his own. I think he was a sleeper. I
don't think he got enough credit for what he did
last year, and I think that that's why I'm kind
of picking him to carry over into twenty twenty five
as someone that we haven't had a chance to talk
a lot about.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Perfect. Yeah, No, that's a great pick. I would have
said Divine Diablo maybe three weeks ago, but I feel
like we've bumped him into like the properly rated category. Yeah. So,
I think Brandon Dorles Marco hellum's two young guys. Again,
I'm really having a trouble on today, but it's a
great one.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
It could be a good one.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Yeah, it's it's these young guys. There's a lot of
young guys who were waiting to see which ones just
take that next step. And that's why I think sleeper
is hard to pick on defense because there's like five
or six guys that really fit that bill. And if
they get four of them that climb to that level, awesome,
the defense doing great. If one of them does, then
maybe things aren't going the way you want. So last
one comes from Ethan Burrow, first time training camp attendee
(32:46):
later this summer. Any tips that I need to know
before going sunscreen?
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Put a lot of sunscreen on yourn again. Yes, bring
a lot of water because it's hot. We're in Flowery Branch,
Georgia and the sun is beating down. It is the
middle of August and it is schwarm.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
And they're football fields. They're not trees on the football year.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
So there's no shade sunlight, So make sure that you
bring a hat. I'm a big hat girly case in point,
so that would be my recommendation.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Water, sunscreen, I wish I could bring my house to
training camp. You just sit inside and yeah, just sit
on my front ports exactly in a rock and chair.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
Yeah, that'd be lovely.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
No, that's all great. Like, honestly, I'm a big like
wear long sleeves if you've got lightweight, just kind of like.
I like that as I get older.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Another one, Bring binoculars. Yeah, but I so back during COVID,
all of media had to sit on top of the hill,
which is where all the fans sit right now, and
I could never see the defensive tackles working because they
work on the absolute farthest part of the field from
where you sit. So bring binoculars so that you can
(33:53):
those roster.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Yeah, a roster before you come. Try to do it
just as early as as in the processes you can
because they get updated. Get here early. Parking can be tough.
Sometimes there's plenty of space, but you may just have
to travel a little bit further or shorter depending on
when you get here. So if you want to park,
we'll be close to the fields, get here a little
bit earlier. But it's a blast. Come out. It's gonna
(34:17):
be so much fun. We're really excited to have fans
to come.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
Back here, right. Fans didn't get to be there last
year and because of all the construction that was happening
at Flower Branch, and I know I missed it. It
was one of those things when we came back from
COVID in the first year that fans were back after COVID.
I remember sitting there and being like, this is what
training camp is. Getting to talk to you guys. Also
say hi, Will and I will be roaming around the sidelines.
Just give us a wave, give us a piece of
a lot of people to Tory last year.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
It was great. Nobody was saying Will, nobody, but it
was great.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Thank you, Will, I appreciate it. I think you said, like,
make sure and yell at Tory, and there were some people.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
That, yeah, do it again again. I don't yell at me.
I'm good. Yeah, yell toy. But thank you guys so
much for you your questions. We really enjoy whenever we
get to do a mailback episode and interact with y'all.
It's it's really truly great to be able to touch
base and check in with with all of you. So
please send them in more and we will let you
know if and when we set up a better system
(35:14):
for this so we can be in constant communication. But
like we said, we'll be here every Thursday until training camp.
So next week we're gonna be filling out some brackets,
which brackets you say, TVD be tuned. But until then,
everybody for Tory mclanney and Will McFadden. We'll see you
next time.
Dirty Birds. What's up? And welcome to another Atlanta Falcons podcast.
