Full breakdown of Atlanta Falcons' initial 53-man roster | Podcast

What's up Falcons fans and welcome back to the Atlanta Falcons podcast network. I'm Will McFaten. I am joined today by Dave Archer. Dave, thank you for joining me. >> Great to be with you. This is an important day. Uh tough day for the coaches and the in the GM and everything, but uh it's a it's a big day. >> It is a big day. We've got the initial 53man roster. And I know that the word initial I I think stands out to you for a good reason. You want to explain why that is? >> Yeah. And I you know you know as well as I do. Uh this is where you've got 53 guys that ultimately have their name next to the Atlanta Falcon logo, but we know that there are 31 other teams around the National Football League that are also trimming their rosters down to 53. And and this scouting department's as good as anybody in the league. They're looking at everybody else cut downs. Is there someone that that you can add to your roster that maybe enhances the 53 you've decided to keep and maybe someone loses their opportunity here? Um and and and there's also there's a lot of different ways that can happen, whether it's someone that a coach has had on his roster before, >> um or it's just a guy that they were trying to get before and couldn't get him and all of a sudden he came available again. So, um there's a lot of reasons why we say initial 53. These guys are all celebrating right now, but you got to got to make sure you come to work on Monday. >> Yeah, absolutely. I I've I've been talking to a couple members of the pro scouting staff and they're exhausted, frankly, right now. This time of year, they're just watching, like you mentioned, all the other 31 teams around the league. They have to know all of these players because >> kind of like undrafted free agents. Once the draft ends, in some ways, that's when like the real work begins for for that that front office and everybody's hitting the phones and they're trying to get these players because they've got decisions where they c they want to go and and things like that. So you're trying to sell them on, hey, come here to this franchise. So it's going to be a very busy next 48 hours for the Falcons. We don't have the practice squads in front of us at the moment. We do have the 53man roster. So that is what we're going to go over. And and Dave, when you saw the the released roster, the initial roster, what was the first thing that jumped out to you? >> Well, I think there were a number of things that jump out to you and and uh and so there are reasons why we're not privy to as to why. Um, this is a Falcon roster that's quarterback heavy. You got four quarterbacks on the roster right now. Um, is there something being spun there? There could be something going on in that regard. Um, you also had some guys that that had had pretty good preseasons that may have gotten caught up in the numbers scenario. Uh, a guy, you know, a guy like Darnie Holmes who I think had a really good training camp. Um, but that was a really deep group in the secondary. There were a lot of really good player, guys that played at a high level that bring abilities in multiple areas. And I think that's one of the things that they did such a good job of in the secondary was get guys that could play safety or play nickel or play corner. You've got you've got maybe three guys that are still on the roster that could play any of those three positions for you and play it at a high level. Um that makes if you're if you're a if you're a person that's only playing one position, that puts you a little bit of harm's way. And a lot of them had special teams qualities that are attached to them, too. So, I think that that that's probably what jumps out at you. You also start thinking about, oh, this guy got released and that guy really got released. And then you understand there's there's an idea around the m multiplicity, if you will, of guys that can play different positions. Let's just take the edge position for instance, Will. Yeah. You know, it's it's a it's a position that if you looked on on on on the surface, you'd say, "Oh, you're a little you're a little light at the because you have three definitive edge players still on the roster." But don't forget, they've been crossraining Brandon Doris to play the edge. He's a guy had eight and a half sacks from the interior. You're going to put a guy that's a little bit bigger dude that has pass rush abilities on the outside. He's going to get that opportunity. Oh, by the way, you have two rookie rookie linebackers that can step out on the edge as well and come off the edge. in in Harold Perkins Jr. and Kendall Daniels. So that's where I'm talking about the multiplicity of what you bring to the table all of a sudden loosens up the roster a little bit where we can play with it a little bit and do some fun stuff. >> I love play with defensive multiplicity, Dave. It's it's like my favorite thing because that is the beauty of Jeff's defensive designs. When you pair that also with Nate Ali's attack style front, it's kind of like no matter what formation or position you're going to be in, it is all gas no breaks. And when you pair that with a player like Harold Perkins Jr. who has the versatility to play off ball but then also walk up into that like double A gap mug look and Kendall Daniels to go off the edge. He's got the length and it's so funny. We talked to him after a training camp practice recently and he was like no I'm not a good pass rusher right now. I'm getting better at it. But like for them to use him in that way and allow him to grow and develop because we have seen him grow from a safety on the back end to now walking