Atlanta Falcons Game Changers

The Falcons lackluster defense was a major part of why they went 8-8 and missed the playoffs in the 2015-2016 season. This past offseason, the Falcons decided to make a change by drafting some playmakers. The first round brought Atlanta the highly talented Safety Keanu Neal from the University of Florida. The next round got them a must needed position player in Linebacker Deion Jones from LSU. The Falcons reaching deep into the draft found a gem and another Linebacker in De’Vondre Campbell from Minnesota. But Dan Quinn, who is a defensive minded Head Coach, was able to find Brian Poole as an undrafted rookie cornerback from Florida. These players have all contributed significantly this season to bring them to the Super Bowl, regardless of whether it was as a super star role or filling in for injuries.

Keanu Neal was a strange first round pick as he wasn’t projected at that high of a pick, but was needed to sure up the deep secondary, as well as downfield tackling. Neal was all over the field in college and would force many fumbles. In the NFL, Keanu had an immediate impact on the secondary of the Falcons as he dominated the whole season finishing with 72 tackles, 9 pass defenses, 5 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, and named to the NFL all-rookie team. Neal will be lurking deep in the secondary ready to pounce on a wide receiver after a reception, as he’s a forced fumbling machine. The New England Patriots need to be extra careful about holding onto the football when he is a dangerous presence in the game.

Deion Jones is the fast paced athletic tackling machine that Atlanta needed. They found him in the second round of the draft, when he perfectly fell to him. Jones in college was a standout player that excelled at every aspect of the game and finished his career with 164 tackles, with 79 of those being solo tackles. He added youth and speed to the Linebacker core. Deion started off the first couple weeks of the regular season slow, but turned on the jets for the rest of the season finishing with 108 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 3 interceptions, and was named to the NFL all-rookie team. Look for Deion Jones to clog up the run game and bring some pressure to the quarterback while also covering the Patriots Tight End, Martellus Bennett, in certain situations. New England needs to block well against Jones, as the speedy playmaker will be all over the field trying to stop the run game.

Now we go to a rookie who has filled in and played at great levels when needed by his team. For De’Vondre Campbell, it wasn’t always him getting major playing time.  At the beginning of the season, he barely saw the field recording only 7 tackles in two games. All of a sudden in week 3 he burst onto the scene and acquired a bigger role by recording 10 tackles. Despite being slower than Deion Jones, he is an athletic Linebacker that has more power and strength to stop the run as well and puts much needed pressure on the Quarterback. De’Vondre finished the regular season 35 tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 1 interception. Campbell will be a great presence off the edge going up against mostly Marcus Cannon, trying to put pressure on Brady.

Brian Poole is a name many people haven’t heard, whether it was during the 2016 NFL draft process, or even this season. But when a devastating injury to Atlanta’s Desmond Trufant threatened an already average secondary, undrafted rookie Brian Poole stepped up to the plate. Poole is a great number three corner who can also cover a nice speedy receiver in the slot. Brian has had a nice rookie season so far, finishing the regular season with 42 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries, and 1 interception. Brian Poole will, in all likelihood, be covering Danny Amendola, Malcolm Mitchell, or Michael Floyd as the number three Wide Receiver will vary. Look for Poole to be physical with the Wide Receivers off the line and try to control them.

These four players, although each role is different, will have some sort of effect on the Super Bowl game, whether it is playing every down like Keanu Neal and Deion Jones, or De’Vondre Campbell and Brian Poole who will be major playmakers in whatever action they will see. They have brought youth, speed, and a burst of life into the defense this year, and it made the difference as to why the Atlanta Falcons are playing in the Super Bowl this Sunday.

Written by Domenic Buccini