Head coach Dan Quinn has woken up each morning since being hired thinking about evaluing the Falcons' roster more and more. He's been obsessive over it, even at the NFL Combine, when he's also evaluating college talent.
MORE: Read Quinn's evaluation of and Robert Alford
While general manager Thomas Dimitroff and Quinn have both said in Indianapolis that they're very much still evaluating the players on the roster right now, Quinn, in particular, is able to give some thoughts on how those players fit into what he wants to do:
Quinn when asked about Jonathan Massaquoi and Kroy Biermann: "The movement, the first thing when you're talking about pass rush, you're talking about get-off. That's one of the things when you're evaluating the guys, 'OK, let's look at the get-off and does he have the quickness to get off the spot?' As a rusher, can you get the tackle off the spot to get them to move. So I really think you look for that speed and quickness first. I try to look at as many of the guys on the roster as I could to see what unique stuff they have. Then our job is to pull that out of them and see what they can do. It's a big topic, and one that's right at the forefront of our discussions."
Quinn on how he can utilize Tyson Jackson and Paul Soliai: "We've always liked the big guys for some of the first- and second-down stuff. When teams want to get tough and play hardball, we like to do that. There's other games when you're playing three- and four-receiver sets, so we'll be equipped to play that. That versatility on defense is important, and one of the things you'll hear me talk about through the years as we're going through it: Whatever a team wants to play, we'll be able to do that. If they want to get big, we'll get big. If they want to play fast, we'll have the versatility to do that. That's why I like all the unique players — big guys, fast guys, long guys, all the good qualities that a guy has. ... You need that (size), too. That's a part of it, too, when you play teams that, like I said, want to get big and try to play a hardball running game. You better have enough big guys or it's going to be hard on you."
Quinn on LB Prince Shembo: "Right now, I see him working back outside. That's where I also evaluated him coming out (of college). I'm looking forward to working with him. We evaluated him as an inside linebacker from his tape this year, but I even went back and looked at him from his tape coming out because I wanted to get a sense of what he was there. There's going to be lots of position flexibility, keep trying, keep grinding, keep evaluating to find the very best guys to do it."
Quinn on S Dezmen Southward: "I love the speed and the length, so we're going to try that versatility. Is he a safety? Is he a corner? We went back to look at his Senior Bowl tape where he also played corner so, I love the speed, I love the length and he's an interesting guy for us moving forward to see what unique stuff does he have and then try to put him in the best spot to work his skills."
Quinn on S William Moore: "I've always loved the toughness that he's played with — the tackling. Really, he and Ish (Kemal Ishmael) made a big impression on me in terms of tackling and effort. Kemal did a good job, too. I can't wait to get a chance to work with these guys and show them how we can feature them in this system."
Quinn on S Dwight Lowery: "I had the chance to work with Dwight during my time with the New York Jets, he was actually on the team there, so I think his versatility is one of his real strengths. Here's a guy who's played corner, he's played nickel, he's played deep safety, he's played down."
