Atlanta Falcons Week Ten Grades Vs Cleveland
Duke Riley – Linebacker
The streak of good games is over for Duke Riley. The linebacker from LSU had been much maligned, but managed to make our high flyers list for two weeks in a row, after being moved to a more specialized role.
That all came crashing down in week ten and Duke Riley regressed to his prior level of play. Duke played just 19 snaps in the game. He did have four tackles, two of the tackles were solo and one was a stop. He also missed a tackle. His run defense grade was an anemic 46.5.
Duke Riley was often in the wrong run fit, causing major damage on the ground.
Coverage wise, Duke Riley was targeted twice and gave up two catches for 21 yards and a touchdown. 18 of the 21 yards came after the catch. Baker Mayfield had a rating of 150.0 when targeting Duke. Riley’s coverage grade was an embarrassing 29.7.
Pro bowl linebacker Deion Jones is set to return from injury on Thanksgiving. Duke Riley could find himself playing exclusively on special teams when Jones returns, if he doesn’t play better this week against Dallas.
Pro Football Focus Grade: 28.3
ATL All Day Grade: F –
Kemal Ishmael – Linebacker
Kemal Ishmael a linebacker who was converted from the safety position, saw 16 snaps in the week ten clash against Cleveland. He did not fair well in the limited snaps. Ishmael had three tackles for the game. He had one stop, but also missed a tackle. His run defense grade of 63.0 isn’t good, but isn’t horrible either.
Coverage is the area that Kemal Ishmael failed to hold his own in. He was targeted two times and gave up a catch on both targets. He allowed 31 yards on those two catches, 18 of those yards were after the catch, one of the catches went for a touchdown. Disappointingly he allowed a perfect quarterback rating when being thrown at.
Ishmael had a coverage rating of 28.0, one of the worse I’ve ever seen. Coach Dan Quinn would be wise to use Kemal strictly on special teams. He’s just not a very good linebacker.
Pro Football Focus Grade: 29.3
ATL All Day Grade: F –
Takk McKinley – Defensive End
Takkarist McKinley, the Atlanta Falcons sack leader, has been very quiet lately. He was nearly silent against Cleveland, as he failed to make even one tackle in 24 snaps. In fact he missed his only tackle attempt. His run stopping grade was 40.5 and his tackle grade, a sad 20.9.
As a pass rusher, Takk did not get a sack for the second consecutive week. He did have one pressure, his only real positive impact against Cleveland. His grade as a pass rusher is 56.4. Takk made fun of himself for lack of production on his Instagram page. Take a look at the post below:
The future is bright for Takk McKinley. He is proving to be a capable pass rusher. The next step for Takk, is the become a consistently disruptive force.