2 Burst results for "Reggie Grant"
The Falcoholic
"reggie grant" Discussed on The Falcoholic
"I had to bring on guests. Because we've had this conversation just recently. In fact he is. The host of the talking birdie podcast. I'm talking about matt corolla. Matt Dwi thanks again for having me talk. The last time i was on. We're talking. twenty. Twelve draft class probably As depressing as low as a topic darkens phantom over the last decade has it can. I don't think it'll be reached those levels with the safeties. But it's certainly not the strongest position. I'd say on the depth chart. Yeah this one is going to have i think. A lot of question marks Honestly probably one of the ones where it may be better than what. I think we anticipated. It would be going into the season So let's sort of set the backdrop last year with the twenty twenty season. We lost demonte. Akc to an achilles injury which was just absolutely dreadful. Luck because of the fact that both ricardo allen and kiani will also suffered the achilles injury and then of course count and they also had a tornado. Yells years back So devastating injury to casey in the year where they were running. A lot of three safety looks kiani. Looked like he was a little bit better than the at been. Ricardo fell off a cliff. And of course going to this off season we had. We started a defense with three starting safeties. None of them are returning. Ricardo allen was cut primarily for cap reasons. But i i would say his performance fell off a little bit as well On the they opted not to try to retain him Probably because of the injury history. Of course he ended up signing with dallas and then k z also signed with dallas both Chasing after former. Head coach of falcons dan quinn. Who is now the offensive coordinator with the cowboys So that has set up the team to where they basically had to restock the position Almost entirely the only real carryover to this point is a player. We'll talk about a little. Bit jalen hawkins but matt right now. We're looking at the depth chart. You and i talked a little bit earlier this week. I was on your podcast. Which was fun we did. We talked about safeties. We talked about Richard grant the player that draft in the second room. But what's interesting to me is right now. If we look at the depth chart the two names at the top are the two veterans air karras and doron harmon. These guys are obviously intended to be stopgaps. they're both on a one year deal Neither guy is is the kind of guy that you're planning to build the future the position around but there should be serviceable starters drawn harmony. Think is Had some good seasons as well So what are your thoughts on. Eric harris drawn harmon. What they offer to the falcons this year. And what you think. Their potential for starting the entire year is going to be. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said there stopgaps. That's what they were brought in for. You want veteran presences in the building. Because you knew you were gonna overhaul the position. You knew you're going to get younger there. Which is what they did. When they drafted reggie grant fortieth overall. And then you know as you mentioned they retained jalen hawkins who the twenty twenty draft pick so again not sure hawkins if he's a long-term answer there the early reports at a camper promising now that he's he's made an impact to he's made plays on the ball so i am intrigued to see what he can bring. And you know what. I would say that hawkins before i get into some of the others. I think he's a better fit in dean pees defense and he would have been had dan quinn in the long-term head coach in. And i say that. Because i think hawkins is a bit of a twitter like he didn't fall into that prototypical strong safety dan. Quinn looks for allah kiana neil. And he's not really you know the cover one rangy free safety that you look for in say you know the prototype narrow thomas. He's more of a guy that again can do both things ten play. Closer to the line of scrimmage but he can also drop deep. You don't want him playing that cover one has said Would rather be covered to split safety. Look which again fits right into. What ps two. He runs more covered to than you know. Cover warner covers three. So i think there could be something there with him You know we'll see what the future holds. But i am more intrigued and we're optimistic about his fit enroll in impedes off a defense long-term. Then i would have been in dan. Quayle now looking at the veterans again. Eric would have never guessed he'd be the first free agent signing in the arthur smith terry gano era. But you know here. We are A guy that they prioritized in you know. I guess terry did have a connection to Being that eric harris started his career in the nfl. With the new orleans saints so a guy that he knows a lot about and again someone that Is is a great locker room presence going to be a great mentor already has shown already to be a great mentor. Richie grant as those to train together in the off season even prior to grant even becoming a falcon. So i thought that was pretty interesting and again i i do. Expect him to get a lotta run. I mean he was. He was a two year starter. The last couple years With the raiders again. I consider him a competent level player. He is not someone you want long-term but certainly can get the job done And you know hopefully it's more in a limited role and they and they work in the younger guys now withdrawn harmon similar.
