Falcons safety William Moore cleared for mini-camp
Falcons owner Arthur Blank welcomes safety William Moore to last season's mini-camp, May 8, 2009. (CURTIS COMPTON/AJC).
FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons safety William Moore has been cleared to practice and will participate fully in the team’s mini-camp that opens on Friday and runs through Sunday.
“He’s ready to go,” Falcons coach Mike Smith told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Moore’s first season was marred by hamstring and knee injuries. He was a second round draft pick in 2009 and played in just two games before being placed on injured reserve.
In August, he had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He returned to practice on August 25.
He was inactive for the first three games and played on special teams against San Francisco and Chicago before being placed on injured reserve on Oct. 27 with a season-ending hamstring injury.
Defensive tackle Peria Jerry (knee), cornerback Brian Williams (knee) and wide receiver Harry Douglas (knee) will not participate in the mini-camp or offseason organized team activities, which start on May 25.
“They definitely won’t participate,” Smith said.
They are making progress and should be ready at varying points during training camp.
“Those three guys are doing well in their rehabilitation with our training staff,” Smith said.
“They are rehabbing and working out with the training staff.”
Some veteran players, who’ve had undisclosed offseason “procedures” will be limited to one practice a day.
S.C. State safety Rafael Bush delivering a shot against Clemson. Bush is from the same school that produced former Steelers great Donnie Shell (1970-73).
“It’s very similar to what we do in training camp,” Smith said. “There are certain guys that are going to be on a one-practice-a–day-routine. We will go ahead and start that off in the mini-camp as well.”
Before suffering his injuries, Moore was expected to compete for the starting strong safety position.
But when he suffered his first injury, Erik Coleman was moved over to strong safety and Thomas DeCoud was inserted at the free safety.
Coleman, the teams’ third leading tackler (139 tackles) last season, is going to be tough to unseat and DeCoud, blossomed as a first-year starter last season.
Moore has been putting in major hours in the film room to get ready to mount a challenge.
He expressed to Falcons first round pick Sean Weatherspoon that he wasn’t happy with how his rookie season went and is seeking some atonement in year two.
At safety, the Falcons also signed Matt Giordano, drafted Shann Schillinger and signed Rafael Bush to a free agent contract. Bush, went to S.C. State, which produced one of the greatest undrafted free agent safeties of all time in Donnie Shell.
Shell was signed by the Steelers and went on to play strong safety for 11 seasons on the “Steel Curtain” defense. Shell won four Super Bowls and made five Pro Bowl trips.
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90 comments Add your comment
osama
May 4th, 2010
12:51 pm
I’m optimistic about the secondary @ this point. The D-line looks solid but would look formidable w/ John Henderson as an anchor. LBs r @ least solid.
Dunta will allow the coverage scheme to be much mor versatile. Whether he plays his favored (RC) or shadows the #1WR. Much of that depends on Brian Williams performance level and/or matchups. Regardless, the back-4 can use many mor disguises now (press-man, off-man, zone, man-zone combo) bcuz (from my observations) both Robinson & Williams are solid in most, if not all, of these areas.
The safety positions depend on how well Moore has recovered & performs. If he’s good enough to platoon w/ Coleman the middle third of the field could be a danger zone for WRs. Combine that w/ the addition of Witherspoon (projecting that he lives up to his potential/expectations), the DEF could be a terrorizing crew come the last quarter of the season headed towards the playoffs.
That all being stated, I’d still like to hav John Henderson tho……
cwltank
May 4th, 2010
1:31 pm
Coleman was 3rd on the team in tackles. The objective is to tackle defenders behind the line of scrimmage or break up the pass. Coleman did what he could do, but Moore is an upgrade.
Blue Heaven dude
May 4th, 2010
1:45 pm
There have been nearly a dozen undrafted free agents make the pro bowl so to say there is a reason they were undrafted is reckless and unfounded. More players have been busts in the first ten picks, and they are supposed to be the cream of the crop. Point is, its not an exact science by no means, and you just have to wait and see. The Bush kid is a hard nosed football player who can make put you on your neck, cant ever have too many of those no matter where they came from.
ATLJBO
May 4th, 2010
2:12 pm
Yea… D.Led…. ESPN Pat Yasinskas has said multiple times that he has heard that the falcons were not to happy with Coleman’s play last year.
SeminoleWarrior
May 4th, 2010
2:35 pm
DO Led, I lobbied hard for you yo get aboard the Spoon Express during the lead-up to the draft. Now, I will serve notice. Weatherspoon and Moore are going to make Falcons fans proud for years to come.