up to the edge. What can't this guy do? And and he's going to be so much fun to watch this. Well, and Will, what it does, it's such a great point that you're making is it tells you a lot about the young man in that he was able to come in and absorb what Brick wanted him to do in the inside linebacker position so well that they've been able to expand his what he's doing. Uh same thing on the other side of the ball with Zachariah Branch. I mean, Zachariah comes in, you're thinking, okay, >> okay, slot receiver, he'll do some of that fun stuff and jet sweeps and we'll throw him some screens and and maybe try to get him vertical. All of a sudden, you look up, he's motioning outside. He's outside the numbers. He's the So, he's got he's got the ability to do multiple things, too. So, I think that's the one thing that you look at when you look at this roster, you think, wait, what happened to that guy? What about that guy? >> Yeah, but think about the guys that were kept in those positions and and how they can expand their role. Think about Bjan Robinson at running back. You got Brian Robinson that could can be your featured back in the backfield. All of a sudden, you got a multi-talented dude in Bjan Robinson that's out in space creating problems. So, there's a lot of fun stuff that they can play with in this roster. >> Let me real quick, let's let's zero in on the offense. I'm going to read through the players who made the 53man roster on the offense. Let's go start with quarterback. We've got four of them as you mentioned. Tua Valoa, Michael Pennock Jr., Cooper Rush, Jack Strand, two running backs, Bjan Robinson, Brian Robinson Jr., meet the Robinsons. We got five wide receivers, Jan Dodson, Drake London, Alamade Zakius, Zachariah Branch, and Chris Blair. We got three tight ends, Kyle Pittz, senior, Austin Hooper, and Charlie Warner. And then we got, is it nine offensive? My I I can't I can't speed read that quickly. Nine offensive. >> Okay, there we go. Cory Lean, Chris Lindstöm, Ryan Nel, Matthew Berseron, Kyle Hinton, Jake Matthews, Jawan Taylor, Michael Jerrell, and Ethan Onianwa. And Dave, you mentioned four quarterbacks. I It's four because Jack Strand had such a good preseason. What can you say about the undrafted rookie? Yeah, I mean I think that there's been a lot of accolades thrown his direction over the over the over the course of training camp really not just here but across the country. People have been talking about Jack Strand and he's gotten gotten a lot of love. He is a raw guy that's 6'5 240 that can run and he's a poor man's Josh Allen right now. Can he develop into a legitimate Josh? he might be able to and that's why he's still on the roster because he showed so much promise in not just in the games which the fans saw but all the practices out here he continued to get better each and every day he had opportunities and one of the things that stuck out to me about him was when he didn't get reps he was in mentally he was in that mental piece where he's getting mental reps and that's where you're standing you don't physically get to throw the ball down the field or go through your ball handling but you're watching and you're listening to coaching points and he's so well dialed in on that kind of stuff. I mean, this guy wanted to work for NASA. I mean, this he's a smart dude. I mean, come on. >> He's super smart. And that was what was so impressive to me was in the Colts game, he didn't get that much work in joint practices when they were doing the 11 on 111 periods, it was two Cooper Rush and Jack Strange just walked into the game and just let him down on a perfect opening drive, scored a touchdown. He did it with his legs, he did it with his arm. He had such a great preseason. And it's players like that that make preseasons rewarding. It doesn't happen every preseason, but when you get one and you're like, "Oh, wow. I had I didn't know this guy walking into it and now everybody's talking about him on social media," it's it's really cool to see. Um, was there anything else about the offensive kind of lineup that stood out to you? >> Well, I think that what I you know was the tight end room was so good. Um, I thought in the preseason, Jack Ving, the rookie, don't be surprised if he doesn't show up here in the next 24 hours, 48 hours on a Falcon practice roster. I thought he did some really good stuff. He did. >> Uh, I thought Muse, who they picked up later on in in camp after camp and started, he did a lot of positive stuff. This is a team that wants to do a lot of 12 and 13 personnel, which is two and three tight ends on the field at the same time. That means you're going to have to have some depth that you have three guys and you got three very accomplished guys. when you talk about Kyle Pittz, Austin Hooper, and and um Charlie Warner. So, you got guys that have the ability to block and catch the football, but there's some developmental guys that you we were talking about just before we came on, the developmental piece of it. There's two guys, maybe maybe three guys, and Josh Simon, who who showed up pretty good as well, >> that it'll be interesting to see how they can navigate this next 24 to 48 hours as you get ready to resign 16 guys to your practice squad. How many of the guys that were in camp? because I think it's important you were you were here for two months and even prior to in OTAAS in in train in um in uh mini camps that you had an opportunity to absorb what we do and so to be able to plug those guys in should there be an injury. We know it's a battle of attrition in this game that if a guy goes down can you plug a guy in that's been with the been with the organization since maybe March sometime