![]() This also gets back to the theme of sacks being overrated, at least as an indicator of a pass rush or defense in general. That was six years ago, and Georgia still manages to get defensive ends like Mykel Williams, a top-10 national recruit in the 2022 cycle, and outside linebackers like Damon Wilson, Samuel M’Pemba and Gabe Harris, all top-100 recruits in the 2023 cycle. None of this is new: Davin Bellamy, after the 2017 season, told me that edge rushers like him were asked to sacrifice stats for the overall defense. My sense is Smart knows other teams try to negatively recruit against Georgia because of the lack of sacks, but he feels vindicated in how the Bulldogs have recruited anyway, not to mention the results on the field and in the draft. (You’ll notice only one of the players Smart listed above is an outside linebacker, per se.) But Smart, trying to still recruit outside linebackers, didn’t want to embrace that angle. In my defense, that was over Zoom and Zoom is terrible, but also I was essentially on Smart’s side and trying to prod him into a quote supporting my angle, which was that outside linebackers were being used less. When I had a similar line of questioning during the 2020 season, Smart got similarly annoyed. A mic-drop kind of moment, perhaps what Smart was aiming at, but it’s also possible it just struck a nerve. It was the last question of the presser anyway, but still notable. 1 overall.’ We put Devonte up there and say, ‘He went in the first round.’ We put Quay up there, we put Nolan up there, we put Jordan Davis’ up there, and then they don’t say anything.”Īnd then Smart walked off. “We put Travon sacks up there and say, ‘He went No. Enjoy that third-round pick, folks.“We usually fix that when we show them how many we have drafted, and it’s silenced,” Smart said. This team is legendary for finding silly ways to do things. The franchise jettisoned its franchise quarterback. That’s giving them way too much credit, though. If nothing else, the Falcons ripped off the Band-Aid. With a player of exalted eminence, parting is never easy. A certain first baseman signs with the Dodgers, the team the Braves had to get past en route to the World Series. Joe Montana finishes his career in Kansas City. Tom Brady leaves New England for Tampa Bay. For the Falcons, that might constitute a succession plan: get awful and hope to get lucky. The $40 million dead-cap hit (money counted for a player no longer on a team) that comes from trading Ryan makes landing a semi-established NFL quarterback – a Mayfield or a Jimmy Garoppolo – problematic, but a woeful season might position them to land Alabama’s Bryce Young in the 2023 NFL draft. The Falcons don’t have to bother with a succession plan, which rarely work. Ryan has a real chance to play meaningful games. In the grand scheme, this might benefit both parties. What in the wide world of sports is going on? He didn’t think about being elsewhere until the Falcons cast goo-goo eyes at a younger model. With the Falcons, he slogged through two winning seasons over the past nine. In the span of six days, Ryan went from being the best thing about the Falcons to the reason the Colts envision him doing for them what Matthew Stafford did for the Rams. He started every game save three for this franchise over 14 seasons. With everything around him falling to pieces, he remained a pro’s pro. If the Ryan of subsequent seasons wasn’t quite Ryan the MVP, he was never terrible. Explore Matt Ryan’s replacement: Falcons sign Marcus Mariota Being the Falcons, they endeavored to lose. He led the Falcons to a 25-point lead against the Patriots in the Super Bowl. They had five winning seasons over his first five years. When Ryan arrived in Flowery Branch, the Falcons – in business since 1966 – hadn’t managed consecutive winning seasons. Those seven victories were a function of having Ryan, who was working without Julio Jones, offloaded to the Titans, and Calvin Ridley, who took a break due to mental health issues.Īn NFL team cannot win big without a competent quarterback. They just went 7-10 despite being outscored by 146 points on the season. (They announced Monday they’d signed Marcus Mariota, who’ll be on his third team in four years.) They hold the eighth pick in next month’s draft, which wouldn’t appear to include a QB of immense promise. At this moment, the Falcons have no quarterback you’d trust to start an NFL game.
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