D. Orlando Ledbetter
May 4th, 2010
3:17 pm
DJ — Coleman played SS last year.
Waynester — We did that story with the trainer Jeff Fish (functional movement screens) and then everybody went out and got hurt.
Marcus/Decatur g – Bethea and Bartell are Bison!!!!
D. Orlando Ledbetter
May 4th, 2010
3:24 pm
ATLJBO — I read all of my buddy Pat’s stuff and I don’t recall reading anything negative about Coleman. I would have filed that in my memory banks and asked someone about it. Could have missed that, though.
Jeff
May 4th, 2010
3:43 pm
19TH Pick of the draft the last 20 years.
2010 Falcons Sean Weatherspoon
2009 Eagles Jeremy Maclin
2008- Carolina Jeff Otah
2007 Titans Michael Griffin
2006 Chargers Antonio Cromartie
2005 Rams Alex Barron
2004 Dolphins Vernon Carey
2003 Ravens Kyle Boller
2002 Broncos Ashley Lelie
2001 Steelers Casey Hampton
1999 Giants Luke Petitgout
1998 Packers Vonnie Holliday
1997 Colts Tarik Glenn
1996
19 1-19 Falcons > Colts — Traded Jeff George to Falcons for 1994 first round pick (#7-Bryant Young), 1994 third round pick (#83-James Bostic), 1996 second round pick (first round if George plays 75% of snaps in nine victories in 1995) (#19-Marvin Harrison) on 1994-03-24 Marvin Harrison
1995 Chiefs James Stewart
1994 Vikings Todd Steussie
1993 Oilers Lester Holmes
1992 Falcons Tony Smith
1991 Bengals Alfred Williams
1990 Packers- Darrell Thompson
D. Orlando Ledbetter
May 4th, 2010
3:45 pm
Jeff – You’re not done. Go here http://www.pro-football-reference.com/404.htm?redir and figure out how many trips to the Pro Bowl for the 19th pick over the last 20 years. (I got this from Pat Kirwan who gives out assignments on Sirius).
Bird Watcher
May 4th, 2010
3:56 pm
Basically we have Moore and Jerry as new members of the Defense to go along with our new draftees, so we should end up with a much modified D this year, assuming everyone stays healthy.
blord
May 4th, 2010
3:58 pm
DOL,
I think the negative comments about Coleman come more from people longing for Moore to be a difference maker in the secondary. It has been a very long time since we had a playmaker at one of the safety positions and I for one long for it. I agree with you that I don’t think Coleman played badly but he isn’t what I would call a difference-maker. He is solid and was willing to play out of position for the betterment of the team and I appreciate that. I think we just all want Moore to be the real deal.
Chop Buster
May 4th, 2010
4:08 pm
blord, I have no biases and don’t care who plays the position. I have nothing against Coleman…but he’s not what I think a strong safety should be. Maybe it’s because he was playing out of position…but it’s the only position I see him playing on the team now. We have free safeties that are much faster than he is and Coleman’s issues have been in coverage. He’ll be a solid backup.
SKYROCK
May 4th, 2010
4:22 pm
Just watched the Bush tape… I’m impressed!!
Mike is Back
May 4th, 2010
4:24 pm
Charles J, you are not crazy…that wouldn’t be a bad DLine. I think that kid from Kentucky will take a lot of Anderson’s minutes…if he doesn’t step up. I agree…I Think you have to go with Kroy Biermann or Lawrence Sidbury opposite Abe. These guys explode off the edge.
blord
May 4th, 2010
4:44 pm
Chop Buster,
No real argument here but everyone on the team had issues in coverage. I think Moore will be better than Coleman in that area however coverage skills are not usually the strong point for a SS. Coleman was playing alongside a first time starter, a rookie, a guy who can’t turn his head, a first round pick that just got cut, and Webster. Add to that the fact that he was not playing his natural position and I can see how he may be made to look worse at times than he was actually playing.
My opinion is that two years ago Coleman didn’t get the credit for his play that he probably deserved and last year I think he may have received a little too much criticism. I like you desire to see what Moore can do and think that if Coleman ends up being a backup for us then we are in great shape. Coleman isn’t flashy and he isn’t going to change a lot of games but he is sufficient. I just want more than sufficient at the position.
eddiekang48
May 4th, 2010
4:46 pm
Yeah keep an eye on Bush. I been pressing for the Falcons to take another kid from the MEAC since they took Eric Weems. SC State will represent, and it’s a talent hot bed.
