Devonta Freeman could prove useful out of Atlanta Falcons backfield

When the Atlanta Falcons took Devonta Freeman in the fourth round of the NFL Draft ahead of the likes of Andre Williams, it appeared that Thomas Dimitroff was a bit more concerned with pass protection and receiving out of the backfield.

Williams certainly boasted a more impressive resume as far as pure rushing was concerned, but many draft experts talked about the other things that Freeman could provide an NFL team with–and according to a recent post from Daniel Cox, recieving could definitely be one of those things:

"In Freeman, many see a dual-threat back, capable of grinding yards between the tackles, but also a threat out of the backfield as a receiver.As a junior in 2013, Freeman caught 22 passes for 278 yards and one score. It’s a small sample size for sure, but look at what he did with those receptions for an average of 12.64 yards per catch. Of those 22 catches, 10 went for first downs, six went for 15 yards or more and three produced 25 yards or more. Freeman’s long was 45 yards."

It seems like Freeman is being advertised as an extremely versatile running back with his ability to run inside and outside of the tackles well, drop back in the pocket and protect the quarterback well and also catch the ball out of the backfield.

Freeman’s got a crowd of other runners to compete with at the moment, but it’s going to be very exciting to see all of the things he’s able to do on the football field.

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Here’s a what Atlanta’s primary running backs did with the ball in the air last season:

Jacquizz Rodgers finished 148th in the NFL in receiving yards after catching the ball 52 times and picking up 341 yards through the air. He was targeted 62 times and averaged 6.6 yards per catch. 12 of those catches went for first downs and two of them went for touchdowns.

Steven Jackson finished the year as the 200th player in receiving yards, with 191 on 33 receptions (49 targets). He averaged just 5.8 yards per catch, with 10 of his catches going for first downs and one for a touchdown.