With Atlanta’s mandatory minicamp getting underway Tuesday, now is a good time to take a look at what’s different with the Falcons’ offense in 2015. In short, a lot.
Gone are head coach Mike Smith and offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, replaced by Dan Quinn, Kyle Shanahan, and the zone-blocking scheme. Steven Jackson and Jacquizz Rodgers are no longer around, leaving some 300 touches to be divvied out between 2014 fourth-round pick Devonta Freeman and 2015 third-rounder Tevin Coleman (along with Antone Smith).
Implementing a whole new scheme on top of integrating a new coaching staff never happens overnight. Then again, change is hardly a bad thing after the Falcons flat-lined to a 6-10 finish and the league’s 24th-ranked rushing offense last season. They even deployed tight end Levine Toilolo in a pseudo tackle role for a chunk of the season.
New coach Dan Quinn said he wanted to restore more offensive balance when he came on board from Seattle. Roddy White recently backed that up, saying he doesn’t envision the team passing 30-40 times per game. Certainly, these are welcome developments for a franchise that has not had a primary back average 4.0 ypc since Michael Turner in 2011.
New coordinator Shanahan leans on a zone-blocking scheme, which requires athletic, agile linemen who can move laterally and get to the second level. Offensive tackle Jake Matthews said during the first day of minicamp that he is excited about the new scheme and that it suits his skill set well. That’ s still the same skill set that prompted the Falcons to use the No. 6 pick of last year’s draft on Matthews, before his rookie campaign wound up being marred by injuries and growing pains under the previous regime.
Fantasy owners should take note of how the situation unfolds, considering the backfields Shanahan has overseen. He turned Steve Slaton into a 1,282-yard rusher with 9 TDs in 2008, and later saw Alfred Morris churn out a combined 2,888 yards and 20 TDs in 2012-13 while scheming the Redskins’ offense around Robert Griffin III’s rushing ability. In 2014 while in Cleveland, the Browns featured an offense that was run-heavy enough to feed the mouths of Isaiah Crowell, Terrance West and Ben Tate, although it was anybody’s guess who would carry the rock from week to week.
Still, the apple does not fall far from the tree, as they say. And Kyle is an X’s and O’s disciple of none other than his father, Mike Shanahan, who once produced regular 1,000-yard rushers in Denver with Olandis Gary, Reuben Droughns, Tatum Bell, even a 32-year-old Mike Anderson.
So, let’s size up Atlanta’s backfield in 2015.
Freeman currently tops the depth chart. The second-year back not only boasts receiving skills but also invites contact between the tackles and runs with a low center of gravity, qualities that prompted GM Thomas Dimitroff to remark during the winter that he thought Freeman could become a full-time back in the Falcons’ offense. He will enter training camp with a year in the league and a full offseason program under his belt, but like his challenger, Freeman is also adapting to a new scheme and new coaching.
A unanimous All-American coming off a 2,000-yard rushing season in the Big Ten, Coleman carries some serious intrigue. Not lacking confidence, he also made it clear upon arriving in Atlanta that he plans to start from the get-go. As with all rookies, Coleman will experience some bumps as he works to get acquainted with not just the offense, but the speed and physicality of the NFL game in general. His upright running style and durability were among the few concerns scouts had about Coleman coming out of Indiana University.
At the end of the day, Quinn and Shanahan are committed to pounding the rock, even if it means a likely time share. From a fantasy perspective, there should be sufficient carries to keep both young backs involved enough to at least return flex value. Coleman is the popular favorite to emerge for early-down work, but Freeman also figures to see plenty of usage in the outside stretch in Shanahan’s zone scheme. He’ll also get work in hurry-up and third-down packages. Be sure to keep tabs on both players’ ADP in standard and PPR formats to find the best value come draft time.
Mike Castiglione is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, you can view his archive or follow him @RickDancin.