Chat » The Atlanta Falcons have called it quits for t

he 2018 season Calvin Ridley Jersey Super Bowl , and all that’s left is feeling disappointed in what was and trying to figure out exactly why it went the way it did. We here at The Falcoholic will attempt to do that in part with our 2018 positional reviews. We’ll break down each roster grouping to see what was what, and perhaps find out a little more truth as to why the team underwhelmed this past fall. We’ll start with the most prominent position on the roster, the quarterbacks. To be clear, there’s not a lot of mystery as to where this position is going for the future. We know who the starter will be for the next six or seven years (at least), and he does quite a good job manning that post. But there are others (well, two) to consider as to where they’ll go, so let’s dive in, shall we? Matt Ryan 2018 ProductionTDs: 35Yards: 4,942Ints: 7QBR: 108.1 Analysis One of the team’s franchise faces and best players, Matt Ryan continues to play at an elite level in the league. He’s never going to be the flashiest of players, but he was technically only 20 yards and two touchdowns off his 2016 MVP season. He did have a 117.1 QBR that year, but the team’s November offensive collapse helped to lower that. Can you imagine what his numbers would’ve looked like if the offense had not slowed down at Cleveland? He would’ve no doubt gone past 5,000 yards for the first time in his career and could’ve hypothetically set a new personal touchdown record as well. His numbers also spiked 829 yards and 15 touchdowns from the year prior, as he showed much more comfort in Steve Sarkisian’s offense in Year 2. Things didn’t work out elsewhere on the offense for Sark, which lead to the team moving on from him. But you can’t deny Ryan played well this season as things were.He did take 42 sacks, the second-worst number of his career (2013 still leads with 44). The offensive line Calvin Ridley Jersey For Sale , sans Jake Matthews and Alex Mack, did him no favors over the season, so you can see why Dan Quinn was so firm in his assessment of where that position group is going.How the team handles this offensive coordinator hire is going to be key for Ryan’s future. If they bring in a guy that he doesn’t gel with immediately, history shows his numbers will fall because of it. The only time Ryan has transitioned seamlessly with a coordinator change was in 2012, when the team switched from Mike Mularkey to Dirk Koetter. You can probably imagine why Koetter is on their radar. Overall, Ryan has been a better quarterback after his two seasons with Kyle Shanahan. Shanny brought out better qualities and more confidence from Ryan, and made him more mindful of his athletic potential. The new OC will need to match that, and as Ryan is clearly a veteran, perhaps the team would be best suited allowing him to take an ever greater job in game day play calling. That no huddle Atlanta offense has always been a sight to see. Ryan has lived up to every penny of his blockbuster contract, and he’ll be Atlanta’s guy for seasons ahead. This roster spot is under watchful lock and key. Matt Schaub Schaub has been the team’s bonny backup for three seasons, and has been given sprinkles of praise here and there for what he brings to the team. Falcons elite linebacker Deion Jones has mentioned Schaub specifically in helping his development, for example. He will be a free agent in March, and the team has already said they’d like to have him back. The money will be a deciding factor here, as will Schaub’s general interest in continuing to hold the clip board and run the scout team. He’s a valuable piece of this organization in ways we don’t always see, so you have to think he’s the team’s top option for a backup should rubber hit the road. If a certain former Houston Texans coach becomes the OC, it’d probably be all the more likely Calvin Ridley Jersey On Sale , as Gary Kubiak and Schaub were together in Texas for a good number of seasons. Kurt Benkert Benkert, the former Virginia standout, showed some promise in the 2018 preseason cycle and signed with the team to a reserve/future contract last week. Some thought his August play might hint he’d be ready for the backup job in Flowery Branch sooner than later, but Benkert is far too young and inexperienced to assume such a role this early into his NFL career. The most likely path forward for him is to continue to develop in Atlanta’s “Plan D” program and show even more promise in the 2019 preseason. If he shows the kind of substantial growth that hints at future viability, the team could consider stashing him on the roster and giving him the backup job in 2020. For now, though, it’s clear the team likes his upside and wants to see more from him this