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The Atlanta Falcons' weakest unit is arguably their interior defensive line. That's where they've never really found a successor to Grady Jarrett and have also now lost David Onyemata to free agency. The Falcons should probably be looking to add some more help to this group before the season begins, but it sounds like they are satisfied with their current rotation of defensive tackles.
The evidence for this comes from the latest offseason buzz from ESPN - where Marc Raimondi has reported that defensive line coach Nate Ollie has a nickname for free agent addition Da'Shawn Hand.
Hand is a former fourth-round draft pick by the Detroit Lions back in 2018. After putting in three years and change with the Lions he started bouncing around the league, with stops in Miami, Tennessee and Los Angeles with the Chargers last season. Hand put up 1.5 sacks, five QB hits and five tackles for a loss in 13 games.
That was enough to earn Hand a one-year, $3 million deal from the Falcons with half of it guaranteed. That's not the kind of money you normally pay a starter, but if Hand continues to impress through training camp he may earn himself a spot in the starting rotation next to Brandon Dorlus.
Now 30 years old, he's appeared in 77 career regular season games at this level. The key for Hand to earn playing time will be that run defense, where he earned a solid 60.3 grade last year, ranking 44th out of 134 interior defensive linemen.
Meanwhile, the Falcons allowed 126.2 rushing yards per game, ranking 24th in the league. Whether it's Hand or someone else, defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich needs somebody to step up and stop the run, or a talented unit's efforts might go to waste.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Falcons defensive line coach sees Da'Shawn Hand as unit's 'final boss'
Continue reading...
The evidence for this comes from the latest offseason buzz from ESPN - where Marc Raimondi has reported that defensive line coach Nate Ollie has a nickname for free agent addition Da'Shawn Hand.
Hand is a former fourth-round draft pick by the Detroit Lions back in 2018. After putting in three years and change with the Lions he started bouncing around the league, with stops in Miami, Tennessee and Los Angeles with the Chargers last season. Hand put up 1.5 sacks, five QB hits and five tackles for a loss in 13 games.
That was enough to earn Hand a one-year, $3 million deal from the Falcons with half of it guaranteed. That's not the kind of money you normally pay a starter, but if Hand continues to impress through training camp he may earn himself a spot in the starting rotation next to Brandon Dorlus.
Now 30 years old, he's appeared in 77 career regular season games at this level. The key for Hand to earn playing time will be that run defense, where he earned a solid 60.3 grade last year, ranking 44th out of 134 interior defensive linemen.
Meanwhile, the Falcons allowed 126.2 rushing yards per game, ranking 24th in the league. Whether it's Hand or someone else, defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich needs somebody to step up and stop the run, or a talented unit's efforts might go to waste.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Falcons defensive line coach sees Da'Shawn Hand as unit's 'final boss'
Continue reading...
