This is a great article on Michael Turner and his long-awaited opportunity to show the league he is a force to be reckoned with. :icon_cool: nfl.com
The Falcons O line got a bad rap last season. Did they have a horrible season? Yes. But see if you think this is a fair statement: 'An offensive line is only as good as their coach and scheme.' Agree, or disagree? If you agree, and I do, then it won't be so hard to follow the line of thought that says the Falcons O line will improve dramatically under good coaching. They had a 1st time NFL position coach in Mike Summers last season. The guy had no clue what he was doing. I believe we'll see great things out of the Falcons run game this year. Old-school, power run game. It's a Mike Mularkey specialty. I'm really excited about it. They aquired two big, blocking-type TE's in the off-season. They picked up Turner. They already have a human bowling ball in FB Ovie Mughelli. And now they've got an OL coach with double-digit seasons in the NFL, Paul Boudreau, who has installed a scheme that will take advantage of the strengths of his players. In my mind, that's a good start to the new chapter of the run game in Atlanta.
Huh? Last season was the worst season the Falcons have had in quite some time... absolutely dismal. Yet, there were still 14 teams in the NFL with worse passing games. The Falcons were ranked 18th in the league in passing last season. I'm not bragging on that, by any means. But it's a far cry from "no passing game whatsoever", wouldn't you say? And that was with scrub QB's, and an OL that had a 1st year, rookie coach. nfl.com 2007 passing stats
I agree. I guess that's why ours has gone to crap under Herm. On the other hand, you do need talent as well.
You need more physical specimens and talent. Coaching and talent is equal because you could teach a big fat butt everything you need to know about Pass blocking and Run Blocking and stick him in a game and if he has no talent he'll be crappy. I think Michael turner will get crushed again and again unfortunately in Atlanta, I just don't think he's going to do well in that situation.
I'm not sure it's going to be fantastic...I am trying to guage whether I should keep Turner on my Fantasy Team as a Keeper Player. I get to keep two. I could see Turner do really well, but if the passing game isn't there, the opposing D's are just going to key on the run.
Well I respect your opinions, but I have hard time believing that you guys even know what the situation is down in the ATL. If you're going solely off of last year's performance, you're going to be surprised. Very true, 86. Lack of balance on offense certainly causes a collapse in production.
I'd love to see him do well. I'm a Turner fan, however, the passing game scares me a lot in Atlanta and there are less weapons to throw to now that Crumpler is gone.
erm Cumpler is one man...who has crappy knees and did crap all last year. Our oassing future lies in Ryans,White,robinsons and Douglas's hands, who hopefull will all grow together
Its hard to imagine, but the Falcons ranked 18th overall in passing last season. The passing game was better than the running game, surprisingly. Roddy White came on pretty strong, with well over 1000 yds receiving. Laureant Robinson is a very similar player, and the staff expects him to take a big step up this year. I actually have optimism about Chris Redman being decent, and with Matt Ryan in the mix now I'm even more stoked. I know I'm a homer, but I see some real potential in the passing game. :shrug:
It's simple why the running game of Atlanta failed last year. First of all, we were hit with injuries. Our two left tackles were injured for the season, and I'm sure that didn't help the cause. Secondly, we were a pass-first offense that used the running game only as a change of pace weapon during the game. I also believe that we did not utilize some of our players right. Dunn was only averaging three yards per carry, and it sure wasn't useful having him in there. Norwood only got about 10 carries a game which we all know is not anywhere near what he deserves. Also, I don't believe Dunn could fit in a power blocking scheme because, I'm sure, he fits better in a ZBS where he can find the holes to shift through, and some runners are just uncomfortable in the power blocking system. Hopefully this year is a lot different than last. Knock on wood, but I think we'll do better.
