2023 Falcons roster review: Strong start, disappointing finish creates cornerback dilemma 

What was becoming one of the strongest positions on the roster turned into one with more long-term questions than answers by the end of the season.

The Atlanta Falcons’ cornerback group had been lacking in recent years, at least behind A.J. Terrell’s excellence. The depth chart comprised declining veterans and young players who proved to be overmatched when called upon. With more cap space and Ryan Nielsen’s influence, they were more proactive in addressing the position with a mixture of fascinating young talent.

Acquiring Jeff Okudah and drafting Clark Phillips provided much-needed excitement about the group. With veteran additions like Mike Hughes and Tre Flowers, the group seemed to be in good hands to be one of the more complete groups in recent memory. That ended up occurring for the first half of the season, at least.

Much like many of the things that happened to the Falcons after October, the group suffered several setbacks and started to allow more explosive plays as the season went on. The well-organized, disciplined group crumbled in ugly losses to Tennessee, Minnesota, Arizona, and Chicago. Those poor performances have resulted in a need what went wrong and to see where upgrades must be made to bring structure back to a group that briefly looked so promising.

Leader

A.J. Terrell

The star corner has become a bit polarizing within the Falcons’ fanbase. Although the coaching staff never showed signs of losing faith in him, Terrell’s play was more high-variance than expected for a player of his caliber. Being widely considered top ten at a respective position will merit the highest expectations. That means criticism will come heavy when Mike Evans and D.J. Moore are repeatedly beating you. It will intensify when Calvin Ridley and DeAndre Hopkins score touchdowns downfield, even though communication breakdowns and poor officiating were the causes behind those explosive plays.

Terrell is still one of the cornerstones of the defense. Multiple disappointing games in big matchups, along with a few explosive plays, don’t overshadow an overall very good season. It will be fascinating to see how Morris utilizes him, considering he is one of the few players remaining on the roster when Morris was the interim head coach in 2020. Despite being in his rookie year, there was no hesitation in having Terrell shadow Michael Thomas and Keenan Allen. The belief was understandably instantly there from Morris. It should only have strengthened from watching his growth over the last three seasons.

If you would like more Terrell content, the final staff roundtable of the 2023 season featured a lengthy discussion about the former second-team All-Pro. A more consistent Terrell, limiting illegal contact penalties and being less reliant on instincts in man coverage, could get him back to his elite form in 2021.

Potential Contributors

Clark Phillips

It was a bit of a journey for the intriguing prospect to get on the field, but he eventually made his mark and solidified a starting role opposite Terrell. Phillips did initially struggle to fill in at slot corner. The fit seemed awkward, as explosive receivers were beating him far too easily off the line of scrimmage. Once the coaching staff put him on the outside, he looked far more comfortable playing press coverage and using coverage leverage intelligently to make plays on the ball.

What made Phillips’ performances even more encouraging was how well he tackled. Even in games with ugly conditions against the Jets and Bears, he never shied away from the physical obligations that come with playing on the outside. Phillips can take the next step in being a dependable starting corner. His ability to play in man and zone should bode well under Morris. It’s more of a matter of how the head coach, who spent years as a positional defensive backs coach, decides best to use the exciting second-year player for his defensive vision.

Dee Alford

The consistency hasn’t been there, but there has been an abundance of flashes to make the new coaching staff enthusiastic about Alford’s capabilities within the secondary. His ball skills and awareness shined during the first half of last season. Due to size concerns, needing to take on return duties, and bizarre coaching decisions with personnel usage, his role as a nickel corner was greatly diminished in the second half of the season.

Alford is going to struggle against physical, imposing wide receivers. He is much better suited to playing inside against shifty, quick-footed slot receivers. Those limitations shouldn’t deter Morris from giving him opportunities to compete this summer. Alford can prove to be an above-average slot corner, like he did when the Falcons’ defense was at its best in October.

