Will Tevin Coleman Be The Best Falcons Rookie?
By John Buhler
I still can’t believe that the Atlanta Falcons were able to draft RB Tevin Coleman in the third round. The 2015 NFL Draft was nearly a month ago and it’s hard to fathom that an All-American tailback fell all the way to 73. Good news for Atlanta, bad news for everybody else. I feel that Coleman is a special type of back that will thrive right away in the NFL. But will he have the most success of any member of the 2015 Atlanta Falcons Rookie Class?
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GM Thomas Dimitroff and HC Dan Quinn found value for this organization in just about every selection. Vic Beasley’s raw talent can allow him to become a top-tier pass rusher in the league for the next decade. Quinn believes that Jalen Collins can become the next Richard Sherman in the secondary. Justin Hardy set reception records at ECU and Grady Jarrett has the pedigree to succeed in the front seven. His father is Falcons Legend Jessie Tuggle and Jarrett considers Ray Lewis an Uncle.
Those four rookies all have immense promise for the Dirty Birds but all need to fine tune some parts of their games to become full-time starters as a rookie. Beasley needs to learn how to better defend the run. Collins has to overcome health and off the field issues. Hardy has to adjust from starring at a Non-Power 5 school to fighting for catches in a wide receiving corps featuring multiple Pro Bowlers. Jarrett has to prove to abrasive DL Coach Bryan Cox that he is worthy of playing time in a surprisingly deep defensive tackle rotation.
All Tevin Coleman has to do is compete with Devonta Freeman for carries in Atlanta’s backfield. This isn’t a slight on Freeman but more of an opportune situation for Coleman than anything else. Freeman and Coleman are one and two on the Falcons RB depth chart however you want to slice it. Both are very young, promising tailbacks for new OC Kyle Shanahan to work with. I imagine both Tevin and Devonta will have plenty of chances to run the ball in Shanahan’s zone blocking running attack. There’s a possibility that one of these tailbacks could have a 1,000 yard season in Shanahan’s system.
Coleman will have the most successful season of any Falcons rookie because he will make the most of his opportunities. It also helps that he will receive the most chances of any Falcons rookie this year because of both the position he plays and his high motor in big time games. Once he’s on the field doing what he does best, fighting for first downs, it will be hard to keep Tevin Coleman from commanding more carries.