Atlanta Falcons season preview 2014: Linebackers

The 2014 NFL season is almost here, and it is time to preview this season’s edition of the Atlanta Falcons. In part one, we looked at the defensive line. In today’s part two, we break down the linebackers.

—–

Like Brad mentioned in part one, the Atlanta Falcons, as a defensive unit, were pretty bad last year. The team struggled to put any kind of pressure on opposing quarterbacks and also failed to slow down the run game. Mike Nolan’s unit combined for just 32 sacks (tied for 29th in the NFL) on the season and wound up being 31st in the league in rushing yards allowed per game (135).

Mike Smith and the Falcons are going to have to rely on repeat (and some improved) performances from the inside linebacker group to hold everything together, and hope that a fairly uninspiring group of outside linebackers can prove all of the doubters wrong.

Outside Linebackers

Jonathan Massaquoi, Kroy Biermann, Jacques Smith, Tyler Starr

Of the two linebacker groups, this is the one to worry about in my mind. As we talked about above, the Falcons have some serious pass rushing issues and no one in this group screams “I’m coming after the QB!” from day one. Of the four, Massaquoi is the best bet to actually get something done, and he’s also been pretty confident in what the unit is capable of, even as a young player. Still, he’s never shown that he can be anything resembling an elite pass rusher.

Instead, improving the pass rush is going to have to be a group effort and that means Biermann, Smith and Starr are all going to have to contribute–which is where things get scary.

Biermann is coming off of a torn ACL, and Smith and Starr are both rookies. One of whom (Smith) is having a “meh” training camp and the other (Starr) was the Falcons last pick in the draft and will need to add a lot of strength before putting fear into offensive lines.

Inside Linebackers

Paul Worrilow, Prince Shembo, Joplo Bartu, Tim Dobbins, Marquis Spruill, Yawin Smallwood (?)

The first thing that should be talked about when dealing with the inside linebacker group is the lost of Sean Weatherspoon. The former first-round pick ruptured his Achillies tendon in June and is expected to miss the entire 2014 season. The only good thing about this is that the team was already used to playing without Weatherspoon, as he missed nine games last year with foot and knee injuries.

Without Weatherspoon, eyes immediately turn to Worrilow and Bartu as the primary options at the ILB position. Worrilow proved he could hang in the NFL last season, and led the team with 79 solo tackles (127 total) and picked up two sacks. Bartu played in each game last season and provides more help dropping back in coverage. He picked up 47 solo tackles (85 total) for the Falcons last year. The two expected starters are just 24 and 23 years old respectively, but given their performances last year, that shouldn’t be a huge issue.

Now we get to Spruill and Shembo, who were both drafted this year. News broke today that Spruill will be out for the season thanks to a torn ACL:

#Falcons coach Mike Smith said LB Marquis Spruill is out for the season with an torn ACL.
— D. Orlando Ledbetter (@DOrlandoAJC) August 7, 2014

That adds to the depth questions for the linebacker group as a hole, and means other players will have to step up–this could be an opportunity for Shembo to prove that he can contribute, or even an outside shot at a rotational spot for Yawin Smallwood, but it also adds some pressure to each of the guys here.