FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – Falcons coach Dan Quinn has been open in saying the No. 1 area he wants his team to improve in the coming season is their scoring offense.
And new quarterbacks coach Greg Knapp could play a big role in that.
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Knapp was hired this offseason after Bush Hamdan left following the 2017 season to become the offensive coordinator at the University of Washington.
One quality that sticks out about Knapp is the experience he has in Atlanta's offensive scheme. Knapp has served as the offensive coordinator for the following teams in his coaching tenure: Oakland Raiders (2012), San Francisco (2001-03) and the Falcons (2004-2006). He also has a wealth of knowledge working with quarterbacks as he's also spent a large amount of his time in the role of quarterbacks coach with a number of teams, including the Denver Broncos during Peyton Manning's time (2013-2016) and in Houston when backup quarterback Matt Schaub was the starter for the Texans (2010-2011).
When asked how much another year of working together will specifically help offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian and Matt Ryan continue to grow, Quinn quickly mentioned Knapp's name.
"I think Greg Knapp is a factor in that as well," Quinn said. "Not only can Sark focus so much of his time on the entire offense, last year he kind of did double-duty of offense and coaching quarterbacks. Having a guy with Greg's experience to lean on here, I think that is an underrated asset for us to lean on this year."
With Knapp's experience and knowledge of the Falcons scheme, the hope is that Sarkisian won't have to spend as much time solely devoted to Ryan and the quarterbacks room. He'll be able to spend more time dissecting other areas of the offense.
Atlanta's offense dropped in a few statistical categories from the 2016 to 2017, most notably in its red-zone efficiency where the Falcons converted on 50 percent of their chances to the red zone. The Falcons averaged 22.1 points per game which was 15th in the league.
Another year of experience for the entire group and the addition of Knapp has Quinn especially excited for the 2018 season.
"Not only are we excited for Sark but we're excited for our entire offense, because we think we can get significantly better in our turnover margin and our scoring offense," Quinn said.
