When the Falcons acquired Asante Samuel in the offseason, the immediate speculation was that Dunta Robinson, a physical presence at cornerback, would be able to move inside to man the slot position, a role he played at a high level when he was with the Houston Texans.
Through OTAs Robinson manned the outside, often opposite Grimes and when three cornerbacks were on the field, Robinson would move inside. It's unclear at this point six days into camp who the first two corners on the field will be, but on Tuesday head coach Mike Smith said Robinson has been the primary slot corner in practices.
"The one thing that I think has been pretty consistent is our nickel corner," Smith said. "We've been trying to get Dunta as many snaps as we can inside."
Meanwhile, the Falcons are flipping Grimes and Samuel on the outside and trying to get a feel for which side they play best as well as get each of them comfortable on either side. A comfort level on both sides for the corners will allow the Falcons to further disguise some of their defensive looks, as well as man certain players against each other.
"It's very advantageous for us in evaluating and advantageous for the guys," Smith said. "Matchups are very crucial in the game, especially in your sub-package. You've got to be able at times to match up. We're going to have that flexibility. We're going to have multiplicity in what we're doing defensively in terms of where guys are going to line up.
Smith said both players have experience on either side and the evaluation regarding which side each corner will line up at is ongoing.
