LB Michael Boley, Atlanta Falcons (1 Viewer)

[dgreen]

Demarrio, Brookings, and Boley. Where do they play? When do they play? Why has Boley put up good numbers the last few weeks?

 

[Jene Bramel]

Demarrio, Brookings, and Boley. Where do they play? When do they play? Why has Boley put up good numbers the last few weeks?

WLB WilliamsMLB BrookingSLB Boley (Ed Donatell refers to this position as BLB)For now, it appears to me that all three backers are playing on passing downs, especially with Abraham out. I wasn't watching closely enough last Monday night and didn't notice if Grady Jackson was the odd man out on passing downs in favor of an extra corner but I think that's been the case. The beat writers and message board folks have been reporting that Brooking is being blitzed more often and many of Boley's big plays are coming on clear passing downs. He may be playing a DE type role on passing downs with Abraham out. I'll keep searching for confirmation. Haven't seen many Falcons homers on this board who may help -- ???.Boley is in the lineup to begin with because he was much more impressive than Williams from an outside-the-boxscore standpoint in 2005 and has continued to improve. You're starting to see the natural progression of a stud talent. Good enough to overcome hesitation or overpursuit last season but when they become more comfortable with the speed and scheme they correct those half second issues and start making big plays.Boley plays much bigger than his size and, for those that watched the Saint game, regularly gets off blocks at the point of attack to make tackles. Until Brooking closes the deal on a blitz or two, his value is going to continue to be hurt by Boley's play on the strong side. Williams will still make plenty of plays in pursuit and it appears that he may have taken over a fair amount of the coverage duties that used to fall to Brooking a couple seasons ago.

 

[nortobc]

What happened to Hartwell? I dropped D. Williams last week (for L. Johnson unfortunetly) because I thought Hartwell was coming back. Did Hartwell play this weekend?

 

[Jene Bramel]

What happened to Hartwell? I dropped D. Williams last week (for L. Johnson unfortunetly) because I thought Hartwell was coming back. Did Hartwell play this weekend?

Practiced last week but wasn't active. Hard to say if it's a sign of things to come or if the coaches wanted to let it go through the bye week.

 

[Hoodoo]

Demarrio, Brookings, and Boley. Where do they play? When do they play? Why has Boley put up good numbers the last few weeks?

WLB WilliamsMLB BrookingSLB Boley (Ed Donatell refers to this position as BLB)For now, it appears to me that all three backers are playing on passing downs, especially with Abraham out. I wasn't watching closely enough last Monday night and didn't notice if Grady Jackson was the odd man out on passing downs in favor of an extra corner but I think that's been the case. The beat writers and message board folks have been reporting that Brooking is being blitzed more often and many of Boley's big plays are coming on clear passing downs. He may be playing a DE type role on passing downs with Abraham out. I'll keep searching for confirmation. Haven't seen many Falcons homers on this board who may help -- ???.Boley is in the lineup to begin with because he was much more impressive than Williams from an outside-the-boxscore standpoint in 2005 and has continued to improve. You're starting to see the natural progression of a stud talent. Good enough to overcome hesitation or overpursuit last season but when they become more comfortable with the speed and scheme they correct those half second issues and start making big plays.Boley plays much bigger than his size and, for those that watched the Saint game, regularly gets off blocks at the point of attack to make tackles. Until Brooking closes the deal on a blitz or two, his value is going to continue to be hurt by Boley's play on the strong side. Williams will still make plenty of plays in pursuit and it appears that he may have taken over a fair amount of the coverage duties that used to fall to Brooking a couple seasons ago.

Nice write-up Jene, I've watched Boley since he played for Southern Miss & I've always been a big fan. When he was drafted I thought at some point he would end up taking over for Brooking & Brooking moved to the middle, but so far this looks to be just as good.

 

[Jene Bramel]

Things look like they'll be stable for Boley even with Abraham returning.

atlantafalcons.com (Mora Wednesday press conference)

Q: Assuming Abraham comes back, what will you do with Michael Boley?

Mora: What we did with Michael the last couple weeks is that on third down we put him in as a pass-rushing end on occasion, not consistently, but as a change up. He will still have that role. He's shown the ability to get the edge and have an impact, so we are going to continue to use him doing some of those things. Whether that be spelling Pat some or spelling John some or coming with some of the packages, then that is what we want to do because he's proven so far to be a guy that can make an impact.

Also, no mention of any changes to the current starting linebacker unit yet. At last word, Mora wanted to see how Ed Hartwell did in practice. Reading between the lines, it sounded as if he was trying to delay the decision as long as possible and hold onto the injury excuse to keep Hartwell out.