 That's right, folks. We are back with the Falcons audible presented by AT&T. We're coming back during the off-season to give you some special moments And that's right the Atlanta Falcons had a special moment happen a new defensive coordinator has been hired underneath Arthur Smith I'm Derek Rackley. He's DJ Shockley and Dave Archer The crew is back together to talk a little Ryan Nielsen and here's fellas. This is what we're gonna discuss today Who is Ryan Nielsen? We're gonna tell the people that are listening who this guy is and what his Performance was like at his previous stop with the New Orleans Saints Of course how we expect him to adapt and evolve with this Falcons defense We'll also talk about Jerry. Jerry Gray. He was hired as well as a defensive Assistant and then we'll look ahead a little bit to the free agency and NFL draft and maybe discuss some areas where the Falcons Need to beef up under their new defensive coordinator. So Dave, let's start with you I'd like you to try your hardest to give me Ryan Nielsen from what you learned in the press conference yesterday Because I know you were an active participant. We heard you asking questions We did give us Ryan Nielsen in three words if you can, you know what I'll name that tune in one Okay, it's even better. That's that's what you call short and sweet. He didn't even say anything else My Dave just kind of mic dropped. Yeah. Yeah, okay. All right, you're up DJ. All right three words or less All right. I got accountable Passionate and relatable. I got a from watching him yesterday. Obviously to be in this position He's in now. Obviously got to be accountable speaks for itself I thought he was really passionate about certain the things he talked about and then obviously the relatable part is to his players To his organization and things that he done over the years So I thought those things really stuck out for me when you know sitting there watching the stream this way Yeah, and I agree with you I I mentioned two words after Dave those were kind of two of my three I thought I thought he was short and sweet and I don't mean that in a negative way I mean that he was kind of when he was asked questions to the he was very to the point Yeah, like he didn't kind of fluff around it He didn't go into a whole lot of detail He just said what his vision is and then what they're gonna do and then I would also say Intense and maybe that kind of piggybacks off of what you Dave you could just kind of see in his face There was a couple little smiles, but more than that He was he's like your typical defense of linemen to do defense of coach to do said he wanted to go practice yesterday He said ready to go So I said short sweet and intense were my three words on Ryan Nielsen So let's go back into it a little bit obviously coming from the New Orleans Saints organization That was actually his first foray into the NFL spent a lot of time coaching in the college game was hired By the New Orleans Saints and of course work with the defensive line and the defensive unit his last couple years being the co-defensive coordinator duties I think it's somewhat interesting for us three right here Because we were with the organization back when that when Dennis Allen was just getting his start in the NFL And Dennis Allen is risen his way through the ranks Obviously the head coach you also the defensive playcaller for New Orleans and Nielsen got to work underneath him Dave So from your vantage point obviously Atlanta gets to see New Orleans twice a year every single year What would you pick up as far as what his style is and what his background is having worked with that defense? Well, I think that the things that you want to look at and obviously New Orleans personnel is different than our personnel right now But what were they good at? They were good at keeping people off the scoreboard or ninth in a league in scoring defense Okay, and again Dennis Allen and the rest of the staff's part of that Just like Jerry Gray and other people be a part of Nielsen staff here as they start to assemble this thing They were fifth the National Football League in sacks of 48 sacks. Okay, and those sacks are by a number of different plays They have 13 players that at least one sack They had five players that had at least five sacks cam Jordan led them and we know he's been a thorn in the Falcon side Since we've been playing New Orleans with him on the team. I think 23 consider career games He's got 24 sacks or something like that. So Matt Ryan nightmare for Matt Ryan But all that being said he led the team with eight and a half sacks last year. Wow only eight and half sacks Yeah, but four other guys had five plus sacks What's that tell you that tells you they're attacking from a lot of different places and a lot of different angles Which bodes well if the personnel doesn't necessarily match or you don't have a cam Jordan Now of a sudden I have the ability to manufacture pass rush with multiple guys That's what they did in New Orleans and then and then you look at them They are fifth overall in overall defense their number five in the National Football League in defense defending the run the pass combined Those numbers look great and again I know it's not our personnel, but he knows what a good defense looks right shock and he knows how to develop players That have gone on in and reap some of the riches at other teams You've got some young players that came on a little bit over the last couple seasons that they've drafted that have become Players that these developed so those are things that jump out to me about his style Now I think you're gonna have to we both we all know that you're gonna fit it to the to the talents of the dude You have yeah, and Atlanta's got a lot of work to do You got guys to resign you got guys to go get and so we don't even know what that talent base is gonna look like to be honest With you have a con idea. We know 97 is gonna be lined up, you know, he didn't go anywhere Troy Anderson 44 He's gonna be sitting in there But you don't know a lot about some of that front seven that's gonna neither need to be Resigned or replaced and so it's kind of hard to