offseason. Check back Wednesday for a look at the Falcons’ 2018 running backs.Falcons vs. Steelers: Snap counts for a dismal beatdown OffenseJake Matthews: 72Wes Schweitzer: 72Alex Mack: 72Brandon Fusco: 72Ryan Schraeder: 72Matt Ryan: 64Mohamed Sanu: 59Austin Hooper: 55Julio Jones: 53Calvin Ridley: 47Devonta Freeman: 28Tevin Coleman: 27Marvin Hall: 19Logan Paulsen: 19Justin Hardy: 17Ricky Ortiz: 13Ito Smith: 12Matt Schaub: 9Eric Saubert: 8Russell Gage: 3The offense was handicapped pretty much all day by an offensive line not up to the task, if we’re being blunt. All the starters played, but aside from Jake Matthews and Wes Schweitzer, who had largely solid days, the Steelers pass rush had their way with Atlanta and stymied the run.The Falcons didn’t do anything particularly unique with their snaps to counteract this, such as getting Logan Paulsen or Ricky Ortiz in to block more often, even though I’m not sure that would have staunched the bleeding. The result was that Ryan was under pressure and sailing throws much of the day, and the passing attack had its quietest day of the year since Week 1. It remains interesting to see the Falcons slowly edging up Marvin Hall’s playing time and giving an even split to Freeman and Coleman in Free’s first week back, but it didn’t end up meaning much.The offensive line becomes a concern going forward, as it has mixed some very solid weeks with bad ones Calvin Ridley Jersey Sale , and has been susceptible to blitzes all year long. Mack and Schraeder have looked a touch off this season, and if they’re aging into their decline phases, the Falcons had better hope they can find some contingency plans in 2019. DefenseDamontae Kazee: 61Robert Alford: 59De’Vondre Campbell: 52Duke Riley: 51Jordan Richards: 47Desmond Trufant: 47Terrell McClain: 38Vic Beasley: 38Brian Poole: 37Deadrin Senat: 36Takkarist McKinley: 36Brooks Reed: 34Foye Oluokun: 33Jack Crawford: 27Steven Means: 23Michael Bennett: 18Sharrod Neasman: 14Isaiah Oliver: 10Bruce Carter: 5Kemal Ishmael: 4Keith Tandy: 1It’s all within and whatnot, as Dan Quinn reminds us, but the way the team divvied up snaps this week on defense proved to be deeply confusing.Start with Terrell McClain. He was an interesting addition to this team when he figured to be the fourth defensive tackle, but he’s gotten an outsized number of snaps for weeks now. Pressed into duty with Grady Jarrett out, McClain continued to contribute virtually nothing as a pass rusher, which we expect, but also did not appear on first watch to have been much of a factor against the run. On a day where James Conner went from stiff to stud, that was a problem.The defensive line has been an off-and-on liability all year, with only Grady Jarrett and Takk really standing out, and nobody really did much of anything against the Steelers on Sunday up front.Further back, the Falcons got Bruce Carter into the game for five whole snaps as part of a sudden, random personnel shift to put more of their run-stopping reserves into the game. It appeared to work, however temporarily, but the Falcons didn’t stick with it. Instead Replica Calvin Ridley Jersey , the Falcons gave a ton of snaps to De’Vondre Campbell (always a good decision), Duke Riley (less of a good decision), and Foye Oluokun (a mixed bag). The team also gave Jordan Richards a considerable amount of run at safety, with largely predictable results.At some point very soon the Falcons are going to need to make a decision about whether they’re going to make their very best effort to win games, or if they’re going to try to win while simultaneously giving young players the playing time they need to properly evaluate them. If it’s the former, I don’t think they can justify starting Richards over Keith Tandy and not giving Carter and/or Oluokun a look at middle linebacker over Riley. I don’t know if that’s going to improve things, of course, but the Falcons are accumulating a wealth of evidence that what they’re doing now is leading to truly awful results. The Falcons just don’t have a lot of alternatives, which I understand, but their reluctance to consider the ones they do have does continue to genuinely baffle me. Special Teams Russell Gage: 23Keith Tandy: 19Kemal Ishmael: 18Bruce Carter: 18Marvin Hall: 18Foye Oluokun: 17Eric Saubert: 15Logan Paulsen: 14Matt Bosher: 11Jordan Richards: 11Robert Alford: 10Justin Hardy: 10The Falcons continue to have lackluster results on returns, especially with Justin Hardy back there, even if their coverage units are solid. Matt Bosher also has been quietly struggling this season, and those struggles were capped off by a blocked punt against the Steelers where the booth talked about how Pittsburgh must have noticed how many steps Bosher takes before punting. That’s ominous.