Good morning! Welcome to the Cover 9@9 blog. It’s our weekly list of nine things at 9 a.m. Wednesday that you need to know about the Atlanta Falcons.
1. Final draft thoughts: My man Jerry Springer always closes out the best show in American with a final thought for the masses.
We have a few of those final thoughts about the Falcons’ 2018 draft. They didn’t address their offensive line weaknesses nor did they add any power to their finesse offense.
But like former coach Mike Smith told me on the banks of Lake Lanier one day, while waiting for players to finish fishing with the veterans: “Darryl, you can’t fix everything in the draft.”
The Falcons surely didn’t solve all of their personnel issues, but they added some decent players and should get some help out of this draft class.
Most of the reviews of the class have been rather good. The fans we asked to rate the class are giving them a B.
However, all of the draft picks have some warts. But the job of a good coaching staff is to hide those and play to the player’s strengths.
With first-round pick Calvin Ridley, there is no way to hide dropped passes. It’s no good if he breaks open off a sweet double move and then drops the touchdown pass. So, he has to be a more consistent catcher and get off the line clean. He was pretty consistent with his 20 drops over three seasons.
Now, does that problem go away because he’s a professional?
He dropped to 26 in the draft because of those issues. If he wants to prove his doubters wrong, then simply catch the ball.
Cornerback Isaiah Oliver is a former decathlon competitor. But the 12 reps on the bench press is a red flag. Is he going to be strong enough to re-route receivers at the line of scrimmage and dominate in the contact zone? Getting stronger in the Falcons weight training program shouldn’t be a problem over the long haul, but how much will he be ready to contribute in 2018?
Deadrin Senat, the third-round pick, appears to be a two-down player. Unless defensive line coach Bryant Young works a football miracle, I don’t expect to see him in the nickel or in pass-rush situations. The book on him is that he gets stuck on blocks from time to time. He is plenty strong enough to survive in the trenches. He bench pressed 225 pounds, 35 times.
The rest of the picks were potential backups and special teams players.
Ito Smith was over-drafted in the fourth round, but the Falcons have a role for the player, who was projected to go in the seventh round. The Falcons cleared his path to backup running back by not re-signing Terron Ward.
The Falcons are hoping that Smith does better than Brian Hill, who couldn’t beat out Ward and was released during the season.
It would have made more sense to bring Ward back and let Smith try to beat him out. Don’t just hand the job over to the rookie.
Smith is short at 5-foot-9 and light at 195 pounds. He was a productive runner who caught the ball well at Southern Mississippi. He also returned kickoffs.
He appears to be a clone of Jacquizz Rodgers.
Sixth-round pick Foyesade Oluokun was the 44th-rated linebacker in this draft class and was projected to be a undrafted free agent. He runs the 40-yard dash in 4.48 seconds and he has a role as a special teams gunner waiting for him as the Falcons must upgrade their coverage units.
The Russell Gage pick in the sixth round was dynamite. He was the star of the LSU Pro Day and several special teams coordinators wanted him. He also has a role waiting for him on the coverage units.
He did total more than 500 yards from scrimmage and caught 28 passes. Assistant head coach/wide receivers Raheem Morris has a project to develop as a wide receiver.
Final thought and Grade: B
2. Mack and Neal show: Veteran center Alex Mack and strong safety Keanu Neal are slated to talk with the media today.
3. Rookie mini-camp: The Falcons will hold their rookie mini-camp May 11-13 at the team's facilities in Flowery Branch.
4. Undrafted free agent signee: The following are the 27 undrafted free agents signed by the Falcons:
Kurt Benkert, quarterback, Virginia
Christian Blake, wide receiver, Northern Illinois
Dontez Byrd, wide receiver, Tennessee Tech
Mackendy Chaeridan, defensive tackle, Georgia State
Detrich Clark, wide receiver, Colorado State
Secdrick Cooper, defensive back, La. Tech
Justin Crawford, running back, West Virginia
Jon Cunningham, defensive tackle, Kent State
Emmanuel Ellerbe, linebacker, Rice
Devin Gray, wide receiver, Cincinnati
Matt Gono, offensive lineman, Wesley College
J.C. Hassenauer, offensive lineman, Alabama
Richard Jarvis, linebacker, Brown
Lamar Jordan, wide receiver, New Mexico
Chris Lammons, defensive back, South Carolina
Troy Mangen, tight end, Ohio
David Marvin, kicker, Georgia
Daniel Marx, fullback, Stanford
Luke McNitt, fullback, Nebraska
Joseph Putu, defensive back, Florida
Demario Richard, running back, Arizona State
Jake Roh, tight end, Boise State
Emmanuel Smith, linebacker, Vanderbilt
Jacob Tuioti-Mariner, defensive end, UCLA
Salesi Uhatafe, offensive lineman, Utah
Anthony Winbush, defensive end, Ball State
Malik Williams, running back, Louisville
5. Calvin Johnson's Foundation event: Calvin Johnson Jr.'s Foundation will hold a golf tournament Thursday, June 14th and a Catching Dreams Extravaganza, a evening of scholarly excellent, at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 16 at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center.
