former Clemson Tiger with NFL size and skill."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Library FalcFans Podcast on The FalcoholicContact The FalcoholicFalcons StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Falcons NewsYahoo Falcons Team PageYahoo Falcons ReportYahoo Falcons Depth ChartYahoo Falcons TransactionsYahoo Falcons PhotosOdds About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub tlanta Falcons NFL Draft prospect scouting report: Clelin Ferrell Youth Giorgio Tavecchio Jersey , DE , Clemson New,16commentsThe edge player carousel continues with a former Clemson Tiger with NFL size and skill. EDTShareTweetShareShareAtlanta Falcons NFL Draft prospect scouting report: Clelin Ferrell, DE , Clemson Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY SportsHere’s another option for the Atlanta Falcons to address their pass rushing issues in the 2019 NFL Draft. In Clemson, South Carolina, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has manufactured a prominent source of top-notch NFL talent. Alongside with their establishment as a National Championship contender is the conception that the program produces prospects that NFL teams covet regularly. This draft season is no different. In recent years, the Atlanta Falcons have tapped the well a few times, specifically with Vic Beasley and Grady Jarrett. The Falcons are still in need of help along the defensive line, and the Tigers so happen to have a number of prospects that the Falcons have showed interest in. If the Falcons are to stay put at 14th overall in the first round, here is a defensive end prospect to keep an eye on. Clelin Ferrell Scouting Report Height: 6’4 Weight: 265 lbs Career stats: 166 tackles, 50.5 tackles for loss, 27 sacks Games watched: 2017 vs. Auburn, 2017 vs. NC State, 2017 vs. Alabama, 2017 vs. Florida State, 2018 vs. Boston College, 2018 vs. Texas A&M, 2019 vs. Alabama Strengths: Accolades piled up for Ferrell after this past season with first team All-ACC honors Stitched Austin Hooper Jersey , ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and a first-team All-American nod, along with the Ted Hendricks award for the top defensive end in all of college football. Ferrell possesses favorable NFL size at 6’4 and 265 pounds. Along with the size comes great hand size at 10.5 inches. Partly because of that hand size, Ferrell has great hand usage when battling opposing linemen by shedding blockers efficiently and swiping away the hands of offensive linemen. Ferrell utilizes a deep bag of pass-rushing moves from clubs and rips to swims, and is effective in playing either underneath or over the top in designed stunts. He has the arm length to consistently prevent blockers from getting inside his pads and many times, wins the leverage battle in that way. Ferrell’s vision is also a plus thanks to his ability to diagnose blocking schemes and reacting accordingly. His play strength allows him to be more than capable of establishing the edge in run defense and is tough to move at the point of attack. Jerome Miron-USA TODAY SportsWeaknesses: Ferrell’s lateral agility is commonly questioned thanks to a lack of fluidity in his hips. It definitely showed during the 2017 season as Ferrell’s playing weight was closer to 280 pounds. The added weight slowed his ability to turn and move even more. Ferrell has shown some struggles in space throughout his entire career. Ferrell has some athleticism in his game but not enough to consistently win against blockers with it. Ferrell is able to turn the corner against tackles, but has adequate closing burst on the quarterback. Ferrell played with prime NFL talent throughout his collegiate career and faces questions of whether he is a beneficiary because of it. Conclusion: Ferrell is a unique prospect in this draft. He has plenty of production, especially over the course of the last two seasons at Clemson. He has garnered plenty of accolades and is just about a surefire first-round pick in this year’s draft. However, there is a but. The but is that even with him being one of the first 32 players selected in this year’s draft, he probably has the lowest ceiling of any of the top edge rushers in this draft. It is not to say that Ferrell will not be good at the next level; he has a significant chance of being just that. What many wonder, including myself, is how good can Ferrell be. Based on his overall skill set, I don’t expect Ferrell to be a difference making pass rusher in the same class as J.J. Watt, Joey Bosa, Myles Garrett, or Von Miller. But what I do expect is a pass rusher who wins off strength and technique and is able to be a key part of a team’s pass rush. His skill set clearly states that he is a strong-side defensive end, and in the Falcons defensive scheme, Ferrell can see time on the field on all three downs. If selected at 14th overall by the Falcons, Ferrell can be an asset in Year 1 and beyond. While he may not necessarily be an elite difference maker Youth Austin Hooper Jersey , with a little polish, Ferrell can help form a really good tandem on the edge alongside third-year defensive end Takk McKinley. New coordinator Ben Kotwica holds the reins, Giorgio Tavecchio gets the kicking keys, and a bevy of options at returner." