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: Jake Rajala

The Atlanta Falcons made legendary Florida Gator Kyle Pitts the highest-drafted tight end in history when they selected him fourth overall in the 2020 draft. A decision to draft Pitts over a future quarterback like Justin Fields was seen as questionable by many analysts and avid Falcons fans. Nonetheless, Pitts is undoubtedly an elite talent and he’s out to prove he deserved to be a Top 5 draft pick at the TE position. 

Despite not playing a professional snap on the football field, Pitts has already shown that he’s a gifted player this offseason. In fact, the trait that really impressed the Falcons was not his size or speed, but rather his wingspan. His wingspan reportedly measured 83 ⅝! Pitts’s wingspan is the longest of any tight end or wide receiver in the last 20 years. 

Pitts is set to show his freakish wingspan on top of his blazing speed (4.44) and his 6’6 frame will allow him to translate well to the NFL level. Pitts, who shows similar traits to elite wide receivers, will surely be one of the top rookies in 2021. Personally, I believe there’s lots of optimism for him to be the very best offensive rookie next season. Here is why the highest-drafted TE ever can be the first TE ever to win Offensive Rookie of The Year (OROY). 

• Nobody has passed the football more than the Falcons over the last two seasons

The Atlanta Falcons like to sling the pigskin more than any other ball club. The Falcons were fourth in passing attempts last season and first in passing attempts the season prior. 

The Falcons play in more shootout contests than nearly any NFL team. In the Falcons division, they play Tom Brady (third-ranked scoring offense in 2020) twice a year, the Saints offense (fifth-ranked scoring offense last season), and the Panthers aerial attack receiving a healthy Christian McCaffrey in the fold. A disadvantage for the Falcons winning chances, but an advantage for Pitts is that the Falcons pass defense has shown to be the worst in the league (32 out of 32 teams). The Falcons offense is forced to keep pace with the likes of their opposing divisional juggernaut offenses. 

In the wild west of the NFC South, high-scoring matchups are a recurring theme. Offensive weapons in the division have repeatedly put up stats that were above their actual quality of talent. Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin was third in the NFL in receiving yards in 2019 when his below-average QB Jameis Winston threw over 5,000 passing yards. Pitts teammate Calvin Ridley was a beneficiary of the Falcons air rampage with his 1,374 yard tally in 15 games last season, which was good for fifth in the league. It’s blatantly safe to say that Pitts will be a heavy target and he will receive a plethora of opportunities in the 2021 campaign. 

• Absence of Julio Jones

Another big reason why Pitts is set to haunt the league is a more well-known and relevant reason. The Falcons recently lost franchise great player and WR Julio Jones.

In three of the last four seasons, Jones has collected 148+ targets for his QB Matt Ryan. Pitts and Calvin Ridley will be tasked with filling the shoes of one of the once most indispensable players in the league. Ryan will be under lots of pressure in the 2021 season and it will be the first season he is without his long-time security blanket. He knows that his rookie TE will be a great asset to feed the football to on a repeated basis.

The post Why Kyle Pitts can be the first TE in NFL history to win OROY appeared first on Pro Football Mania.