decide what that's gonna look like. Yeah, I mean DJ I think when you look at and I'm sure Arthur Smith looked at the same thing with Ryan Nielsen Dave talked about Cam Jordan, right? But think about the levels like Cam Jordan to Mario Davis Marsh on Lattimore So he's had a chance to work with some guys that are pretty good defensive players now So that doesn't necessarily just mean because he spent a lot of his time working with defensive linemen that that's where his Specialty is he's kind of expanded his roles having been the co defensive coordinator And he's seen what some premier players look like at all three levels of the defense and that's what's most important I think you guys bring up a couple really good points about the levels in which you have guys on a particular defense that fits a particular scheme and arch I thought you brought up a good point about a lot of people say sometimes it's about the Jimmy's and Joe's not the X's and O's a lot of times, but I think in this situation. I think it's a little bit of both and Yesterday he talked about I think uh, you know, there was a question posed to him about you got a guy this size You got a guy that size and he said look whatever person that we have we're gonna finally fit him into the scheme That best gives him the advantage or gives him the ability baby to win in our particular scheme He said yeah, there's gonna be some things that we take from what was already here There's gonna be a lot of things that we add to the fray and then the person that we have here We are actually gonna mold those guys to fit the scheme we want And I thought that was one of the things that that stuck out to me is he talked about having a defense that is sound and Technique and scheme. So you talk about personnel you talk about some guys maybe not fitting exactly what People may think he should fit in this particular Scheme where there's things that he can do to give those guys advantage to win in a ballgame or Depending on who you're playing and what you got to do because there was a lot of talk about Three four to four three all that kind of stuff But I love the fact he said we could be multiple and I want to stop people at the end of the day That's what you want if you stop people guess what it don't matter if it's three four four three the guys the eleven guys Or whoever you got out there is definitely gonna make a big big big difference in this particular scheme So I love the fact that he talked so much about his scheme Being a bigger part of not just it being personnel wise But we're gonna find guys that fit the scheme we want and then we're gonna be able to execute in that manner But also they got to play technically sound in that and that goes directly to the point You talk about rack about having guys at each level who can do it think about the mario Davis has been was with him the entire time he was there and we've seen him We've talked about how he's all over the field being that guy in the middle of field He got guys on the back in him They had you know the honey badger back there had Malcolm Jenkins back there a guy who was a very Sarubo guy and you're bringing a I know we're gonna talk about coach great a minute But you're bringing a guy who you know knows what that secondary could look like with two young guys that we have back there could Jayden Hawkins turn into the Malcolm Jenkins always on the tight ends always coming down in it and being a smart player We saw make huge strides this year from that safety spot So I think they're the pieces here Along with the scheme that you can kind of jail together and it's gonna take time But I think in the day you got a couple guys that are gonna be teaching these guys to get them to the right spot Well, and I thought was interesting is a yesterday or in his press conference He didn't really want to talk about New Orleans a whole lot which I can appreciate that right like he's saying I'm with the Atlanta Falcons now But we could talk a little bit about it right and we talked about Cam Jordan But I think it's also interesting to note that he worked for four years with Trey Hendrickson, right? Trey Hendrickson is with the Bengals now, but his last year in New Orleans at 13 and a half sacks So he has seen guys that know how to put pressure on the quarterback now at the end of the day You got to have Joe's right you got to have dudes to go out and make plays and Personnels different. Maybe Atlanta does not have a cam Jordan to Trey Hendrickson type body yet But at least he knows when you get that type of player when you get that type of work ethic and the scheme to match How to get those guys to the quarterback we've talked about it a lot Dave It's one area where Atlanta's defense needs to get better They've got to find a way to get more pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Yeah, only 21 sacks last year I mentioned the numbers nine players had sacks on this Falcon team at least one only one player Grady Jarrett had more than four more than five sacks We just talked about how the Saint team had five players that had five plus sacks So you love the fact that there's development and guys can create problems from different levels tomorrow Davis You mentioned second level player I think he had five and a half sacks at the linebacker spot We think that that's something that Troy Anderson could be really good at a blitzing linebacker a guy It's got a big body It's hard to pick up in protection if you're a smaller back in there and you got a guy coming at him like that We saw some success if Rashawn Evans is in fact retained your leading tackler Rashawn Evans had some some success with that as well So I think that there's And there's good you're gonna look at what they did in New Orleans And you're certainly gonna compare it to what you could potentially do here and I think there's some some matches there That's not that's not being naive now. He he did not call the plays per play and That's gonna be a learning curve I don't think we're not pulling our world wall over anybody's eyes or trying to pull it over our own eyes He's good. There's gonna be a learning curve with him. Okay Jerry Gray is