Atlanta Falcons: Top 5 Defensive Players for 2015

Love him or hate him, expect Paul Worrilow to play major snaps for the 2015 Atlanta Falcons.  As a former undrafted player out of the University of Delaware, Worrilow became the man responsible for lining up his defensive unit as only a second-year player.  He proudly wore the Green Dot as a second year player after LB Sean Weatherspoon missed the entire 2014 NFL Season with an Achilles’ injury.

In his first two seasons with the Dirty Birds, Paul Worrilow has been a tackling machine in the run stopping game.  However, he leaves fans wanting more in pass defense as he lacks the foot speed to cover explosive tight ends and slot receivers.  He’s also never really been a major contributor in the pass rush.  Then again, nobody in the red and black for the Atlanta Falcons can say that since John Abraham‘s departure after the 2012 Season.

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But you can’t deny that Paul Worrilow is a hard-worker and uses his brain to stay an NFL starter, albeit on a pretty bad Atlanta Falcons’ LB corps.  I do think that if he could grasp all the abstract concepts in Mike Nolan’s defense last year that he can play faster for Dan Quinn in a much simpler defense.

Paul should benefit from great coaching at linebacker from both Richard Smith and Jeff Ulbrich.  The additions of Brooks Reed and Justin Durant should aid in Paul’s development in 2015.  He isn’t the best linebacker in the NFC South by a long shot, but I still think Paul Worrilow is our best LB on the team entering 2015.  I think his work ethic ultimately turns him into a great player in the NFL here shortly.

Next: The Next John Abraham?