I'm your host Will McFadden, joined by Tory nclaney. Tory
is just saluting and waving and she's got the summer
energy and the good vibes. And you're coming off of
a big weekend, Tory, you want to tell everybody why. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
So a group of us from the Falcons organization went
to the Southeast Emmys Awards this past weekend on Saturday
and came home with three Emmys.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Which congratulations, whoo, yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Let's go big dub, big dub one for I don't
know if people remember, but when Matt Ryan retired, our
video team put together a video where he wrote a
letter to the city of Atlanta, and it was this
really nice video of him and everything encompassing his career
in his words. And Matt Ryan was actually on the
(00:52):
trophy for that, like they submitted him as a creator
for that as they showed. So Matt Ryan is now
a ME Award winner. Let's go fun fact for people,
first step for the e goot, yeah, let's go Matt Ryan.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
He got winner. Yeah, wait for that Tony Award winning
play coming to you in twenty thirty.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Seven Get Ready so that one are on the Rise
series presented by Delta One, which is something It is
a huge endeavor, gosh, week after week, month after month
for our video team. They literally whoever the editor is
for each individual show, they go down to the editbay
and we literally don't see them for a week because
that's all they're doing.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
And then I'm like scared of the Editbate, I told,
I told Taylor Bismore for the like the other day,
I'd actually never been inside of one because I kept
hearing about it like they were the covered under the
stairs and Harry Potter. It's like, I don't even want
to go in there. I'm gonna get trapped. It's scary. Yeah,
it's dark and lonely, so I you know, I finally
saw one. It's not but they spend a lot of
time in there. They do doing amazing work.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
And then the third and final Emmy award, very close
to my heart was the Grady Chair at Year ten
Documentary one for Sports Documentary. I was so proud of
that for Mark Wating, him and I, I mean, I
said on this podcast when we talked about it, like
that was such a labor of love, that whole documentary
and getting to tell Grady Jarrett's story in a time
(02:14):
where we just kind of were like, oh, we're doing
this to celebrate ten years in Atlanta, not knowing at
the time that it was going to be his last
year in Atlanta. And so now even looking back on
that project, it's even more meaningful that we were able
to almost send him to the next part of his
career to.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Like close the chapter, yeah, and with a really nice kind.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Of fitting boat yeah, and like let him know, like, hey,
your loved in Atlanta, regardless of your hair or not. Man.
And so I think it was just, you know, we
don't do it for the trophies. We don't do any
of this, I think for the recognition or anything like that.
But when you do get the recognition, especially from your peers,
like it, it matters. It's meaningful and I'm immensely grateful,
(02:52):
and I don't know, just being able to experience that
with our team it was just fantastic. So it's a
great day to be a woman in sports, mug And
it's because it is. It is a great day to
be a woman in sports. And I'm really really proud
of the team and really excited for what we're doing next,
because we do have a lot of things on the docket.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Yes, but congratulations once again. You know, we talk a
lot about the football team here and rightfully so, but
just wanted to take a minute to shout out the
digital team of which we are at part and all
of the incredible work that everybody here does, including yourself. Honestly,
I thought you were just going to say you won
the US Open or something based on the way that
you're dressed. I didn't. I don't even know about them.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
If you were to look at me right now, you're like, Wow,
she's gonna go get in a quick nine after the
podcast is over. That's not true. I don't really play golf.
I'm just a big, big proponent of golf fashion for women.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Anica Sorenstein over here, all right, yes, but we have
a mail bag to get here today we should maybe
get into the main reason that you guys are here,
which is to answer some questions. Thank you all to
everybody who submitted questions, be it on Twitter, still just
going to keep on saying Twitter, or if you did it, yeah,
(04:04):
just what it's a letter, get out of here or
if you did online vir mailbag submission, which you can
always send it to. We are, you know, discussing potentially
other avenues through which you can reach our shows. But
that is TVD for now. Toy you ready to answer
some questions.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I am so ready. I love I love when we
do a mailbag segment at the Pod.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
It was the perfect time I felt like to do
one right. Mini camps wrapped up, We've got a long break,
a little bit of a summer break here, so let's
tag into the first one. This comes to us from
at Dan Ski thirty two. He asks, in your opinion,
do you think Jalen will see Jalen Walker all his
snaps as an edge or will he take on more
responsibility as the season goes along? And do you believe
(04:47):
the combo of Dorles and Zach Harrison at their big
end will help with sack production this year? So we'll
start with Jayalen Walker first.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Jalen Walker, I think even though they have said from
the moment that they drafted him, he's gonna be primarily
an ed rusher, and they've really stuck with that. You
asked Jeff Ulbrick, You have asked Rahe Morris you ask
Jalen Walker himself, that's what they're saying. Do I believe
that for a second? No, personally, it's me. This isn't
(05:18):
Tory maclanny personally saying.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
This, like You're not wrong, right, like they can and you.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Know, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe at the end of the
season he has only taken predominantly edg rusher snaps in
a traditional edge rusher role. Maybe I am eating my words.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I don't think this is gamesmanship.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Like I do not think that sitting here right now today,