a guy that has called defense and I know we're gonna talk about Jerry Maybe we can go that now, but Jerry Gray is a guy from a secondary standpoint This guy was the number one draft pick back in 1885 for the Rams. I played against Jerry Gray Good player came from what they used to call DBU. That was Texas Because it seemed like they had two guys come out every year playing the league Jerry was one of those played with the Rams played with a couple teams and then rounded into one of the really good Secondary coaches in the national football league was the pass game defensive pass game coordinator in in green bay Think about the guys. He's worked with was in minnesota Xavier Rhodes Probably the top corner at the time Xavier Rhodes was a monster He came in here and we couldn't even throw the ball on inside the field Jair Alexander who's become maybe The top corner or at least in the conversation the top corner in the league in green bay That's two different places and two corners that he's worked in now. Both those guys were number one draft picks But still that he worked with those guys. He knows again knows what it looks like and he's called defense So the collaborative effort that this defensive staff will have namely those two guys I think that bodes well to start putting what shock was talking about putting guys in position Which is ultimately the the idea in their best position to be successful Yeah, absolutely You got a kind of a rising star in ryan nielsen and you pair him up with What you would call a savvy veteran in the business a guy that's been around a lot of different places that you mentioned arch He's called defenses So if there ever becomes those issues shock during the game as ryan nielsen gets his feet underneath himself as far as Specific play calls against this defense certain situation jerry's gonna be in the headset. He's gonna be like hey ryan I think I like this. I like this call. I like this defense. I like this personnel package I like this way to match up against we're seeing offensively That seems like a pretty good mesh between those two guys and it's I think it's a perfect marriage because archers talked About having a guy who now is going to come in now He's going to have the opportunity to have the play calls But now he's got somebody else who he can springboard it off and I've been around a bunch of teams where you know Obviously be the backup sometimes you're in the headsets and you can hear a lot of communication going on Having somebody who's been there done that and has seen it Gives you a little bit more confidence to say all right. This is what we're going to do in these certain situations Here's how I think we should attack them. You talk about being a a pass game coordinator I mean obviously all these guys know concept schemes formation and all that kind of stuff But from that particular part of it. That's all you see That's all you you know, not all you see but it's majority what you look at And it's how you go about trying to attack a particular offense, especially when you say we want to be an attacking style Archers already pointed out exactly how how many guys where we get to the quarterback But when you're in attacking style, I think regardless of who those players are If you're putting pressure on anybody that's going to be an issue And you got guys coming from all three levels and you're not sure who is hide You know, you don't know what what style it is. It's going to be difficult on anybody and You mentioned a couple guys. I went back and looked up. I mean, what about a guy like carlin finnigan? How how how much of a nuisance was that guy when he was in tennessee? Uh jason mccordy was another guy that jerry gray coach Those are guys in along with the the other big-time names. You already mentioned arch are guys who were effective guys who were Uh guys who were very productive in their roles and I think We go into what we have now with an a.j. Terrell with you know, jailen and richie All young guys still looking and feeling and want to be hungry and want to be the best they can And both safeties have an opportunity to play a lot more last year Now you're bringing a guy with all this experience and he could turn on the tape and say here's Jaira x allen here's guys I coached from you know, 10 12 years ago doing exactly what we're doing now Fitting into the scheme I think it only bulls well for the entire madge marriage of ryan nielsen and coach gray together Such a good point shock's making in the fact and we all know this and sometimes the fans aren't privy to this but players Need to be shown why they're doing something What am I why am I doing that and shock just talked about being able to put the tape on of of these different players that he talked about um, that's important because As much as we look at the board and we watch tape and stuff like that Then we get outside and this is why you put your foot here This is why you'd step here if you can show players that there's a tremendous buy-in And when you're you can throw the tape on of guys like he's talking about this is why we're teaching it this way This is the way we're going to jam. This is the way we're going to defend with an inside technique This is the way we're going to press bail and this is why it works and this is what we've done before That there's a lot of that helps the buy-in no question about for players that are kind of wondering because you wonder Okay, that's not how i've done it before why am I doing it like that boom you show them Hey, that you then you got buy-in. You know, it's interesting that you mentioned that dav I started thinking back to my playing days and I know you guys can kind of relate to this But I didn't play on the defensive side of the ball But emma thomas was a guy that was here when when I was playing and he was always one of those guys That I would love to just go stand next to and talk to Because not only was he such a great coach, but he was a phenomenal player in his day and his Messages like he's not going to give you like the the chalkboard x is a no Like he's going to tell you what to do and why it works And you know what you listen to it