When Falcons linebacker Deion Jones called Duke Riley after the team drafted him, it wasn’t the usual conversation when former college teammates reunite as pros.
“It was very emotional,” Jones recalled.
That’s because probably no one understands what Riley is going through more than Jones.
“It’s kind of crazy how me and him has always kind of been together,” Riley said Friday after the first practice of Falcons rookie minicamp.
Jones and Riley both were star high school players in Louisiana. Both men started only one season at LSU, which raised questions about their ability to make an early impact in the NFL. Both players are undersized for NFL linebackers.
And now both are Falcons after the team selected Riley in the third round of the recent draft. The Falcons drafted Jones in the second round a year earlier.
“That’s my boy,” Jones said. “It’s funny that he’s here. We had the same struggle, or the same background, from LSU to get on the field. He had to do what he could on special teams until he got his chance, and he made the most of it. I was proud of him.”
The Falcons likely would be thrilled if Riley can make an impact as quickly as Jones did.
Jones started 13 games at middle linebacker as a rookie and struggled at times early in the season. But he eventually became a key component of the team’s improved defense. Pro Football Writers of America named Jones to its All-Rookie team.
Coach Dan Quinn noted that Riley is bigger than Jones (6-foot, 230 pounds vs. 6-1, 220). He said Jones plays faster than Riley (though they had similar 40-yard dash times at the NFL scouting combine).
Quinn said Riley’s playing speed and physical style mesh with the Falcons. Riley projects to play weakside linebacker for the Falcons, a position at which defensive linemen help protect him from blockers.
“The way that we are going to try to feature him as a linebacker (is) where we can ‘cover him up’ and let him run sideline-to-sideline,” Quinn said Friday. “Last night I could sense that he was a guy who was ready to go for it. In the meetings you could tell when a player has that look.
“He is a competitor. I think it was the toughness and on-field play speed that seemed like it was be such a natural fit for how we play.”
Riley, like Jones before him, enters the NFL without much collegiate experience as a starter.
Riley was a special-teams player for three years and became a defensive starter after Jones departed for the NFL. Jones played mostly on special teams for LSU before becoming a starter when Kwon Alexander went to the NFL.
Riley started at weakside linebacker as a senior and led LSU with 93 tackles, including nine for loss, and also had 1.5 sacks and an interception. He said that at LSU he played a role similar to what the Falcons want from him.
“It’s good,” he said. “I’m covered up a lot by the (defensive tackle), so I am able to run and chase the ball down, chase the back down, make plays in space and drop into coverage. I feel like it’s a good position for me, and I feel like the coaches are doing a good job coaching me.”
Riley was a standout player on special teams for LSU. Quinn said Friday he was “anxious” to get Riley working with special-teams coordinator Keith Armstrong.
The Falcons also aren’t hesitant to give their rookies a real shot to start. Riley will compete with De’Vondre Campbell, a fourth-round pick in 2016 who started 10 of 11 games at weakside linebacker as a rookie.
Jones said he plans to help Jones get up to speed in the same way his Falcons teammates helped him when he was a rookie.
“We have to get him on board,” Jones said. “We have to get him ready to play. I have to bring him along like Paul Worrilow, Sean Weatherspoon and all those other guys helped me last year.”
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