going into the summer and going into Jaalen Walker's first
training camp, he may start out very simplistic eddrusher role,
but I don't think that's where he ends up at
the end of the season. I think that you go
out and you get a talent like Jalen Walker, but
the reason you get him is not solely because of
(05:57):
what he does as a traditional edge rusher, him because
of what the versatility he provided in the chess piece
that he is, like, that's why you value him at
a number fifteen overall pick. So I think that while
it's I understand exactly what they're saying, they don't want
to overwhelm him they don't want to give him too
much on his plate in his rookie year. They don't
(06:17):
want to do all this. They want to kind of
ease him in and maybe one day they'll add in
some different looks for him. I think that actually that
one day comes quicker than what maybe they even think
it will, because I think when you're looking at Jalen
Walker and his football IQ and what he's already done
at Georgia, and the different ways that this roster is
constructed along the defensive front, and I don't know this
(06:40):
attack style front that they want to play, there's no
reason to not, in my opinion, utilize, utilize his talent.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Well, and you're you're completely right, and thank you later,
Thank you later on. I recently spoke with ESPN's Ben
Solac and I asked him like, literally this question, yeah,
and he gave a very similar answer. So stay tuned
for that. You guys can hear that coming on the
feed a little bit later on. But you and I
(07:08):
spoke about this on our mini camp kind of wrap
up podcast, which spoiler alert that's going to prove to
be a little bit of a Rosetta stone for today's
episode as well. So if you have not heard that
and you want to press pause, maybe go check that
one out first, because we touched on a lot of
great stuff there, and one of the topics was this
idea of the hybrid style defense, right and the three
(07:31):
to four which is really a five man front versus
a four to three. And that's where I kind of
think you can be both, like both can be true
with Jalen Walker. I do actually think that because the
most valuable asset and the most needed asset for this
Falcons defense would be a pass rusher, So it makes
sense to utilize him their most. He is your highest
(07:51):
investment in this offseason. He has a really high upside
in that area, so using there and using there often.
But when you do maybe go to that four three
look bring him back into that linebacker spot. That doesn't
make sense to necessarily just take him off of the
field right when he can play multiple levels. So I
do think that he could very well play like sixty
(08:12):
five percent of his snaps off the edge de seision
and probably should. That would be a good role for him.
But I would also love to see thirty five percent
of those snaps moving all around the field.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Yeah, because to dam Sky's question.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Damn Ski, let's go Dan Ski.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
In your opinion, do you think Jalen will see all
of his snaps at edge. The answer to that is no,
I do not think that. And I think that something
that I know Jeff Ulbrick is really cognizant of is
he doesn't want to be like just this gimmicky defense.
He doesn't want to And when you have someone like
Cayden Ellis, who already lends to kind of this like
(08:48):
hybrid role in and of himself that we saw him
have a lot of success with last year and even
his last year with the New Orleans Saints organization, you
don't want to do too much of that gimmick yess, right,
because then it becomes.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Well, just think about last year when they started using
Cayden in that different way, they started losing the games.
Like That's the thing is I think what Jeff is
getting at is that when you have to start creating
with scheme ways to manufacture pressure ground quarterback, you have
to give up something somewhere else, right, And if you're
able to just generate with your players, you can scheme
(09:26):
for other elements and allow your players to then execute
and win because of their own natural ability and dominance
and kind of traits like that. So I kind of
think that's where he was getting at, and last season
you kind of saw that that may have been they
tried that approach early on, and then it was like,
we gotta get Cayden unlocked here a little bit, and
we got to start amping up the simulated pressures. We
(09:46):
got to start dropping Matthew Judaan into coverage a little
bit more because we're bringing Cayden. So it's kind of
where you get into.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
That, and you do have the trade off of if
you're not if you're bringing Cayden up. You know, at
the time you had nothing against Nate Laman, but he's
not really someone that you want in coverage too often.
So now you have a little bit personnel has changed
a little bit with Divine Diabolo. Like I do think
that to the point of scheme versus players. It's why
I think we have heard so much about having this
(10:13):
like proactive attacking front where they're not sitting back and waiting.
Kind of the conversation we talked about being proactive, not
reactive upfront, having your players just go win their one
on ones. If you have your guys winning your one
on ones. I don't really care like because that like,
at that point, if JPJ is getting after getting the
(10:34):
quarterback off of his spot once every two to three plays, cool,
sounds good.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Well, and it's going to allow you also to play
a more aggressive style on the boundary, which we know
Jeff Hulbrick likes to do. He played a little bit
more man than the Falcons did last year, and they
were playing this off zone coverage, partially because I think
that they they needed to blanket the receivers to give
the pass rush time as opposed to will jam and
disrupt and if if we lose them after that, there's
(11:01):
some risk associated with that. But we trust that our
pass rush in the time that we're jamming and disrupting
that route, they're going to get home.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Well. That was something that I specifically talked to my
cues about because I was like, how can this front
in this new year? How is it different? How do
you think from a scheme perspective, from a mentality perspective,
how do you feel like it's different. How do you
feel like this helps you guys in the back end?