because he's been there Right you listen there because he knows what he's talking about and he's seen it be successful before it's so crazy You bring up et and a story and how he talks to you. I remember my rookie year We were on the road somewhere in the pre season And you're on the road and you know, you just you know going out to get some to eat and you come back to the hotel He's coming out of the hotel. I'm coming in He stops me and says he knew it was a big game for me Maybe in third or fourth maybe in the last game whatever and I'm looking to make the team and he just pulls me to the side and says Hey, look You got all the tools I've seen you do it in practice Go out and just execute play your style They want you to play your style. Don't do anything extra and at that moment i'm like This hall of famer took two three four minutes defensive guy to say, you know what? I see something in you go play ball go and I end up, you know going out playing well and making the team But I I never forgot that moment that this defensive guy with all this experience. And like you just mentioned We'll say something to me like that So having that kind of impact having a guy like you we just talked about with coach gray Who's been around the league and you talked about ours Guys want to guys want to have that kind of fulfillment where a coach tells them exactly What it is and we've done it and the guys that they've seen do it and now they're pouring into you People forget now. Yeah. Yeah, these guys make a lot of money. They're you know, superstars and all right But these guys they need that as well They need to be pushed a little bit and have guys kind of pour into them so that hey I can get the job done So you have that resource if a guy like a jay terrell or jalen hawkins wants to go up And talk to jerry gray and say hey when we're running this package like What have you seen in the past like who executes this the best and he can you can have that conversation? Yeah, I saw jay area alexander with green bay Like he used to always get his body in this position when he's facing this type of receiver because it limits that right You can get into those detailed conversations again If those players seek it out and they want to know that knowledge You've got a guy that can give him a whole lot of experience And where with all from his his experiences with his past Teams so you've got a guy and jerry gray. That's been around did jerry gray get you arch I can't remember. I don't even want to look it up. I know he's gonna I know he's gonna hit me with I gotta look it up though So you've got a guy and jerry gray that brings all the experience You got a guy in neilson that since he joined the saints in 2017 that organization at 281 sacks Which was the second most in the nfl during that time finishing top 10 in sacks Five of the six last six seasons. We talked about that's an area that needs to improve This episode in part brought to you by the home depot Everything you need for your next home improvement project is just a tap away on the home depot app The home depot app digital toolbox gives you access to how-to guides Project calculators and image search so you'll know exactly what you need to pick up with the tap of the finger You can rent and reserve the right tools for the job Also browse through millions of items from top brands that you can have delivered right to your door Whatever your project find exactly what you need with the home depot app Download the home depot app today So let's shift gears fellas as we kind of close this thing down And let's get into a little bit more of What needs to be addressed in the off season because it's easy to say. Oh, well, what's ryan neilson? What's his defense going to look like with atlanta? Um, we haven't even finished the super bowl yet So they still have all of the pre draft stuff the draft free agency They got to continue to put the personnel pieces on this defense But again dj, let's start with you like the areas from a personnel perspective We don't necessarily need to go into names But areas that need to be addressed For neilson to be able to take this defense to the next level I'm gonna go probably an unorthodox place that I think maybe a lot of people may have thought about Um, but I'm going off as a side of ball and say We need that third guy you need we know what drake is. We know what kyle is We need somebody to compliment those two guys and when I think about it Let's think about who's in the super bowl right now obviously With the Kansas City Chiefs, you got juju you got we saw about a scantily play well and then you got Kelsey to add to it So there's three pieces that makes it really hard for you. Look at the Philadelphia Eagles Obviously a j brown davante smith are really good to go along with their tight end That's that's that puts a lot of pressure on a lot of opposing defenses You go to the system out at bangles. We know exactly how many players They have on that offensive side of ball with boyd and higgins and chase and now not to mention Hurst is as well with another tight end You look at all these teams who are going deep into the playoffs and all those guys have quarterbacks But they also have two or three guys who can stretch their defense who can put pressure on you You get one on one or you try to you know kind of Kind of put a cloud over tight end or something You got other guys who can win and we saw drake had the ability to win last year We know kyle has the ability to win. Let's add another third piece to that I know a lot of them came in on play really well this past season. We thought right there was probably going to be that guy But I think if we add another piece there that gives, you know, whoever's playing quarterback Coming in next season An opportunity to win. So I like the fact going out and try to find another Pass catcher that can help you be really efficient in the past game Well, and maybe that ends up helping ryan neelson learning how to kind of develop things Practicing against weapons offensively as they go through the offseason in the training camp Dave how about you does anything stick out defensively as far as needs