Chop Buster
May 4th, 2010
4:53 pm
blord…sounds like we’re on the same page.
hawesg
May 4th, 2010
5:25 pm
Well, I guess we can officially start the William Moore Injury Countdown Clock then…
OpenMinded
May 4th, 2010
5:46 pm
So DOL are we saying that due to the knee injury sustained by Jerry last year , he may not be effective for play this season ?
R. Merriweather
May 4th, 2010
5:49 pm
Thanks D. Led for an article on SS William Moore. It’s definitely good to hear that he will be participating in the offseason workouts.
However, in regards to Erik Coleman, it has bee reported from several different media outlets (ESPN, SI, Fox, etc.) that the coaches are extremely high on William Moore, and that they expect for him to compete for the starting SS position this offseason. Let’s also not forget that Erik Coleman came to us as a true FS to replace our former FS Chis Crocker and to play along side SS Lawyer Milloy. Let’s also keep in mind that William Moore was slated on many people’s boards in the 2009 NFL Draft as the top safety in the draft along with Detroit’s Louis Delmas. The only reason Moore dropped into the second round is due to the fact that he had an injury-plagued year in his last year at Missouri. When we drafted Moore, the idea was for him to start at SS (to replace Milloy), and for Coleman to remain at FS. But unfortunately for Moore, due to all of his injuries last season, Coleman was moved over to SS and Thomas DeCoud (Who the coaches were already high on already; He probably would have unseated Coleman eventually at the FS position) took over at the FS position. So it was never intended for Coleman to play SS to start with.
In regards to Coleman’s play last year, yes he may have been the third leading tackler on the team with 116 Tackles, but what does 116 tackles really say about a SS who was playing in one of the worst secondary units in the NFL? It completely says that he was either out of place or not putting others in the proper place when the defense lined up. I feel that with the new faces that we had in our secondary last season (Williams & DeCoud) that it was the responsibility of Erik Coleman to serve as the field general for the secondary in which in many games I didn’t see him do. He was great in coming up in the box and stopping the run, but he was a complete liability in coverage and passing situations.
With this being said, let’s not get too stuck on numbers, because a SS having that many tackles is never a good thing unless you’re all over the field making game changing plays (i.e. T. Polamalu, E. Reed, B. Dawkins, etc.) Look for more to unseat Coleman in training camp (if he stays healthy), and look for Coleman to be traded as a result.
Go Falcons!!!!
kenturbo
May 4th, 2010
6:15 pm
Where is John henderson….falcons please sign big John. We need him especially if Babineaux is out at least 4 games…Henderson and jerry plugging the inside would help run and pass defense and give abraham more cleareance to raise havoc.Hear me Falcon fans.
fanATicaL
May 4th, 2010
6:36 pm
The big picture we survived last seasons challenging schedule.With this 2nd rate secondary.This years schedule not as challenging.Only one team coming off of a bye.Along with our bye exactly in the middle of the season at week 8.The loss of Houston alone improves our secondary.DRobinson with whoever wins out on the opposite side.Which doesnt matter because it will be covered by committee.Better coverage gives more time for pressure from the line.Whether from the inside(Jerry,Babineaux,Johnson,Peter)or outside.But our defense has improved.The question is all on offense.Can we call a draw play? is Turner 100% ? Is Norwood 100% ? is Jenkins committed to this team and this season ? can we be less predictable on play calling ?
Lets not play for an NFC championship.Lets win some Superbowls.
The Superbowl champs barely beat us both games.With that terrible secondary and anemic pass rush.This is a good team.Maybe they can prove us to be great.
thunderbull56
May 4th, 2010
8:40 pm
I love an underdog.The first rounders through ‘oh the third are given at least two,sometimes four years to bust.Or for their respective owners to finally admit their multi-million dollar mistake.Those late rounders and free agents know they have one and only one training camp to catch someone’s eye.I don’t think the Falcons hold the record for draft busts, but, they are in the top five easily.Go underdogs, and may you live long and prosper.
Flo-Ri-Duh!
May 4th, 2010
11:25 pm
It all starts with the d-line…. and The Falcons were inept at DE. I don’t see any help from this draft or free agency at DE so you can upgrade everywhere else and still have a mediocre defense. Also, I don’t see much help for the offense in this draft. Yes, the Falcs should be better in the secondary and LB but still weak on the d-line. There are no new weapons for Ryan. Bryant was avaiable at WR and is a big play receiver – a major need on the offense. There will be one starter and four backups in this draft. Treading water is the feeling I have for this season – say 9-7 or 10-6 at best. Still a couple of holes away from the Super Bowl.. Next year they need a big time WR, DE and OT.
