By: Andy Davies

When Arthur Smith was hired as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, he came into the role with a great reputation for improving players after a two-season spell as the offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans.

One player he helped improve was quarterback Ryan Tannehill. The former first-round pick arrived after a mixed spell with the Miami Dolphins. Tannehill improved massively, earning the award for Comeback Player of the Year after his first season with the franchise despite starting the season as the backup to Marcus Mariota. When Smith was promoted to offensive coordinator, he only got better.

Smith was predicted by many to help Matt Ryan get back to his former MVP self after what he did for Tannehill. Ryan has not improved or regressed in 2021. Instead, it has been Cordarrelle Patterson that has been the biggest improver under Smith. 

Here is why Patterson is Smith’s new Tannehill. 

Overcoming Expectation

The Falcons experimented with the idea of bringing Todd Gurley back to his best in 2020 but this only lasted one season. Instead of giving Gurley a new deal, they went for the versatile Patterson in Free Agency who signed a one-year $3 million deal. 

Patterson has been seen as somewhat of a journeyman during his NFL career, with the Falcons his fifth organisation since being drafted 29^th overall in 2013. For a while, he was seen as a great return specialist at best, with the occasional snaps as a running back or wide receiver.

He is a Super Bowl champion, earning a ring with the New England Patriots after their 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 53. However, he had just two rushing attempts for 7 yards and two receptions for 14 yards as well as a 38-yard kick return. He did not exactly have a big role in the game, in what is the lowest scoring Super Bowl in history. 

Patterson has started eight games this season. This is tied for the most games he has started, alongside his 2016 campaign with the Minnesota Vikings. The growth of Patterson and improvement made under Smith can be seen when you compare these two seasons.

In 2016, he recorded 43 rushing yards from 7 attempts and 453 yards from 52 receptions. In 2021, he has so far recorded 489 rushing yards from 106 carries and 518 receiving yards from 44 catches. He is having the best season of his career by some distance. 

The Falcons need to make sure he is at the franchise for more than one season. Giving him a new contract should be number one on the list of priorities for this team. He has been a brilliant addition to the Falcons offense. Kyle Pitts leads the team in receiving yards this season (770), but Calvin Ridley announced midseason that he would take a break from the sport for personal reasons. With the offseason departure of Julio Jones, Patterson’s rise in form has come at the perfect time. They currently sit at 6-7 with a chance of making the playoffs for the first time since the 2017 campaign.

Smith’s Influence

The aforementioned Tannehill spoke about Smith during the 2021 offseason.

“He’s a great coach. Everything you look for in a coach and a leader and a great offensive mind.”

It is not just Tannehill that saw massive improvement under Smith. Running back Derrick Henry was seen as just a good running back during his first three seasons but saw his best two seasons alongside Smith. He recorded 2,293 rushing yards across his first three seasons in the NFL. His next two (2019 and 2020) saw him combine for 3,567 rushing yards and 33 rushing touchdowns, becoming just the eighth player in NFL history to record over 2,000 rushing yards in a single season when he had 2,027 in 2019. 

Smith clearly knows how to work with running backs, as can be seen with Henry. The same is happening again with Patterson. After their 21-14 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in November, Smith was in high praise of Patterson.

“He’s a warrior. He’s a big physical presence that can do a lot for us.”

This was proved when he was listed as a back safety earlier this month.  It is a sign of a good coach when they can get the best out of a player and see their potential. Not even the greatest head coach of all time in Bill Belichick realised Patterson’s potential. Smith has taken a player seemingly on the wrong end of his career, to now being one of the best players this season. Some are even viewing him as an outside MVP candidate.

Patterson has a lot to thank Smith for. 

The post Is Cordarrelle Patterson Arthur Smith’s New Ryan Tannehill? appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Ladarius Brown

Now that the 2021 NFL Draft is in the books, franchises now have their players of the future in place. One of those franchises, the Atlanta Falcons, did just at pick No. 4, drafting Kyle Pitts of Florida. As I have mentioned in other pieces, this was the right call for two reasons. First, there is a strong likelihood that All-Pro WR Julio Jones could be traded after June 1st because of his high cap number ($23 million). Second, the Falcons will not pick up TE Hayden Hurst’s fifth-year option, thus inserting Pitts as the starter of the future.    