And he said this exact same thing. He's like, it's timing. Yep.
He was like, it's not allowing the receivers to get
(11:29):
to the top of the route because the quarterback is
having to make a decision well before then he was like,
that helps us. That allows us to maybe get some
more hands on the ball, Like that allows us to
maybe cover up some routes. So I to your point,
it all plays in off of each other, and it's
all something that I think these players are cognizant of.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Yep. So two players who are going to be playing
off of each other and the rest of the defensivelyne
Brandon Dorlesac Harrison. Do we think that those two if
they're being situated as kind of these like Big five
technique and is that more for run defense or do
you think that that is by design to get this
pass rush going.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I do think that if I'm just thinking about it
and having seen what I think Zach Harrison put on
tape last year, And granted he was in a bit
more of a different role, a bit more of a
traditional interior guy. That's what they wanted him as with
this It's going to be a bit more fluid for
him in this year, in this game. But I really
(12:27):
liked what I saw from him in his run defense,
and I think the reason why you kind of have
him as this big in type of role is to
set that edge to make sure a running back can't
bounce it to the outside. So that to me is like, yes,
it's everything. The goal is obviously going to be for
this this defense. No, there is literally no andsifts or
(12:48):
butts about it is pass rush. You had to put
everything you had into pass rush in order to get
even to the middle quartale of the.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
League and pass rush stats.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
But I think what we're actually going to see, especially
with this Zach Harrison specifically Brandon Doyles is a bit
more of a question mark to me because we haven't
really seen him all that much. I feel like I
know a lot more about Zach Harrison in the way
that he performed as a run stopper last year.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yeah, when you think of Zach Harrison, there are like
five plays that immediately come to mind. Right when you
think of Brandon Dorlys, it's a little bit.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Fuzzier, right exactly. So I think for if Brandon Dorles
is following along in this like Zach Harrison, mold, then okay, yes,
I get it, and I but I will say that
even though everything we're talking about is past rush, this
is still a defense that has to stop the run too.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Like you know, like you can't.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
You can't have one without the other because then one's
going to get taken advantage of.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Because the reason the pass rush also benefited last year
was better performance first and second down exactly, So you
got those all married together.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
And I do think that Zach Harrison was a big
part of that. And I think that to me is
why even though yes, we're talking about Zach production, we're
talking about all that kind of stuff, perhaps in run defense,
in run stopping ability, that matters even maybe a little
bit more, yes.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
One percent. I will also add, just with kind of
the run fits in the way you're playing defense, if
you if they do get to a point where they
are manufacturing with some of this creativity and they're moving
guys around, and let's say you've got Jayalen Walker outside
of Zach Harrison and they kind of loop and twist
to have that, you want to be able to bake
in at least a level of comfort with the run
if you are still moving guys after the snap. So
(14:30):
Zach Harrison could be a good pass rusher off the edge.
He's also a great run setter that can play inside.
So having him and Brandon Dorles, my favorite thing about
him coming out Oregon was just three technique, one technique,
five techniques, seven tech. It's everywhere. We're just like using
him all over the place and he was effective. So
I like both of those guys. Really interested to see
them this year. But next question comes from at Xander
(14:53):
Stickland not Strickland. You got me there? Do we think
it's Xander or Exander? Like, okay, Xander not xa No.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Yeah, okay, Well that's the thing is like with the
Xavier Watts.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
I know. That's why I'm asking, Like.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Some people call him Xavier. Some people call him Xavier.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I need to like ask him that, right, So Xander
Xander asks, are there any free agents or trades you
could see the Falcons pursuing or do you feel the
roster is pretty set going into the season.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
I'm gonna whisper this, but Kirk Cousins right, like, he's
the trade He's the trade option. He's the one that
you're always gonna kind of pencil in, You're always gonna
pull a little asterisk beside because nothing's changed. You know,
he's still an option, and I think you're whit again.
It's every conversation we've had this offseason, it's when is
(15:45):
a quarter a team gonna need a quarterback?
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Yeah, it's he's on the proverbial trade block, right right.