Atlanta Falcons Talk » Blog Archive » Report: William Moore Medically Cleared To Practice
May 5th, 2010
1:00 am
[...] tip to D. Orlando Ledbetter, who always keeps us [...]
D. Orlando Ledbetter
May 5th, 2010
1:34 am
OpenedMinded — I was not addressing effectiveness. Just recovery time.
R. Merriweather — The coaches have Coleman for 139 tackles (96 solos, 43 assists). You must be using the NFL.Com stats. Wow, you’re calling for a trade!!!
Moore wasn’t considered a top pick in 2009. He was considered a top 10 pick in 2008. But he returned to Mizzou for his senior year and played on a bum ankle. He put on weight after the season while trying to stay off the ankle. The extra weight led to a poor showing at the Senior Bowl, which led to him slipping all the way out of the first round. THE AJC REPORTED that he was a contender for the SS spot, but he never got that opportunity.That forced Alvin Reynolds to move Coleman to SS. Last year’s safeties were supposed to be Moore and Coleman. DeCoud caught the break. Coleman was rarely in man-to-man coverage, he was in coverage over the top a lot trying to put out fires. I’m not saying he’s Jack Tatum, but he’s still going to be tough to beat out.
NES
May 5th, 2010
7:44 am
Well, here is my input for Perry and Moore. You have to look at their college careers, both played hurt so it isn’t like they were injury free before being drafted by the falcons or shall we say T.D. i don’t think either one will finish the year healthy. I don’t bet but this is almost a sure thing as you can get. Last year’s draft a bust expect late in the year development of cornerback Owens, this year’s draft all over-reaches by T.D. and coach Smith, they have to keep some of them. A 10-6 record due to weak schedule and then one and out in playoffs. i give Mr. Blank who is known as Blankcheck to open his pocketbook again in two years after cleaning house once again—-
d.carter
May 5th, 2010
8:07 am
CANT WAIT TO HEAR THE EXCUSES AS TO WHY WE WONT WIN A PLAYOFF GAME THIS YEAR AS WELL… WE HAVE THE GREAT MATTY POPSICLE, AND THE BOY GENIUS TD… LMAO AND THE GREAT BVG WHICH IS THE BIGGEST JOKE OF ALL… MARK MY WORDS IF IT WASNT FOR MULARKY WE WOULD SUX… WE HAVENT WON A PLAYOFF GAME SINCE THE GREAT PITBULL 7 LEFT
Ken
May 5th, 2010
9:20 am
lmao @ d.carter
Bigsapp1
May 5th, 2010
9:27 am
This is the best young team in Falcons history. We were a 3rd and 16 and fumble away from winning our 1st playoff game with a Rookie QB, and new RB. Then we finished 9-7 with a crappy secondary, only 3 pass rushers (Babs, Abe, and Koy) and several injuries on the offense (Ryan, Turner, HD, Baker, Dahl, Clabo, Mclure) Our whole line was hurt except for Blaylock. Not to mention the toughiest schedule in the NFC ( 4 teams coming off bye week, 2 teams at home coming off bye Cowboys and Giants) and an early Week 3 bye ourselves. TD knows that if it was not for the injuries we would have been in the playoffs last season. This is why he address the depth of our oline with 2 picks, and added a playmaking OLB who is good in coverage which was a weakness of our LB core. Not to mention add another DT to help our line. They would have took a DE only if they could have gotten Graham or Morgan. But as the FO has said, and look back on tape we didn’t have the inside push from the DT position. Babs was getting doubled, Johnson not a pass rusher, and Trey Lewis was the worst of the bunch last year against the run and against the pass.
I don’t think DE was the most needed postion. Profootball.com has a stat about DE and John Abraham is #2 behind Jared Allen in QB pressures. Koy is #5 in QB pressures, while not starting every game. Then we have Sid on his 2nd season. The pass rush will be much better this year, by getting more inside pressure from Jerry, Babs, Peters, Anderson (who has looked much better at DT than any time at DE).
Was Joe Hawley a Good Pick in the 4th? | Atlanta Falcons: Bird Cage
May 5th, 2010
11:09 am
[...] AJC Falcons Beat Writer D.Orlando Ledbetter Examines William Moore [...]
truth
May 5th, 2010
11:21 am
Thanks Bigsapp1…….good common sense post.
truth
May 5th, 2010
11:33 am
NES……????? Never mind stupid is as stupid does.
ATLJBO
May 5th, 2010
11:58 am
D-Led… I just want the best man to win the SS job (Coleman or Moore) …. Of course everyone wants the 2nd round guy to come in and do his thing…. William Moore was thought of as a Erik Berry type top 10 pick his jr season….
