The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dimitroff, Quinn turn attention to draft
Defense, especially pass rush, still needs to be addressed.
FLOWERY BRANCH — With things settling down in free agency, Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff and coach Dan Quinn are set to hit the road for some scouting.
The Falcons are doing their final check-ins on pro days and will hold various private workouts around the country. While they were able to address some of their needs during free agency, they can now turn their attention to the draft to fill additional holes. The draft is April 28-30 in Chicago.
“We think the draft is going to be interesting and creative for us,” Dimitroff said.
The Falcons addressed needs on offense and defense in free agency.
The offensive line was bolstered by the addition of center Alex Mack. He will take over at center and allow the Falcons to move Mike Person to right guard. The Falcons are happy with left tackle Jake Matthews and right tackle Ryan Schraeder. They signed Tom Compton to serve as the backup swing tackle and re-signed Bryce Harris, who was a reserve tackle last season.
In addition to solidi- fying the offensive line, the Falcons signed wide receiver Mohamed Sanu. He’s slated to take Roddy White’s spot in the starting lineup.
The Falcons also signed quarterback Matt Schaub to compete for the backup spot and wide receiver Aldrick Robinson to provide depth.
On defense, the Falcons’ big free-agent signing was defensive end/ tackle Derrick Shelby. He will play defensive end against the run and rush from tackle in the nickel defense.
Quinn noted the Falcons and several other teams are now playing nickel defense on more than 60 percent of the snaps.
In addition to Shelby, the Falcons re-signed defensive end Adrian Clayborn and linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, who played last season with Arizona.
“I’m looking forward to getting back out there with the guys,” Weather- spoon said.
The Falcons also signed safety Charles Godfrey, safety Damian Parms, cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke and linebacker LaRoy Reynolds.
The Falcons, who have five picks in the draft, hope to add some help at linebacker, defensive end and safety. They also would like to add a guard and a kicker.
“We have a number of areas that we need to focus on,” Dimitroff said. “We know that, and I think we are going to a have a really interesting approach to the draft because of what we’ve done in free agency.”
The Falcons hold the 17th pick in the draft. They will also pick in the second, third, fourth and seventh rounds. The Falcons’ fifth-round pick was taken away by the NFL as part of their penalty for pumping fake crowd noise into the Georgia Dome during the 2013-14 seasons. They traded their sixth-round pick to Tennessee in the Andy Levitre trade last year.
The Falcons are heavily scouting linebackers and have several private workouts scheduled.
“Private workouts are very helpful as well,” Dimitroff said. “That’s why we send coaches and scouts out to a lot of the pro days. Then we schedule our private workouts on certain players that we feel we need to get some more work in. We drill down on our own approach and our own drills.”
Speedy Ohio State linebacker Darron Lee and Alabama linebacker Reggie Ragland would fit nicely into the defense. The Falcons sent 18 personnel men and coaches to Georgia’s pro day, in part to watch defensive end Leonard Floyd.
Also, special-teams coach Keith Armstrong put kicker Marshall Morgan through his workout, while running backs coach Bobby Turner closely watched Keith Marshall.
“It gives us an opportunity to hone in on all elements and the nuances of every players,” Dimitroff said. “It helps us to have the coaches out there as well. Being this close, again, it’s always good talent at Georgia. Sometimes we may under-grade. This gives us one more opportunity to look at the players to see if in fact we missed something.”