Falcons’ head coach Dan Quinn gave us some insight into the te

am’s thoughts on Jack Crawford’s excellent 2018 season and Atlanta’s plans for the DT position heading into the 2019 NFL Draft."The 2019 NFL Draft is only two weeks away Chris Lindstrom Atlanta Falcons Jersey , and the rumor mill is starting to heat up around many NFL teams. One of the biggest questions surrounding the Falcons has been whether they’re going to try to trade up for DT Ed Oliver or stand pat at 14. With Atlanta looking into free agent DTs like Tyeler Davison and Ra’shede Hageman, there’s been some speculation that the team may be planning to go in a different direction. It’s also entirely possible that the Falcons are just doing due diligence on available free agents if they don’t get their guy in the draft.We were able to dig up an intriguing interview with Dan Quinn from the NFL’s spring meetings a few weeks back. In it, he sheds a little more light on the team’s plans at DT, and also his thoughts on the current strength of the rotation.First off, Quinn was effusive in his praise for DT Jack Crawford.Crawford had a very impressive year coming off a season-ending injury in 2017. He was one of the most effective pass rushers on the team, regardless of position. Although Crawford was initially signed as an EDGE, Quinn made it clear that he would be playing most of his snaps as an inside rusher. Per Quinn, Crawford is going to continue to play the majority of his snaps on the inside.Quinn was also asked about the Falcons’ plans to address the defensive line in the 2019 NFL Draft. Quinn was, of course, rather vague about everything—but he did give us some interesting tidbits.There are few noteworthy pieces of information here. First 2019 Chris Lindstrom Jersey , Quinn seems to view three DTs and three EDGEs as being “safe”, or at least players they plan to build around for 2019. At EDGE, that’s obvious because there are only three players on the roster: Vic Beasley, Takkarist McKinley, and Steven Means. At DT, we have to believe Quinn is referring to Grady Jarrett, Jack Crawford, and Deadrin Senat. Atlanta also has a few other DTs on the roster in Michael Bennett, Justin Zimmer, and Jacob Tuioti-Mariner Chris Lindstrom Atlanta Falcons Jersey , but it seems that none are thought of as favorites to make the roster—particularly with Atlanta sniffing around other FA DTs this week.Second, Quinn talks about having eight or nine DL “who are able to go”. That could mean they plan to keep eight or nine on the 53-man roster, which would be pretty standard for NFL teams. We’ve also seen that the Falcons are willing to keep 10 DL, with one of them generally a gameday inactive. This could be a clue that Atlanta is planning to slim down the rotation slightly, or it could just be coach-speak.Third, Quinn makes it clear that more additions to the defensive line are forthcoming. Which is pretty obvious when you realize that the team only has three EDGE players on the roster currently. He doesn’t reveal any priorities as far as positions, and even says that some additions may continue to come through free agency. But based on these comments and the Falcons’ prospect visits, it seems clear that Atlanta is taking a long, hard look at adding to the DL in the early rounds of the 2019 NFL Draft.What are your thoughts on Quinn’s comments? How impressed were you with Crawford’s play on the interior? Is EDGE or DT a bigger need for the Falcons heading into the 2019 NFL Draft? The Falcons dealt with injuries at several positions during the 2018 season and those injuries helped color the team’s approach to the offseason.Both of the team’s starting guards were lost for the year, which led to both an underwhelming performance by the offensive line and a need to address the unit once they hit free agency in March. The team signed guards Jamon Brown Cheap Chris Lindstrom Jersey , James Carpenter and Adam Gettis before selecting guard Chris Lindstrom and tackle Kaleb McGary in the first round of the draft.General Manager Thomas Dimitroff said the quantity of moves at the position was designed to make sure nothing like last year ever happened again.“I personally felt I would never put this team in that situation again where, God forbid, we had injuries [and] that we were limited in overall depth at the position, especially interior,” Dimitroff said, via the team’s website. “That we were going to make sure we had a rotation there that was going to be legitimate and accomplished.”The Falcons went to the playoffs while winning at least 10 games in 2016 and 2017. Better health would be the quickest way back to that kind of success, but better depth in the event of injuries is a decent backup plan.