New Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn came from an organization in the Seattle Seahawks built on a powerful, physical defense and a grinding, opportunistic offense - a blueprint so successful that the franchise was able to reach each of the last two Super Bowls, emerging victorious once.
Quinn will, no doubt, hearken back to much of his experience in Seattle as he continues reconstructing the new-look Falcons.
One of the top priorities for Quinn will be to add a significant pass-rush punch the Falcons severely lacked last season - they finished the year with just 22 sacks, tied with the Oakland Raiders for the second-fewest in the league. They also gave up the most passing yards per game.
While free agency has largely come and gone and the addition of O'Brien Schofield and Adrian Clayborn - and potentially Michael Bennett if he can force his way out of Seattle - added some strength to the Falcons' front seven, there has been no addition that Atlanta fans can yet point to and think, "yes, that's the guy that'll be depositing quarterbacks on their backside consistently next season."
As such, Quinn and the Falcons may need to look to the 2015 NFL Draft and their eighth-overall selection as the main means by which they upgrade their moribund pass-rush.
As the draft looms ever closer, two names seem to come up time and again in mock draft offerings for the Falcons - Clemson's Vic Beasley and Missouri's Shane Ray.
"No player has risen more on the draft boards of teams across the league coming out of the NFL combine," writes ESPN's Mel Kiper. Jr of Beasley. "When you run 4.53 with a 1.59 split, post a vertical of 41 inches and put up a bench press total (35 reps) that's as good as the strongest nose tackles, and at a chiseled 246 pounds - well, you turn some heads. Thing is, Beasley isn't just an athletic freak because he's been a one-man production line at Clemson, with 44.5 tackles for loss over the last two seasons. He can flat out create disruption and get to the quarterback, and that's exactly what Atlanta needs. The pass rush is desperate for production and Beasley can help soon."
Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network, Rob Rang of CBS Sports, Pat Kirwan of CBS Sports and Dan Kadar of SB Nation all slotted Beasley to the Falcons as well.
Beasley will need to continue to bulk up and prove that he can carry the extra weight and play with the functional strength to operate at the NFL level without losing any of his burst or quickness.
Ray, on the other hand, has been offered as a potential Falcons selection by the likes of Matt Miller of Bleacher Report, Bucky Brooks of NFL Network and ESPN's Todd McShay.
"We moved Ray down our board a little bit this week, to No. 15," writes McShay. "His below-average performance in the bench press (21 reps) and the fact that he weighed in at just 246 pounds is a little bit of a concern when you scroll through the list of the NFL's sack leaders and recognize how many of them have power as a major component of their games. I also haven't been blown away by what I've seen from Ray on tape so far. However, he was a very productive player at Missouri, and once we get a chance to do his full evaluation and see his testing results at his pro day (he wasn't able to run in Indy due to an injury), we might move him back up. And the Falcons are in serious need of pass-rushing help for new head coach Dan Quinn's defense."
Nebraska's Randy Gregory and Kentucky's Bud Dupree are other pass-rushing options that have been mocked to the Falcons as well.
While it's usually best not to enter the draft with such a clear, glaring need, April's rookie NFL meat market seems to be chock full of guys whose specialty is rushing the passer.
Quinn and the Falcons should have no problem finding one or two front-seven stars, it'll simply be a matter of which players they choose to target.