learning what you do on offense and defense. It's a great point and I'm also huge on the importance of the preparation that happens Wednesday through Friday before a game really out on the practice field with the practice squad. And when you look around the league, the meta has kind of reverted back to that 12 13 personnel like you were talking about. You're going to need some of those extra tight ends on the practice squad to give you quality looks throughout the week. and they are also more of your traditional I think tight end who have the versatility but also can be in line and and they have that optionality. So that's a a great call out. Let's flip over to the defense. I'm going to read off the uh the positions here. We've got five linebackers. Devon Diablo, JD Bertrand, Christian Harris, Kendall Daniels, Harold Perkins Jr. We got 13, I believe, defensive backs. Jesse Bates, Avon Terrell, Mike Hughes, Demarco Helms, AJ Terrell, CJ Henderson, Mike Ford, Sydney Brown, Xavier Watts, Billy Bowman, Jamie Robinson, Natron Brooks, and Malcolm DeWaltz. And then we've got eight defensive linemen. Samson Ebum, Brandon Doris, Deshawn Hand, Zadarius Smith, Mason Smith, Lale London, Zack Harrison, Cameron Thomas, and then Gervin Dexter, who the Falcons traded for. They traded Clark Phillips. We'll get to that in in a second. But when you're looking at the defensive lineup, who stands out to you? Well, you know, you've got some guys over there that are kind of heartbeat to your team, you know, when you start thinking about um the secondary first of all. And did you go through those guys? Did you go through the secondary? I guess you did. Yes, sir. Okay. Um >> so when you start thinking about a lot of them >> Yeah, there was a lot of guys there, but you know, you start thinking about AJ Terrell and Jesse Bates and and Mike Hughes, some of the incumbents back there that kind of bring who you are in the back end. I think it's a pretty deep roster and and we'll talk about the trade in a moment. And I know you want to announce that, but um so but there were a couple guys that that had good camps. And Natron Brooks is an is an interesting one. I thought he spent the bulk of his time in training camp this year in the safety spot. He's played corner in his career. And this gets back to what I was talking about about what do you bring to the table to help the team. >> Brooks can play corner. He probably can, but we haven't seen him take any snaps at nickel. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd stick his hand in the air and say, "I I'm willing to do that." He's a 180 lb um fighter. I mean, the guy will hit you in the mouth. He loves to come up and tackle. That's why they played they they were comfortable playing at safety. Um those are the kind of things that stick out to me. I thought Malcolm DeWalt was a kid that you hoped and you kind of pulled for a little bit, the kid out of Akran. Um and he had a good camp, but he he would kind of show up. He's the guy that had, for those of you who don't know, he's the guy that had the interception against Denver that got waved off because he was just out of bounds. I thought he was inbounds. In my opinion, one cheek equals two feet, but evidently they were going to they weren't going to apply that um as he caught it and fell to the ground, but he he showed up in special teams as well. Um Kobe Bryant, a guy that was here, was an all Big 12 performer, things just didn't work out for him. You know, it's one of those things where maybe he can go someplace else. And I remember talking to Kevin Stfansky postgame uh this last weekend or Friday and I said, "I know this is a tough weekend for you guys." And he goes, "Yeah, I I want all these guys to play in the National Football League, but that's not realistic on this team." He says, "But we do want to be able we she we showcased to everybody. We do hope those guys latch on someplace else, and that's a guy that could potentially be someplace else." So, um I'll let you announce what happened from a tra from a trade standpoint, and we can talk that one through. >> Yeah, sure. So, the Falcons uh send Clark Phillips and a fifth round pick to the Chicago Bears for Gervin Dexter Senior, defensive tackle. Really kind of that just put him at the zero tech right in the middle of the defense and and plug and play. But, you know, Arch, you're much more equipped to evaluate, I think, a player than I am. Like what what did you see when you looked at at Gervin? >> Well, the first thing you see is 6'6, 326 lb. Okay. And so now from a size standpoint, that's something Atlanta has not had a lot of is is girth and size in the interior. Then you couple it with he's only 24 years old. >> He only missed over the last two seasons in Chicago. Remember Ian Cuttingham Chicago. He knows this guy, right? So he's reaching out to a dude that he's very familiar with. This is a kid that was a second round draft pick for the Chicago Bears. >> He's played in 32 of the last 34 regular season games. And if you add the two postseason games that Chicago played last year, he's played in 34 of the last 36 games. He missed two games two years ago. He had six sacks last year at 325 pounds at 6'6. And you're not and you're kind of thinking, okay, he is a run defensive specialist. The guy can rush the passer, too. He's got 11 sacks over the first over the last two seasons as a Chicago Bear. So, he is not just coming in to help plug the run or be a body that you can't move out of the run and that you're hoping that's part of it. He also can create problems in the interior from pushing the pocket back and getting the quarterback on the ground. When you add a player like this, you know, it