Under the direction of first-year defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel, the Falcons’ defense made major strides last season.
After a bumpy start, the unit made a smooth and steady climb up the defensive charts in most key statistical categories.
Manuel points to the “three-game” slide as the key turning point in the season. After losses to Buffalo, Miami and New England, the Falcons were sitting at 3-3 and appeared to be headed nowhere fast. It could have been a four-game slide, but for the “10-second” run-off rule in a squeaker over Detroit.
» Photos: Matt Ryan, Falcons work during OTAs
It was evident after six games, that the offense was not clicking on all cylinders and that the young defense had to grow up fast.
“You still have to have a defense that goes out there and does its job,” Manuel said while chatting in the team auditorium Tuesday. “That still wins championships. You have to stop the other team. When that started happening, guys that I saw make the biggest jump (was because) we came together. It was amazing to see.
“It was more of a collective effort. Guys started trusting and believing.”
The Falcons’ defense improved from 27th to eighth in scoring defense, 25th to ninth in total yards, 17th to ninth in rushing yards and 28th to 12th in passing yards.
However, the turnover-margin dipped. The Falcons were down from 22 takeaways to 16 in 2017. Overall, the turnover margin was minus-2, which ranked 19th in the NFL after being a plus-11 and ranking fourth in 2016.
Manuel, a star at Florida and a former NFL player who played under some of the NFL’s top coordinators, was in charge for the first time. Pulling together the talent the Falcons had assembled was a key part of his mission.
After coach Dan Quinn took over the play calling in 2016 and fired defensive coordinator Richard Smith, Manuel had to earn the respect of the assistant coaches.
“As the year went on, that trust and understanding, not just amongst the players, but the coaches, was key,” Manuel said. “You had to understand this is a first-time guy coordinating. They didn’t have any idea about how it would work out.”
The Falcons’ defense, which utilized a nickel alignment (five defensive backs) 70 percent of time, took a couple of hits in free agency this offseason with the loss of defensive tackle Dontari Poe and defensive end Adrian Clayborn.
The Falcons are counting on defensive end Takkarist McKinley, rookie Deadrin Senat and veteran free-agent signee Terrell McClain, a defensive tackle, to pick up the slack. Also, Vic Beasley will return to play defensive end exclusively after splitting time at strongside linebacker last season.
“I like how we’ve been working,” defensive line coach Bryant Young said. “There’s a certain seriousness to it. I like the focus of the group. The guys have been battling for each other.”
The Falcons used a committee approach to register 39 sacks, which ranked 13th in the league. The Falcons had 34 sacks in 2016, which ranked 16th in the league.
The Falcons hope to see continued improvement from defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, who played 794 snaps last season, tops on the defensive line.
“He’s a guy that plays with a chip on his shoulder,” Young said. “He goes out there and competes. He plays with energy on the highest level. I really love what he brings to our team.”
McClain gives the Falcons a stout veteran.
“He’s a good run defender,” Young said. “He could help us up front. He’s a big guy who competes and finishes. He runs to the ball. I think he’ll help us in being able to push the pocket as well.”
Senat, a third-round pick from South Florida, will need to make the adjustment from college to the NFL.
“I try to do as much as I can to try to slow it down for him and let him know what to expect,” Young said. “I don’t want to overwhelm him. I want to simplify it so that he can play faster.”
Beasley and McKinley will be expected to pick up the 9.5 sacks that Clayborn had last season.
On the second level of the defense, middle linebacker Deion Jones emerged as a first-alternate Pro Bowl selection last season.
“It’s been two seasons with long playoffs runs, so there’s been a lot of games played by him,” linebackers coach Jeff Ulbrich said.
The Falcons are hopeful that Jones and DeVondre Campbell will continue to blossom in their third seasons in the league.
“They’ve learned a lot, and they’ve matured a lot,” Ulbrich said. “What is exciting about the both of them is that they are still like their worst critics (while) going for it every day. Competing to be the best in the game. They have a tremendous amount of humility, and it’s going to be really cool just to see how they progress because they are no way near tapped out.”
Duke Riley, who opened last season as the starter at weakside linebacker, will get an opportunity to bounce back from a shaky rookie season.
“He’s a guy that, the honest truth, he knows this and I know this, everyone in his circle knows this, he didn’t fulfill his expectations as far as his play was concerned,” Ulbrich said. “We both took a very honest look at his game. Early in the offseason ... we made some goals, and he’s absolutely going for it.”
Riley, who had knee surgery, missed too many tackles and ended the season as a reserve and special-teams player.
“If he becomes a special player, that’s up to him,” Ulbrich said. “I promise you this, he’s doing everything humanly possible to be better than he was last year.”
The Falcons’ secondary returns intact, but they drafted cornerback Isaiah Oliver in the second round (58th overall). He’s essentially a replacement for Jalen Collins, a second-round pick in 2015 who was the team’s third outside cornerback before washing out of the league after a rash of suspensions.
“You are going to need (defensive backs) and (defensive back) depth because you’re not going to have guys make it all the way through the season,” defensive passing game coordinator Jerome Henderson said. “You can’t think that we have five guys, that’s our nickel group and we’re good. You better have some depth behind them, some good quality depth so that when guys go down you’ve got guys that can come up and play.”
In addition to the loss of Collins, Henderson noted that the Falcons had to play Super Bowl LI without cornerback Desmond Trufant.
“You hate to be in that situation, but that’s the league that we play in,” Henderson said. “So you better have quality depth and we have some young guys that are coming and we think they are going to help us.”
Henderson noted the play of Blidi Wreh-Wilson, who came off the bench to start against Minnesota last season.
“He’s got to go in and play,” Henderson said. “He went in there and played his heart out.”
The Falcons have two more weeks of OTA before the mandatory minicamp June 12-14. The team will dismiss and then reconvene in late July.
“We are going to be relentless,” Manuel said. “We are going to be tough. We are going to be smart. When we say being intelligent, that’s doing my job 1,000 percent of the time. ... What are you going to do to help win a championship.”