It's like everybody's aware that if if you need a team,
the Falcons would be on the short list of teams
that you would call.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
It's it's same way where if we're looking at the draft,
when the Falcons had five picks and we were looking
at teams where maybe if you're going to try to
accrew more, you naturally look at the teams that have
eleven picks or ten picks, not the teams that have
like six picks. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
So if we're not talking about Kirk, maybe.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Any external like if they're going to Justin Simmons, Matthew
Judhon route, do you see any guys that make sense
maybe still available?
Speaker 2 (16:21):
So I'm trying to think of like a.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Maybe Justin Simmons from Matthew Jude on themselves maybe.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
But I something that I think we have spoken about
that's flying under the radar a little bit this off
season is the wide receiver position, yep. And we know
Drake Glennon, we know Darnel Mooney, right, Ray McLeod. Cadarrel
Hodge has become this kind of jack of all trades guy,
special teams guy that the front office just a hodgepodge,
just a hodgepodge of Cadaryl Hodge and he like Sore,
(16:52):
those are your kind of core core four. But there
are also some like free agents that I undrafted free
agents that I think a lot of people are excited about.
But I also think that you're constantly with that fourth
or fifth receiver, You're constantly looking outside to see who
could maybe come in and provide special teams relief. You know,
(17:15):
there's also this whole idea of the Falcons. Now that
Avery Williams is no longer on this team, Who's you know,
punt returning, Who's kickoff return?
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Like I think Jamal Agnew I probably the pencil in
But yeah, they always like they did with with ron
No Moore.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Yeah, always kind of think about that bottom part of
the roster churning. And I think like that's the part
of if we're looking at free agents, like some wide
receiver free agents, some like core special teams free agents
like those are the ones that I think from now
until the point of training camp, you would.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
For sure looking same like with day three of the
drag you always look at Okay, yeah, they played special
teams all for special teams units. They had a thousand
kick return yards. Yeah, that's going to make it more valuable.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
But that's the team right, Like and maybe like a sinner,
you know, I know we're talking about Ryan News little
like being the guy and there's no hands if we're
butts about that. But if you know, something happens to
where you could bring in some extra competition to that position,
maybe you want to do that for camp or even
later on. I think that It's what's funny is I
do feel like the roster is pretty set going into
(18:20):
training camp. Yep. So all of these like little positions
that we're talking about, outside of Kirk Cousins of course
because he's an outlier, but all these other positions are
just kind of like for depth or for you know,
pull shoot in case of emergency.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Type of thing. Yeah, I'm trying to think back. It
does feel like this has been one of the most
just intentional but like sparse off seasons in terms of
just acquisition in some ways, like the most notable moves
were the departures, but that's not Sometimes when that is
the case, it would signal a bad offseason. I think
this was a good offseason for Atlanta because I think
(18:56):
that slowly but surely, if you look at the big
pull out four year projects, the roster has slowly been
getting kind of a step at a time in the
right direction. And we talked about this last year, you know,
with none of the rookies being on that opening day
depth chart, and it's like, that's a sign of the
strength that you have in building that depth because two
(19:19):
years ago it was it was like all rookies and
it was Doron Harmon on a one year deal, and
it was you know, a kind of piecemealed roster. And
so now, yeah, you feel like you're in a better
spot and you just really needed to go out and
add a few of those key guys. So sure I
think they could, you know, potentially always add like another
(19:39):
I don't even know. Yeah, it's like a thing like
I'm trying to be like corner, no nickel, certainly, no linebacker,
no do I know, wide receiver maybe, But this is
an offense that only like it's Puka and it's Cooper Cup,
Like those are your two thousand yard receivers and they're not.
This is kind of like the Bucks offense where it's
Mike Evans and it's Chris Godwin. So like you got
(20:00):
Darnell and you got Drake, you got Kyle Pitts, you
got John Robinson, you got Tyler ol Cheer. That's a
lot of mouths to feed. Do you need to go
get Keenan Allen? Probably not?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
You know, ye, well that's my thing is I was like,
this is like I feel like we're kind of uh,
philibustering this like the answer to this question.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
But I think I'm giving We're given great answer.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
I think that it's truly like there isn't really a
lot of needs like at this point in time until
injuries set in, which that was that was kind of
I know Terry von and Overheimoora said that wasn't the case,
that like they had Justin Simmons and Matthew Judon that
they already in the back of their mind. But I
think the injuries too Braylin Tries and DeMarco Helms and
(20:40):
when they happened like that, does it change your direction,
and I think right, and I think it accelerates maybe
conversation for sure, And I think so maybe we're having
a different conversation in training camp or even the first
part of the season. But at this point in time,
right now, I'm kind of cool letting things lie for
this summer.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Yeap, I totally agree. And I think you keep whatever
reservoir you have for any unforeseen instances. So totally agree
with you there. I think that that is kind of
the approach. Never know if any late training camp moves
will happen again, but we just at this point, who knows.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
We're cool, So we're just hanging. We're batting.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Next question comes from at Falcons playbr and it basically says,
what position battles are you most looking forward to in
training camp?
