What can the Atlanta Falcons do to get back to the Super Bowl?

[DannyB]

37 minutes ago, Hukos said:

No, I can understand the sentiment. But to be honest, our drafting in the 2009-2013 era was so bad that I honestly think having fewer draft picks became a positive instead of a negative. Julio was so obviously amazing that there was no way to screw up that pick. Seriously, go back and look at those Mike Smith era drafts, it's a bunch of "literally who is this dude" guys.

If we assume that Atlanta would have gotten quality starters out of those draft picks though, then I can definitely understand the feeling but no - we would have screwed up all those picks that we gave up anyway. We've had some awful draft picks in those years. It's weird, but I guess you can say we felt pressured to take Julio because we weren't hitting on draft picks? We had just gotten the doors blown off of us by the Packers to the tune of 48-21, so the assumption was that we needed some explosiveness on offense to keep up with the rest of the NFL. If we had hit better on draft picks both on offense and defense, maybe we're not in that position where we feel like we have to take Julio Jones, no matter the cost, just to be relevant in the NFC.

Believe me, I'm not gonna crap on anybody for preferring the Julio pick. I'm sure the bigger issue is how things went in the years before and after, taken in aggregate.

But to me, it just speaks to my overall philosophy about building a winning football team:

First of all, top-end, elite WRs are an absolute luxury. They're nice, but can't do much on their own (figuratively) to will the team to victory. Look at the past 10-15 years of Super Bowls. I bet I'd only need one hand to count the number of times a truly elite WR was even a participant. I'm not sinking major draft capital or cap space into one.

Second, and this is what it comes down to: I think football is just as much, if not moreso about the talent at the bottom of your roster as at the top. How low the talent floor goes is as important as how high the ceiling is.

Making sure the lower end starters are not absolute garbage, and making sure you have depth to fill in when the injuries INEVITABLY pile up, are what make a winning football team.

In the case of the Falcons, I'm saying perhaps they would have found more overall success if instead of Julio Jones, they settled in with *random average #1 WR level player*, but stocked up on more potential at mid-level starters/depth. Maybe the overall water-level of the team would be higher. Not saying they would've had to find blue-chippers, or pro bowlers, or anybody flashy. Just guys who were solid and steady, or avoided those bone-headed plays that you see from the crappiest guys who see significant playing time on your team.

i CURRENTLY feel like the only place where this is the exception is QB. You need a great QB. But I'll be totally honest, pending how the next few years play out (think: post-Brady), I might reevaluate this. I might reconsider how I feel about having to spend upwards of 20% or so of your cap space on a QB.

[Hukos]

I don't really disagree with anything you've said there, but historically - the Falcons have never been good at having a top to down consistent and solid roster. When they're good, it's because some high end pieces are going off the chains and destroying everyone - which as you know, is not sustainable in the long-term. I feel this is why Atlanta has a period where they're very good for 2-3 years and then they implode shortly after. There's a short period of rebuilding, then they make one more deep playoff run, and the roster implodes again. Rinse and repeat.

I've seen this play out long enough that I question if it's really possible for Atlanta to build a roster like you specified - if they could have done it, they probably would have by now. Our attempts at building roster depth have pretty much always tanked hard, no matter how hard we've tried to do it. It's not like I don't think Atlanta doesn't want to have a roster with your philosophy in mind... but I'm starting to question if they really know how to do that. At this point, I think if Atlanta is really ever going to get a title, it's by being as explosive as possible and just riding luck/variance to one (similar to 2016) instead of being good enough to get one.

[scar988]

On 12/13/2019 at 8:01 PM, bertuzzi said:

They need a new QB. Ryan thinks julio is only good for a few passes a game but is best used as a decoy for the rest of the team to make big plays and to getvthem TDs. Julio barely can get a TD unless its a fluke and he does it himself. I dont see michael Thomas having any problems putting up big numbers with either bridgewater or brees at QB. Thomas gets u points and Tds  which is what u need to win games and julio doesnt do that for the falcons. 
 

defense needs a overhaul as well.

Teams triple team Julio all game. Issue isn't Ryan, it's Koetter's scheme.

[scar988]

On 12/13/2019 at 9:10 PM, Hukos said:

What are you seeing in Campbell, Foye, Sheffield, Oliver, Kazee, and Allen that I don't? Trufant is way too up and down for my liking (his recent performances have been much better than how he played earlier in the season though, I'll give him credit for that).

Campbell and Foye have good run reads and play well in coverage. Same with the secondary. Trufant has been excellent. He's not targeted often, but people focus on the 1-2 times he gets burned all year vs. the actual times he is providing excellent coverage.

On 12/13/2019 at 9:13 PM, rocky_rams said:

I don’t know why but I have this weird feeling that Todd Gurley might get traded to the falcons 

he’s a Georgia Bulldog so he’d be welcomed with open arms and he is exactly what they need to establish a running game. 

That is of course if they don’t draft an RB and cut Freeman

This would never happen with Gurley's contract and the Falcons cap situation.

[GSUeagles14]

On 12/14/2019 at 8:40 PM, DannyB said:

I know it's a super unpopular take, and there's no way to prove it, but my take from the day it happened was that it was a mistake to use that much draft capital to trade up for Julio Jones. And even though I LOVE the player, and he's probably a Hall of Famer, nothing that has happened with that franchise since has made me change my mind.

because nothing could...

[Broncofan]

Fastest way the Falcons can make it to the SB is to go through Stubhub.   Pretty sure they can make it this year.