The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Draft is deep in pass rushers
Falcons may be able to fill desperate area of need in first round.
FLOWERY BRANCH — The Falcons have March 19 circled in bright red on their scouting calendar.
With the scouting combine over, NFL teams are now preparing to hit the road to recheck college prospects who will perform at their schools’ pro days. The eventual destination is the NFL draft April 30-May 2 in Chicago.
The Falcons are intensely evaluating pass-rushing talent, and Missouri’s Shane Ray, who didn’t perform at the combine, will participate March 19 in Columbia, Mo. The Falcons will attend this session and likely set up a personal workout for Ray as well as several other top pass rushers.
“There are a ton of pass rushers in this draft,” ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper said on Thursday. “It just depends upon do you want a 3-4 guy, you want a 4-3 guy or do you want a combo guy? There is a variety of players who can get after the quarterback in this draft.”
Georgia Tech has scheduled its pro day on March 13; Georgia will hold its workouts
NFL
cool under pressure as he was racing Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick for the win at Daytona.
“It was fun,” Logano said of his TV appearances. “I didn’t really get too nervous. I just tried to be relaxed because the more tensed up you are the worse you do.”
More important for Logano than TV time is getting back in his No. 22 Ford and trying to use the momentum from his biggest career victory to march toward a Sprint Cup championship. Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, the first to be run under new rules for Sprint Cup cars, likely will be a much better indicator than Daytona of who will be fast this season.
“We’ve enjoyed this whole time, but now it’s back to work,” he said. “There are a lot of unknowns coming here to Atlanta. We don’t know what we’re going to have with the new package because we haven’t had a chance to use it yet, so you’re kind of on edge just to see what it’s going to be like and get back in the groove of a normal weekend.
“This is going to be a big test to see where we’re at and to see what we need to work on to get better. All of the stuff that came along with the 500 was fun, but that’s kind of over now and it’s back to work.”
Logano has the luxury of a guaranteed berth in the season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup since NASCAR has gone to a “win and you’re in” policy for Chase eligibility.
That not only gives him and his team peace of mind, it also allows them the chance to experiment with their car in search of more speed. And that experimentation is particularly important now that NASCAR has made numerous rules changes to the Sprint Cup cars.
“It’s nice because there are so many unknowns,” Logano said. “We don’t really know what’s going to happen, if our car is going be fast or not.
“We assume we’re going to be OK, but you never know. But knowing that we’re in the Chase kind of makes us feel a little bit better because it gives us some time to really make sure we get this thing figured out.”
With points no longer an issue, thanks to his Daytona victory, Logano said he expects to race for the win a lot more this season.
“We can be aggressive now and race like we did last year up until the Chase starts, so that’s a nice feeling,” he said.