Speaker 2 (21:33):
To that, I say, go listen to the forty minutes
of podcasting that we did last week where we talked
about exactly this, which position battles that we were most
excited to see in training camp in I'll do you
give it? Yeah, just a real quick, really quick one
safety yep, Nicol, there you go, and Ed Rusher and
then also maybe a little bit I'll throw this in.
(21:54):
We didn't talk about this the last time, but I'll
throw it in as a new one or not a
new one, but Divine Diablo Troy Anderson and what they
the Falcons ultimately decide to do there. Troy Anderson returning
from injury. Divine Diablo, I think is the guy penciled
in right now. But can Troy Anderson kind of make
a I mean when he's played, he hasn't played that often,
(22:16):
but when he's played.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
He's been defensive Player of the Week.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Yeah, like he's had meaningful moments when he when we've
seen him. The problem is is we haven't seen him
that often because of injuries or what have you. So
the Divine Diablo Troy Anderson conversation for it is another
one that I would add to the conversation that we
already had previously last week.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Yeah, so go go check out that podcast. I will
add that. One I'm looking forward to is who's going
to come away with lead ball Boy. I've got my
eye on a couple of candidates. I'm going to keep
you guys really up to date on that one.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Are you throwing your hat into the ring?
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Oh god, no, I can't do what they can do.
Have you seen these guys. They're incredible.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
I yeah, I try not to re.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Like red Lightning's just all over the place out there,
it's crazy. One other that kind of pairs back to
our conversation at the end of mini camp has to
do with safety. This comes from at Hughes Alfred. It says,
it seems like we might have a small logjam at
safety with Fuller Watts. Hellam's how do we think it's
going to work out? How do we think it'll kind
of play out throughout the season, both beginning and then
(23:17):
later on. We touched on that again kind of last week,
so go check that out. But the third part of
this question that I want to dig into a little
bit here is what do we think a dream scenario
would be for this position group? And we can kind
of start by like, what is that question even getting at.
Is it a dream scenario for the group itself in
terms of, you know, overall performance within the defense, or
(23:41):
is it more like a certain player shining or stepping up,
or how things play out? How do you want to
choose to answer this question?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
So for me, I think it's it's collectively how they're
performing as a group. Yes, but that hinges upon one name,
and that's Xavier Watts. Okay, And what I want to
get at with this dream scenario is, you know who
Jesse Bates is. I have no qualms. Jesse Bates is
already a dream scenario just in general. He is the dream.
(24:10):
So that is what it is. The part of it
that I think would make it even better dream and
even more beautiful dream is if Xavier Watts within the
first six weeks of his rookie year shows us mirror
image of what Jesse Bates was when he was young.
(24:31):
And I think that.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
I thought you were gonna ask him to be Jesse
Bates in six weeks. I was like, Wow, absolutely not.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I'm talking like, show us like that's his player comp
his player come coming out of Notre Dame, his player
camp throughout the entire pre draft. The player that he
said he mimics his game after is Jesse Bates.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
So can the first two steps on the beach of
your NFL career be the same footprints in the sand
as Jesse.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
And I think if that happens, you will see that
continue to unlock Jesse Bates, continue to unlock what the
Falcons are doing outside corner with Aj Trail and Mike Cues,
and I just think if you get Exavier Watts playing
at a high level very early on, that is a
dream scenario not only for this year and his pairing
(25:22):
with Jesse Bates in this first year together, but also
who Xavier Watts could be yep, two, three, four years
down the road. And so that to me is the
dream scenario because you know the production Jesse Bates has.