just I think allows you to kind of bump a player like Brandon Doris maybe outside. Like, it gives you that positional flexibility a little bit more. And I can't wait to see what this defensive line now looks like with Dexter Gervin and Mason Smith included in it cuz Mason Smith has had a heck of a preseason. He like the it's one of those where the box score may not reflect it but he was getting penetration constantly and kind of early on in training camp Mason was saying that he felt this attack style front could unlock something in his game that Jacksonville like wasn't it wasn't present there with them just because of the style of of defense that they play. I think we've seen that come to fruition. And so now, like I know last season really it was the run defense was kind of the one nitpick that you could have about Atlanta's defense cuz they made such strides everywhere else. I'm not like I feel pretty confident about what this run defense could be this season given some of the new names that are on this roster. >> Well, you you hit it right on the head. This this team was 24th in the league against the run last season. We given up about 126 127 yards a game. that trickles down to third down. Now, they were in the middle of the pack on third down. They were right at 40% giving up on third down conversions. It's not where you want to be. You'd like to be in that upper third of the league if you can be on third down. Get teams off the field. How do you do that? Got to get them back. Get in uncomfortable third down situations. How do you do that? You got to stop the run. Okay. And so you now all of a sudden you got some more size. And think about what you can put along the defensive front now with what you just said. So Mason Mason Smith at about 310 lbs, 6'5 310 up front alongside Butler. Okay. Um and and so he's 66 325. Then all of a sudden you slide Doorless outside, he's 20 what 75 lbs. He or 295 lbs playing the edge with the ability to rush the passer off the edge and Zidarius Smith or Zack Harrison or whoever Cam Thomas, whoever you want to put out there. Now you got a 270lb guy on the other side. Think about how much difference size makes up front, especially on first and second down. You can sub guys in to rush the passer. And we've already talked about the versatility of some of the guys that are playing that second level that can rotate up and do some of that kind of stuff, but all of a sudden, you become a huge football team up front defensively. I'm really excited about the fact that boy, you got some people up there going to be hard to move off the ball. You you could theoretically and not theoretically you could literally have a line fiveman front that are 6'4 and and taller. That's that's a lot of size. >> And they all weigh 270 or better. >> That's crazy. They're going to the linebackers are going to have uh some space to to run this season. >> Um awesome. Arch, is there anything else that that we need to touch on before we wrap up today? I >> I think the biggest thing is for the fan to not you see the roster and you say, "Oh, four quarterbacks. What is that? Only two running backs. So, it's a don't panic because there is a there's a plan that's rolling. We're two weeks away from playing Pittsburgh Pittsburgh. Okay. So, there's going to be some changeover. We talked about how this can eb and flow the 53man roster, but there's also the idea of we're not sure who may get elevated, who may get put down. There may be some guys that aren't quite ready to play so they can start him on on PUP or whatever it might be, and they've made a deal with another guy. They're going to bring him back. So, calm down. every if you are panicking, maybe you're not. Maybe you're excited about this roster as Will and I are because I think they've got some guys here can really play multiaceted guys that can do a lot of different things. How do you game plan for that scenario where I'm I'm game planning for Brandon Doris in the three technique. Wait a minute, he's out there in a seven technique. What do I do with that? He's outside coming off the edge and he's 290 pounds. What am I doing with that? You know, different things of that nature. Zachariah Branch, well, we can we can we'll kind of hone him in in the slot. Wait a minute. He's outside the numbers. What are we going to do with him out there? you know, it's just there's a lot of fun and a lot of excitement around that. So, >> don't you know, make too many conclusions right now. Let's let's get to next week and then we'll come back and talk to you again about it. >> Yeah, I I already started landing this plan, so I got to I got to stick to that arch. But like, you just got me so excited because we haven't talked nearly enough about this defense in year two under Jeff. And that's when you look and you see 27 defensive players on this ro. It's you're you're giving such a good coach like here's a big canvas to work with and we believe in you and we want to see kind of where you can take this thing and and he and Nate Ali and Justin Hood on the back end. Like all of those guys I'm so excited to see what this defense could be. But really I'm excited for this roster. I'm excited that football, meaningful football, is just two weeks away and we got the Pittsburgh Steelers uh coming up on tap pretty dang quickly. So, thank you all for for sticking with us, hearing about the 53man roster, the initial 53man roster, but we will continue to cover this team as best we can all throughout the season. Check out Falcons Audible. Check out the Friday Five. We're coming back and we will see you all very soon. So, for Dave Archer, I'm Will McFaden. Thank you guys so much. We'll see you next time.