Mike Hughes

Some coaches strongly value having veterans within their secondary. That’s one of the primary reasons behind Hughes receiving more playing time than expected as the nickel corner. They wanted him on the field for his tackling and savviness. It didn’t translate into much success, as Hughes was generating more attention for his inability to handle basic punt-returning duties. He proved to be a total liability on special teams.

Although Arthur Smith highlighted his capabilities against the run, Hughes failed to make a notable impact when replacing Alford inside. Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberger mentioned the veteran corner as a potential cut candidate this off-season. It wouldn’t be surprising if the coaching staff decided to start fresh and upgrade at the position.

Pending Free Agents

Jeff Okudah

The former third overall pick’s performance encapsulates the Falcons’ overall pass coverage decline. When assessing the 2023 season, there can be strong claims that the defense played its best football from Week 3 to 7. That featured wins over two playoff teams in Houston and Tampa Bay while holding them to under 20 points. It also included resilient efforts against Detroit, Jacksonville, and Washington, where Desmond Ridder continuously forced the defense on the field with his abysmal decision-making. During this period, Okudah was inserted into the starting lineup and showcased what made him such an exciting highly-regarded talent.

His man coverage skills were sharp. His tackling was tone-setting within a stout run defense. Everything finally began to click for the enigmatic young cornerback. That quickly changed as Okudah lost his discipline and failed to handle zone coverage assignments. Playing Cover 2 proved to be problematic, as he didn’t get enough depth in his area. His strengths in man coverage started being derailed by poor positioning, excessive hand fighting, and failure to locate deep passes.

The coaching staff ultimately benched Okudah for the amount of big plays he allowed. Per Pro Football Focus, he allowed six catches or more against the Vikings, Saints, and Jets. Quarterbacks began targeting him, leading to his demotion into a backup role. Unless Morris shows a strong desire to coach him up and maximize his physical traits, the inconsistent cornerback will be on his third team in three years.

Tre Flowers

There aren’t many cornerbacks who need a specific scheme to be effective than Flowers. The physical defensive cornerback is best suited at covering tight ends in dime packages or filling in outside in heavy-zone schemes. Flowers doesn’t possess the fluid hips and quick feet to hold his own on the outside in man coverage.

If he is used to jam tight ends at the line of scrimmage, making them uncomfortable, the former Bengal will become a valuable role player. If he can be used as a depth piece on the outside where the coaching doesn’t overly rely on man coverage, he can be useful when called upon. Given all the talent on the roster, it’s difficult to see how Flowers would be prioritized to re-sign and utilized over younger players in a more expansive defense.

Overall Performance: Too Inconsistent But Encouraging

Besides Hughes and Flowers, every cornerback shined during stretches of last season. There were moments when Okudah broke up passes and made ferocious tackles consistently. Alford anticipated screens and blew up plays with authority by finishing strong with his tackling. The progression of Phillips was one of the few bright spots in the final six weeks of the season. Terrell had plenty of excellent games where opposing quarterbacks were punished for trying to test him on third down.

Unfortunately, none of them could maintain their high level of performance for an entire season. It would have been interesting to see Phillips and Alford play together over Okudah and Hughes at the end of the season. That may have been the necessary spark for a secondary that endured its share of porous performances. This is still a talented group, albeit one that is flawed and must learn from previous mistakes.

Outlook: Exciting Yet Uncertain

Another cornerback will certainly be signed, drafted, or traded for. The question comes down to whether they move towards adding a bigger corner made for playing outside or a smaller corner ready to handle covering slot receivers. That could be based on how they assess Phillips and where he fits best. However the evaluation goes, this group needs another potential starting option.

Okudah, Flowers, and Hughes likely won’t be on the roster. That leaves at least one spot open for someone to claim a significant role within the cornerback group. The secondary needs more stability after shuffling around its personnel too often last season. A more structured setup with Terrell playing more composed could get this group back on track as one of the top positional groups on the roster.