If Xavier Watts, to your point, is just like following
along in his footsteps and he mirrors what Jesse Bates
(25:43):
was in Jesse bates first or second year, I'll take
that that is the dream scenario.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I think that's a great one. I think for me
it's a little bit more if guys can find specialized
roles in this first year or in the Marco Helms case,
year three, and you maybe find your key one in
Jesse Bates and he's on the field every single play,
but then around him, and if it's Jordan Fuller kind
(26:09):
of operating in a more traditional safety role next to him,
or it's Xavier Watts, sure, but if you can find
a very key specific niche for de Marco Heellum's a
nice role for either Fuller or Watts and almost have
kind of this the way you could match an offense
the way we think about with a front seven, kind
of like, oh, they're going big at the goal line,
so now we're going big. Or now they've got you know,
(26:30):
they're spreading out, so we're going smaller and we've got
all those If you can really play with that at
the next at the safety level too, I think that
that is going to take this defense to its maximum
capacity creatively on the back end. So that would be
a dream scenario for me. Is more, can you identify
those clear roles and do they play off of each
other almost like a good basketball team?
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Love it?
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yep. So let's get to our next question. This is
from at atl underscore some mer to for zero one,
and we're going back to the defensive line. What do
we foresee Zach here person's role being in this defense?
And is it fair to assume that he will get
significantly more snaps than he did in his first two years?
Speaker 2 (27:08):
So I'll start with the second part of that question,
because I think.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
He's around like three hundred and twenty Yeah SAPs last year.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Double check I know, go check that and go see
what his average was like per game, because I think
that it's actually his first year was what it was,
but I think his second year he actually had more
impactful moments and was playing more snaps like I. So
in terms of like, I also think that the best
(27:37):
defensive fronts to me sometimes are the ones that mimic
hockey lines. I'm watching a lot of the Stanley Cup
go Cats right now, so I'm thinking a lot about hockey,
but how they do have, like their rotations and guys
coming off of the bench, like that's how some of
the best I think defensive fronts and most elaborate defensive
fronts are operating. And so to me, it's like, do
(27:59):
we think we'll see Carrison more than what we saw
him last year? I do think yes, because I think
you're gonna need him a bit more and you have
more of a a more of a specific role for
him this year in terms of being a playmaker for
this defense. So the answer is yes, but it's not
like an astronomical yes. It's not a yes where I'm
(28:19):
sitting here being like Zach Harrison is going to play
in seventy five percent of the defensive snaps every single
game because I don't think that's it.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
So he played two hundred and sixty eight snaps last season,
really twenty four percent of the defensive snaps.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Oh, I think it's up.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Then in year one, he played like three hundred and
forty something snaps and that was about thirty percent of
the defensive snaps. So he actually took actually take down
in but he switched inside. And again I think the
defense interesting. Obviously there are a lot of changes. Ryan
Nielsen gone, Jimmy likeke In like, the defense was totally
differ So that happens sometimes, especially with the young player.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
It's interesting because I feel like he was more impact
Maybe this is why I thought he played more, because
he was more impactful last year than I thought he
was in his first year.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Probably a really good like efficiency. Yeah, like when he
was out there, good things were happening, and so it's
like put him out there, right. So yeah, I think
this year we would love to see an uptick in
that usage, and I think he's earned it. I think again,
more familiarity between the coaching staff and him and kind
of his familiarity with the scheme of what's being asked
(29:25):
to him. I know it's changing a little bit to
a tax style. But Jack Harrison is kind of the
type of player that can, I think, do a lot
of different things, and he has a really interesting body type.
He might just be a player who his career is
defined by the versatility and usage a little bit like
Brandon Dorls and he just moves around everywhere. So let's
go ahead and kind of wrap up quickly here with
(29:47):
our last two. This one comes from or from at
landon Costro sleeper impact player for next season. One on offense,
one on defense.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
All right, one on offense. This is not a sleeper,
but Darnell Mooney I said last year going into training camp,
I was like, put Darnell Mooney on your fantasy team
because I think that he's going to be very impactful
and he's going to give you a lot of points.
And I'm happy to report that he did. And I
do think that I know we're talking a lot. I
wrote about this in the mail bag this past week,
(30:18):
but we're talking a lot about Drake London's connection with
Michael Pennings Junior. We need to be talking about Darnell
Mooney's connection with him just as much because I think
that Darnell Mooney is going to go and he's going
to be an impact player in twenty twenty five in
the same vein that he was in twenty twenty four.
So that's my offense. Do you want to since I
took offense, do you want to take defense or do
you want me to give a defensive one.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Dara, let me give Let me give a couple on offense, actually,
because I'm trying to decide in real time between these
two and maybe you can help me figure it out.
One is Matthew Bersroun.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Yeah, I almost said Matthew Bersron.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
Okay, then let's just let's see. Matthew Berron will be
my pick. I think he's I think he's definitely going
to be a impact player. I almost toyed with Chris Blair,
but that's a real like sleeper pick for me because
I'm not even sure roster status and stuff like that.