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesHorizontal - WhiteThe Falcoholican Atlanta Falcons communityLog In or Sign UpLog InSign UpFanpostsFanshotsLibraryFalconsOddsAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 322 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Library FalcFans Podcast on The FalcoholicContact The FalcoholicFalcons StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Falcons NewsYahoo Falcons Team PageYahoo Falcons ReportYahoo Falcons Depth ChartYahoo Falcons TransactionsYahoo Falcons PhotosOdds About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub ✕For the Falcons, a fresh start on special teams New,5commentsNew coordinator Ben Kotwica holds the reins, Giorgio Tavecchio gets the kicking keys, and a bevy of options at returner.EDTShareTweetShareShareFor the Falcons, a fresh start on special teams Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesA team electing to move on from a franchise veteran is never easy. When that franchise veteran is the organization’s all-time leading scorer, well, that’s where things get a bit dicier. Matt Bryant was a shocking-yet-understandable cut early on in an Atlanta Falcons offseason that’s seen more turnover than any time in Dan Quinn’s tenure as head coach. The focal point of the Falcons’ special teams unit, Bryant is in the twilight of his NFL career but still an extremely productive — and lethally clutch — kicker. With those facts not in dispute, the Falcons willingly closed the door on Bryant’s time in Atlanta.And so began the overhaul of a special teams unit that, quite frankly, hasn’t been very effective or consistent on Dan Quinn’s watch — with the exception of the steady hand (and leg) of Matt Bryant. Bryant’s departure came on the heels of the immediate firing of longtime special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong on Black Monday. A holdover from the Mike Smith Era, Armstrong oversaw a unit that finished top-five in 2010, but points courtesy of Matt Bryant’s boot aside, special teams has been spectacularly pedestrian under Coach Quinn. Marvin Hall may have finished top-10 in kickoff return yards in 2018 with 616, but he was near the bottom of the pack of qualifying returners in yards per return with 23.69. Leading the league in return yards? Well Stitched Deion Jones Jersey , that’s none other than former Atlanta Falcon Andre Roberts who garnered his first Pro Bowl nod with 1,174. He also finished second among qualifying returners with 29.35 yards per return.It’s a recent example, sure, but it’s glaringly indicative of how desperately this phase of the Atlanta Falcons’ game was aching for new blood at coordinator. Roberts’ immediate twist of the knife with his new team is the type of thing that leads to subsequent changeover on the coaching staff, and so it was no surprise when Keith Armstrong got the axe at the end of the league year.Enter Ben Kotwica, Washington’s former special teams coordinator who now holds the reins and is hoping to amplify production in Atlanta. He did yeoman’s work in D.C. last season, boosting Washington’s special teams rank to 8th in DVOA in 2018 — up from 22nd the previous year. He also flew attack helicopters in the military which is pretty awesome. Kotwica inherits a special teams unit now without its best playmaker, but with a promising young kicker in Giorgio Tavecchio. Tavecchio was absolutely lights out in relief of Matt Bryant last season, going 33-34 in extra points and 5-5 in field goals, including a prodigious 56-yarder to seal it against the New York Giants in Week 7. It’s obvious that he’s got the leg to succeed, but does he have the poise and grit and clutch DNA that carried Matt Bryant through his career? For better or worse, we’re about to find out; but the results so far have been nothing less than encouraging.Reinvigorating the return game is another task that’s been staked to Ben Kotwica, and he’s been afforded new options to turn a lackluster area into a positive. The Falcons selected Louisiana-Monroe running back/returner Marcus Green in the sixth round for seemingly that purpose: to inject his 4.3 speed on kickoff returns and increase Atlanta’s standing in the battle for field position. Other options exist as well in the form of free agent addition Kenjon Barner and undrafted standout and former Oregon running back/returner Tony Brooks-James. Barner is the only established commodity, but Green and Brooks-James both provide some intrigue at the returner spot.Matt Bryant and Keith Armstrong’s departures and the arrival of Ben Kotwica have ushered in a new era for the Atlanta Falcons special teams unit. They’re shifting from entrenched names to relative unknowns, which should stoke some unease in the slow march to the start of the season. But sometimes in order to fix things you have to begin by taking them all apart, and with the litany of changes on special teams it appears that the Atlanta Falcons are willing to throw down their chips on new solutions rather than sticking with the status quo. It’s a hefty gamble, but one they’re willing to make.