The fundraisers support his foundation's programs, which include a free football camp. For more information go to Johnson's website.
6. Cam Newton's Foundation Gala: The Cam Newton Foundation's Hometown Gala is set for Saturday, July 14 at the Intercontinental Buckhead Hotel.
The Cam Newton Foundation is the charitable arm of Atlanta native and Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.
The foundation is dedicated to providing strategic programs and events in the Atlanta and Charlotte communities, the foundation has donated more than $3.5 million through programming, financial contributions, and in-kind donations. All of the proceeds will benefit local youth through impactful community programs.
For more information and sponsorship opportunities CLICK HERE.
7. Rating the draft: Do you like who the Falcons picked in the draft? CLICK HERE to Rate the draft.
8. Tryout players: Quinn spent a lot of time with the Austin twins at Georgia Tech's Pro Day.
Defensive backs Lance and Lawrence Austin will tryout with the Falcons during the rookie minicamp.
The Austin twins, practically inseparable since birth, accepted invitations to attend the Falcons’ rookie mini-camp on a tryout basis, according to their agent, Thomas Hunter. The brothers from Lamar County High can be signed at the end of the three-day mini-camp to the Falcons’ 90-man offseason roster.
9. Post-draft depth chart: The NFL draft is over and the Falcons have signed their undrafted rookie class.
Here’s a look at the Falcons’ depth chart heading into the rookie mini-camp.
OFFENSE
WR 11 Julio Jones, 18, Calvin Ridley, 14 Justin Hardy, 16 Reggie Davis, Detrich Clark, Lamar Jordan
LT 70 Jake Matthews, 74 Ty Sambrailo
LG 67 Andy Levitre, 63 Ben Garland, 64 Sean Harlow, 75 Jamil Douglas
C 51 Alex Mack, 63 Ben Garland, J.C. Hassenauer
RG 65 Brandon Fusco, 71 Wes Schweitzer, Matt Gono, Salesi Uhatafe
RT 73 Ryan Schraeder, 68 Austin Pasztor, 76 Daniel Brunskill,
TE 81 Austin Hooper, 82 Logan Paulsen, 85 Eric Saubert, 89 Alex Gray, Troy Mangen, Jack Roh
WR 12 Mohamed Sanu, 17 Marvin Hall, Russell Gage, Christian Burke, Dontez Byrd, Devin Gray
QB 2 Matt Ryan, 8 Matt Schaub, 9 Grayson Garrett, Kurt Benkert
RB 24 Devonta Freeman, 26 Tevin Coleman, 25 Terrence Magee, Ito Smith, Justin Crawford, Demario Richard, Malik Williams
FB Daniel Marx, Luke McNitt
DEFENSE
DE 98 Takk McKinley, 50 Brooks Reed, Jacob Tuioti-Mariner, Anthony Winbush
DT Deadrin Senat, 95 Jack Crawford, 98 Garrison Smith, Jon Cunningham
DT 97 Grady Jarrett, 92 Justin Zimmer, Mackendy Chaeridan
DE 44 Vic Beasley, 90 Derrick Shelby, 55 J’Terius Jones
WLB 42 Duke Riley, Foyesade Oluokun
MLB 45 Deion Jones, Emmanuel Ellerbe, Emmanuel Smith
SLB 59 De’Vondre Campbell, Richard Lewis
CB 23 Robert Alford, Isaiah Oliver, 28 Justin Bethel, 33 Blidi Wreh-Wilson, 39 Deante Burton
CB 21 Desmond Trufant, 34 Brian Poole, 35 Leon McFadden, Secdrick Cooper, Chris Lammons
NB 34 Brian Poole, 27 Damontae Kazee, 42 Tyson Graham, Joseph Putu
FS 37 Ricardo Allen, 27 Damontae Kazee, 38 Marcelis Branch
SS 22 Keanu Neal, 36 Kemal Ishmael, 41 Quincy Mauger
SPECIALISTS
K 3 Matt Bryant, David Marvin
KO 5 Matt Bosher
P 5 Matt Bosher
KR 14 Justin Hardy, 17 Marvin Hall, Ito Smith
PR 14 Justin Hardy, 16 Reggie Davis
LS 47 Josh Harris
H 5 Matt Bosher
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