The reason why he has legitimate shot at the award is because of his new QB, Matt Ryan. Ryan has 10 seasons of at least 4,000 passing yards, good for 5th all-time. Ryan knows how to get the ball to his targets, doing so his whole career.    

Here is a list of players and year(s) that they had at one 1,000-yard receiver under Ryan in his 13-year career:   

WR Roddy White ”“ 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012   

WR Julio Jones ”“ 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019   

WR Harry Douglas ”“ 2013   

WR Calvin Ridley ”“ 2020   

Notice a pattern? Every year since Ryan has been the starting QB of the Falcons, there has been at least one player with 1,000 yards receiving. When you have almost 56,000 career passing yards and average 272 yards/gm, it might not be all that surprising. This is why I am very optimistic that Pitts’ chances at winning the award.   

Looking at the history of Ryan and TEs, there are only two that have been the most productive during his tenure. First, HOF’er Tony Gonzalez, one of the best to play the position, was Ryan’s No. 1 TE for five years (2009-2013). During his time in Atlanta, Gonzalez accumulated 409 receptions, 4,187 receiving yards, and 35 TDs.    

Austin Hooper, their 3rd round pick in 2016 out of Stanford, had a very solid career for the Falcons. In his four seasons (2016-2019), he had 214 receptions, 2,244 yards, and 16 TDs. While both Gonzalez and Hooper were great in their respective tenures for the Falcons but Pitts and his game fit how the position is being played now.   

The evolution of the TE was from players who typically played on the line of scrimmage only in a stance to being slot WRs and running the route tree as a WR. At Florida, Pitts was another WR in HC Dan Mullen’s offense. He played the position as a freshman in Gainsville. Pitts as well lined up in all of the receiver positions on the field.    

TEs have become just as much of a weapon/ best friend for a QB as a WR. A few examples: Patrick Mahomes has Travis Kelce, Tom Brady has Gronk, and Jimmy G (eventually Trey Lance) has George Kittle.   

How can Matt Ryan’s weapon/best friend Kyle Pitts elevate him back to that 2016 MVP status? First, let us examine Ryan’s MVP season. He had 4,944 passing yards, 38 TDs, and 7 Ints. Here is a positional breakdown by percentage of receiving yards that year:  

WRs not named Julio Jones ”“ 36.5% (1,817 yards)  

Julio Jones ”“ 28.5 % (1,409 yards)  

RBs ”“ 19.1% (944 yards)  

TEs ”“ 15.9% (788 yards)  

As you can see, RBs accounted for more receiving yards than TEs. Even more, RBs Devonta Freeman & Tevin Coleman had more yards receiving than every single TE on the roster in 2016.   

Pitts can fill this weak spot instantaneously. In 2016, five TEs caught passes from Ryan. Pitts had 43 receptions, 770 yards, and 12 TDs in his last season at Florida. If you integrate those stats into Ryan’s 2016 MVP season, Pitts would have been 4th in receptions, 2nd in yards, and 1st in TDs. Inserting Pitts’ stats in his last season at Florida with Ryan’s in 2016 while omitting the TEs and their stats that year, here’s the stat line: 4,926 yards, 40 TDs, and 7 Ints.  

As you can see, Ryan loses 18 yards but gets an additional 2 TDs if Pitts were there in 2016. Pitts would have accounted for 15.6% of Ryan’s passing yards all by himself. That is .4% less of all TEs in that MVP year. Ryan relied more on the RBs in 2016 than his TEs, which can be quite concerning.   

Now that Ryan has a legitimate playmaker at TE in Pitts, Ryan can get back into form. Most defenses use an LB to cover TEs but that would be a major mismatch for Pitts and an elite QB like Ryan will pick that apart. Pitts can cover the field more than any other TE Ryan has ever played with. Ryan has one, possibly two, MVP years left in him. If WR Calvin Ridley is the next Julio Jones combined with Pitts, Ryan is a legit MVP candidate.   

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