The Falcoholic
"reggie grant" Discussed on The Falcoholic
"Because we're grant is going to have to be hid- day one starter. This year you know. And that's what you expect from a high second rounder will hide amid second round pick This season so You know we came into the off-season really really liking safeties. Then god what was it. Jalen hawkins yeah. I was the only safety on their roster coming into the offseason. And you know we did kind of restock The comfort is and bare without. We've restocked a little bit throughout the off season. But the main piece of that was richie grant and you know we have high hopes for richie. Granted he someone that we all talked up. On the falcons. Alec live for months and months before leading up to the draft He's a name that we we constantly brought up as potential And as a potential day to pick for the falcons and you know i was really happy own. We made that selection. And he's someone who not just this season but in the future you're now building this foundation because you know great defense. It's not going to be built overnight. It's not going to be built over the course of one off-season especially with you know how shatter the defence was coming into this offseason. But you know that someone who who you hope you have the foundational pieces in the secondary to build a really strong secondary now between him and aj terrell Going into tyrrell's second season in reggie grants rookie. Season of those guys can kind of stand out. Then you know you know you have those pieces now to start building prospal even from the back end to the front. Which is you know what we saw with some of the great defense in history like the seattle seahawks and the legion of boom. Not saying that they will be the legion of boom. But you heard it here. First foot i guarantee you. That the atlanta falcons will be better than the twenty thirteenth seahawks defense now but yeah no. It's and it's great to see that he has that we all knew that he had that That feel for forcing turnovers turnovers and he has an instinct toward the ball. And you know. He forced a number of fumbles with the former national champion. Ucf Ucf nights this past season charge. Oh yeah yeah. Yeah that that. That joke isn't a as as good one eric's not on but but yeah it definitely. It's good that we have some playmakers especially in the secondary because that's something that steam was lacking last season that something that the team has been lacking the past few years and it will go a long way to know that we added a true playmaker. And that's what richie grant is In the secondary so you know hopefully terrell and some of these other odd defense pieces at least this year and moving forward the sutra defensive pieces that we get will be those playmakers who can force those turnovers. Because you know if this offense is as good as we hope it will be. The defense doesn't have to be in the teams as we talked about yesterday. The defense does not have to be a top happen. I don't think it will be a top defense in the nfl this year. I could could've ever been breaks ride. But maybe i wouldn't count on it. But if the defense can force a few turnovers here and their foresaw two interceptions two interceptions a fumble. Then that will go a long way. In helping the falcons you know possibly secure a playoff spot and a double digit one season this year. Yeah no i agree. I mean i think we're probably hoping best case scenario for about league average on defense but as we talked about yesterday that is good enough for them to be a playoff contender. You don't necessarily have to have any elite defense in today's nfl particularly if the offense is as good as it could be so we will obviously be watching that very closely to see how that goes. But yeah i mean. Gary stafford mentioned in the cia defense might surprise because unproven players don't necessarily mean bad it's refreshing to have actual coaches. You know. I think that is a big deal. The coaching change on defense. Just seeing go from dan. Quandary he morris. We saw get a lot better without any personnel. Changes there so You know. I think that is something to watch yes. The falcons are loaded with With unproven players but if those players turn out to be really good or just to surprise in a positive way that's a nice way to to help your defense over performance you're expecting that's certainly something that is possible And just to give people a quick update I know lots of folks are interested in this info. So i'll say it real quick before we move onto the next topic In terms of where people are lining up on the defensive line. We mentioned john. Kamensky lining up Both on the outside and inside marlon davidson was getting a lot of work with the first team on the inside and basically only on the inside We saw brandon copeland work with the edge rushers. Yesterday we also saw with dante fowler out stephen means and jacob tweedy mariner Getting a lot of estimate former former. Nfl defensive player of the week. Jacob liberty mariner m yes so Keep an eye on means in twenty mariner as you know the two guys that probably the first two guys up in case of injury to fowler and also good for stephen means i mean he was a a season edition due to a bunch of injuries a few years ago. And he's really he's stuck around. survived a coach income regime change. And you know. I don't wanna say survived it yet. We'll see what happens after final cuts. But he's someone that You know he's done the job. He's been a a steady presence at defensive. End a good depth peace. And you know it's always a nice seeing got guys like that stick around in the nfl. Yeah yeah it's it's nice to have that depth there You know it's like. I think we have the depth the to be good. We just don't necessarily have the stars that seems to be the issue right now but we'll see how it shakes out over the rest of campsie if they do end up adding anyone else to that group Do next topic for us to cover. Let's see what is it. yes wide receiver. We all know that there's going to be a lot of back and forth a lot of competition for those third fourth and fifth maybe sixth wide receiver spots on the roster but it seems like early on obviously count ridley and russell gauge are the first two guys and unlikely to change but.