for ryan neelson As they really look to improve on this side of the ball Well, and let's be clear shock's not talking about the first round So a lot of you people are talking thinking. Well, we need it. It could be a free agent wide receiver He's not talking about drafting a wide receiver the first round. I don't I think it's somebody saying wait a minute I don't want to I don't want to draft another receiver in the first round That is not what shock's talking about. I knew he was I knew you and I were on the same page I wasn't sure if they were thinking that way, but yeah, certainly researching and finding another weapon Would not hurt a young quarterback and desmond ridder if in fact he becomes the guy that's the starter here Defensively for me rack It all starts for me in the interior of the defensive line I think there's a number of really good players from a free agent standpoint And we're not going to discuss names but that are going to be potentially in the offing There's a couple of young guys coming out of college From a defensive line stand interior defensive line standpoint I think you got to prevent people from being able to run the ball between the tackles and I thought atlanta had a tough time Stopping the run game when you start talking about being an effective defense It means you could put people in uncomfortable third down situations We didn't do enough of that this year atlanta was near the bottom of the league in third down conversions this year Which meant the other team's offense was on the field now You did a good job once you got down to the red zone and limiting scores I think atlanta gave up about 22 points per game, which is not terrible But teams were possessing the football And if they've got the ball we don't and so the opportunities for big plays or score Gets pared down and now all of a sudden you've got nine possessions in a game Maybe 10 possessions one we had two games We had eight possessions in the game a normal nfl game is 12 to 13 possessions So that makes it really difficult on arthur smith to be able to design something To where you can get some plays and be willing to take some shots on a couple of series You might give a series away because then we're going to take a couple of shots Couldn't do that couldn't afford to do that because you couldn't get off the field on defense and to me that means stopping the run You've got to stop the run game. You've got to make on a one-dimensional team There's no question. You got to be able to rush the passer in this league But i'm looking for development. We talked about the new defensive coordinator. What's his what's his forte? This forte's the defensive line guy. Okay, he's going to come in help with the interior guys But that also means those edge guys. I'm looking for analdebacat to take another step I'm looking for de angelo malone to get the grasp on what this game He's already a core special teams player and an important player on that third phase I'm looking for him to start affecting things on the defensive side of the football And what linebackers potentially toy anderson. We mentioned those kind of the development of the players That we already have is kind of reminded my mind is because I don't know what we're going to get free agency I know there's some ideas and I don't know what we're going to get From a from a draft standpoint, but the guys that we have here We've got a young core nucleus of guys that have to take that next step And you've got a developmental guy shock. You guys talked about jerry gray development Develop those two young safeties continue to develop a j. Terrell. Maybe another guy on the other side Maybe that's a draft pick or whatever and then the edge players A ebacate he showed flashes have been able to get it done. Can you take him to the next level? Can he go to the next level? And you mentioned at rack Recognizing that there's guys that have worked with dudes whether it's on the d-line or the secondary That they they have an idea how it's supposed to work and how it's supposed to look Listen pay attention take that next step be willing to do that You know, we talked on a previous podcast right before we ended the season about how Atlanta had to kind of weather the storm as far as the salary cap goes and they're in a better position So and i'm not going to sit here and say i'm looking forward to seeing how much they spend Because they've obviously said that they got to find the right piece, right? The right person that fits the chemistry and the mold of the atlanta falcons But i'm interested to see if they go out and get somebody that's in the prime of his career defensively That's able to make a difference But not only that bring the competition in to raise the level of play as some of those younger players that you talked about Right because you bring in a guy that's been in the league for four or five years And maybe he's already a pro bull type player and a young kid sees him come in They're like well, well, how am I going to get on the field? You know how you get on the field you get better And you make plays right and the competition is what the nfl is all about So who do they decide to bring in maybe it's a defensive lineman Maybe it's somebody opposite age to rel in the free agency market I don't know if it's going to happen, but i'd like to see it. I'd like to see somebody That's just a truly Approven stud in the nfl come to this team and make a difference on that side of the ball So we've got a lot of time uh to figure out what's going to happen with ryan neilson jerry gray And this new staff on the defensive side of the ball, but hey, we're here for it, huh? We're here. What do you say? We got to get out on the grass I need to get out of the grass to get out of the grass We just clicked over to february and he's already ready to get on the grass. Let's start developing All right, that's gonna wrap it up for the falcons audible presented by at and t once again That's dave archer dj shockley. I'm derrick wrackley. Thanks so much for joining us And we'll be back again for the bigger moments of the atlanta falcons offseason. Thanks so much for joining us everyone