After a second-half turnaround in 2019, the Atlanta Falcons kept their coaching staff mostly intact. In terms of the roster, though, the team’s front office has made several moves on both sides of the ball.
ESPN has tried to quantify the continuity of each NFL team by figuring out the percentage of snaps likely to be played by returning players as opposed to rookies for free agents.
According to the feature, the Falcons have 72.3 percent of their 2019 snaps returning, which ties them at No. 20 with the New York Jets. Atlanta has 17 combined starters coming back on offense, defense and special teams in 2020.
ESPN’s Vaughn McClure discusses Atlanta’s cohesion below:
Ryan and Koetter working in unison for the second consecutive year will be key, especially as they work out the kinks from Koetter’s return to the Falcons last season. There is cohesion, in a sense, on defense. New defensive coordinator Raheem Morris has been a member of Quinn’s staff from the beginning and was a big part of the turnaround last season after being switched from receivers coach to working with the defensive backs. Now it’s about accelerating the growth of a handful of youngsters who missed on-field instruction during the virtual offseason.
Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff and head coach Dan Quinn are both likely fighting for their jobs this season after two 7-9 finishes.
As we examined last week, though, Atlanta’s continuity in its coaching staff could pay off after a shortened preseason.