But yeah, he looks good. He looked in mini camp
physically just like you look. You look in the best
safe of his life coming to training camp Newslash Defense defense.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
I think Mike Hes, Mike Hughes, Everyone's going to everyone's
going to talk about this, this defensive front. Everyone's going
to talk about AJ Trail. Everyone's going to talk about
Jesse Bates, everybody's going to talk about these rookies. Mike
Ces I thought had a good year last year when
he was healthy. I thought he was putting up numbers
and percentages that were very close to what AJ Trell
(31:33):
and Ajterrell as Harold is one of the best corners
in the game right now. I thought Mike Hughes held
his own as CB two, and for the first time
in a very very long time, in the first time
in AJ Traill's career, he has a running mate that
was the same as the year previous and on the
opposite side of him. And I think that Mike Q's
(31:53):
held his own. I think he was a sleeper. I
don't think he got enough credit for what he did
last year, and I think that that's why I'm kind
of picking him to carry over into twenty twenty five
as someone that we haven't had a chance to talk
a lot about.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Perfect. Yeah, No, that's a great pick. I would have
said Divine Diablo maybe three weeks ago, but I feel
like we've bumped him into like the properly rated category. Yeah. So,
I think Brandon Dorles Marco hellum's two young guys. Again,
I'm really having a trouble on today, but it's a
great one.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
It could be a good one.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Yeah, it's it's these young guys. There's a lot of
young guys who were waiting to see which ones just
take that next step. And that's why I think sleeper
is hard to pick on defense because there's like five
or six guys that really fit that bill. And if
they get four of them that climb to that level, awesome,
the defense doing great. If one of them does, then
maybe things aren't going the way you want. So last
one comes from Ethan Burrow, first time training camp attendee
(32:46):
later this summer. Any tips that I need to know
before going sunscreen?
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Put a lot of sunscreen on yourn again. Yes, bring
a lot of water because it's hot. We're in Flowery Branch,
Georgia and the sun is beating down. It is the
middle of August and it is schwarm.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
And they're football fields. They're not trees on the football year.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
So there's no shade sunlight, So make sure that you
bring a hat. I'm a big hat girly case in point,
so that would be my recommendation.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Water, sunscreen, I wish I could bring my house to
training camp. You just sit inside and yeah, just sit
on my front ports exactly in a rock and chair.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
Yeah, that'd be lovely.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
No, that's all great. Like, honestly, I'm a big like
wear long sleeves if you've got lightweight, just kind of like.
I like that as I get older.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Another one, Bring binoculars. Yeah, but I so back during COVID,
all of media had to sit on top of the hill,
which is where all the fans sit right now, and
I could never see the defensive tackles working because they
work on the absolute farthest part of the field from
where you sit. So bring binoculars so that you can
(33:53):
those roster.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Yeah, a roster before you come. Try to do it
just as early as as in the processes you can
because they get updated. Get here early. Parking can be tough.
Sometimes there's plenty of space, but you may just have
to travel a little bit further or shorter depending on
when you get here. So if you want to park,
we'll be close to the fields, get here a little
bit earlier. But it's a blast. Come out. It's gonna
(34:17):
be so much fun. We're really excited to have fans
to come.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
Back here, right. Fans didn't get to be there last
year and because of all the construction that was happening
at Flower Branch, and I know I missed it. It
was one of those things when we came back from
COVID in the first year that fans were back after COVID.
I remember sitting there and being like, this is what
training camp is. Getting to talk to you guys. Also
say hi, Will and I will be roaming around the sidelines.
Just give us a wave, give us a piece of
a lot of people to Tory last year.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
It was great. Nobody was saying Will, nobody, but it
was great.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Thank you, Will, I appreciate it. I think you said, like,
make sure and yell at Tory, and there were some people.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
That, yeah, do it again again. I don't yell at me.
I'm good. Yeah, yell toy. But thank you guys so
much for you your questions. We really enjoy whenever we
get to do a mailback episode and interact with y'all.
It's it's really truly great to be able to touch
base and check in with with all of you. So
please send them in more and we will let you
know if and when we set up a better system
(35:14):
for this so we can be in constant communication. But
like we said, we'll be here every Thursday until training camp.
So next week we're gonna be filling out some brackets,
which brackets you say, TVD be tuned. But until then,
everybody for Tory mclanney and Will McFadden. We'll see you
next time.
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