Re: Least Risky RBs?
Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2024 11:29 am
For sure… might have been their already displeasure to the offense in general. You can never be wrong with picking the top at a position however with already having a promising 1 year RB, they were looking elsewhere.Bronco Billy wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2024 11:19 amWhy were they pissed? ATL was getting (and has) a very dynamic asset that can completely change the way a D has to defend and can make the O so much more agile and deceptive. The biggest problem I saw in ATL was a severe mismatch between the vision of the GM and the philosophy/capability of the HC.TheTroll wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2024 10:24 amFF let me clarify, yes there were rumors of Bijan getting selected by ATL, however Allgeier didn’t do anything wrong to effectively lose his role from his 2022 performance. The point is that the position is unpredictable and change happens faster there than anywhere else.FantasyFreak wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2024 6:11 am
It wasn't a surprise pick. It was the predictable pick. A ton of people expected the Falcons to take him at 8. It didn't surprise many people.
There isn't a RB close to him in this draft, either. One of the worst RB classes in recent memory. FA is the risk this year, not the draft.
90% of my friends are ATL fans and they were pissed that ATL picked Bijan so early when they already had Allgeier.
It was painfully clear early on that Smith had no clue how to utilize an asset like Bijan. He tried to run him between the tackles too much (Bijan’s biggest weakness) and didn’t get him the ball in space, especially in the intermediate level of the field (Bijan’s greatest strength) nearly enough. Even when Smith tried to run Bijan outside it was at high speed instead of stretch concepts, where Bijan was hitting the outside lane at speed instead of being able to wait for his seam and then running to daylight to use his open field skills into the second level.
On the other hand, Allgeier is the hammer that Smith loves, getting upfield as quickly as possible and not worrying about 2nd and 3rd level scheming much. And true to Smith’s nature (and assisting the opponent’s D scheming) even though Allgeier got a lot fewer snaps - fewer than half as many as Bijan - he got nearly as many carries despite being significantly less productive with his carries.
Smith had an offense in TEN that fit his limited mentality perfectly. Give Henry the ball 300+ times, slam him into the D, and let Henry and his extraordinary skills do the rest. Let Henry force the SS into the box and force the DBs to take a first look into the backfield which allowed the passing game to function. Allgeier is solid as a hammer but he ain’t Henry and Smith had no clue how to properly use the tools he was given in ATL.
Fontenot was pretty clearly drafting pieces that would make ATL very flexible and dynamic on O - which would be assisted by a QB who was limited as a passer but might be better in a more dynamic scheme - while Smith was extraordinarily limited in his imagination and scheming. Allgeier and Bijan should have complimented each other and allowed Smith to do a lot of variable things, including getting both guys on the field at the same time, and turning up the pressure on the D. That in turn would have made Ridder more effective and would have given him easier throws to make.
Drafting Bijan into that offense showed some great insight by Fontenot IMO. His problem was having such a mismatch of a HC running the show, and I’m guessing Blank had a lot of say in perpetuating that mismatch.