The best guy will win the job….. I wouldn’t be surprised if we rotated Safeties (William Moore and Erik Coleman) ….. Similar to the way the Giants did with Kenny Phillips his rookie year
This is what Pat Yasinskas said (about the team not being happy with Coleman play last year)
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcsouth/post/_/id/8940/falcons-still-working-on-secondary
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcsouth/post/_/id/8705/robinson-will-firm-up-atlantas-defense
Pat has said this more then these 2 times…
d.carter
May 5th, 2010
1:39 pm
WE CAN CONTINUE TO IGNORE THE OBVIOUS ALL WE WANT… THIS TEAM IS GONNA SUX AND AS SSON AS MULARKY GETS A HEAD COACHIBG GIG WE ARE REALLY GONNA SUX… WE KEEP TRYING TO DO IT THE PATRIOT WAY… LMAO THE HOODED ASSASSIN (BB) IS WALKING THRU THAT DOOR ANYTIME SOON… BVG IS THE ONLY CAT IN HISTORY WHO GETS CREDIT FOR A GOOD JOB WITH THE LEAGUES 28TH RANKED DEFENSE..LOL TAKE OFF THE BLINDFOLDS PEOPLE MATT RYAN IS AVERAGE AT BEST… WE STILL HAVENT WON A PLAYOFF GAME SINCE THE DOGFIGHTER 7 WAS HERE… DIMITROFF IS SOMEHOW UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT HE WON THOSE SUPERBOWLS…LMAO NE LET HIM WALK FOR A REASON
SirReal
May 5th, 2010
3:23 pm
D.Led these guys a crazy.lol Everyone who really watched knows Coleman was very solid at the SS. To move and still do well speaks volumes about his play. Coleman is SOLID and as much as I’d like to see more of Moore (no pun intended…well maybe a little.lol), he wont start this year unless someone gets hurt.
SirReal
May 5th, 2010
3:29 pm
@ D Carter I like ALMOST everything you said EXCEPT Mularkey wont get another head coaching job with his vanilla schemes, lack of knowledge on how to use his personnel,and doofus play-calling. There was a reason he was stripped of assistant head coaching title and transfered to Musgrave (who I think should REALLY be our OC). Also, let the Vick thing go. You sound old and bitter, lets move forward with the new squad shall we?
One thing you forgot was the terrible LT in Sam FAKER. The guy’s arms are like a T-Rex and he cant sustain blocks. As far as everything else. TOTAL agreement. If Ryan doesnt show up this year (and he won’t for some games. As soon as he gets one good pop he’ll turn into the “deer in the headlights Ryan” we all know), i hope the coaches dont give the “Matt’s still learning” nonsense we’ve been hearing. This is football. Hold a man accountable instead of grabbing his hand and skipping down Candy Lane.
d.carter
May 5th, 2010
6:18 pm
@SirReal Mularky did at least give us a chance in most games, I think he began to sux the Matty Popsicle too much at times and forgot that we were and are only as good as MT and the running game, Not old and bitter about Vick at all just stating facts, wasnt even really a Vick fan but u cant argue with results… As far as BVG is concerned he is the biggest joke of all to me aka (Ed Donatell Jr.) Dimitroff is trying to find lightning in a bottle with these lackluster draft picks, I would have been more satisfied if we went offense and tried to outscore people ala the Saints and Colts…
Weatherspoon is okay but how much of an impact will he really have when we dont have a legitimate pass rush and arent solid enough in the middle of the D line (size wise) to keep those guys off of the linebackers or get a push in the middle of the pocket on passing downs…
The biggest mistake this off season was giving a Zone corner that kind of money in Dunta Robinson, that money would have been better served addressing your biggest weakness which is the lack of a pass rush, Then we passed on DEZ BRYANT the same way we passed on MOSS and took Kieth (The pile jumper) Brookings ala Weatherspoon… Hell we could have gotten MOUNT CODY anyway, i am looking forward to the excuse makers this season….lol
Chop Buster
May 5th, 2010
7:13 pm
DLed, SirReal I haven’t seen Moore step on the field and do anything yet, so I’m not annointing him the next coming of Brian Dawkins. I’ll tell you one thing though…from what I’ve seen of Coleman he is no strong safety. And with his lack of cover ability he is not free safety either–for those of you that keep saying he was playing out of position. So where does that leave Coleman fitting into our secondary? And as far as solid goes that’s relative. What’s solid in one person’s mind is no in another’s. We didn’t bring all these safeties in this off season for nothing. Change is a comin’!
EB
May 6th, 2010
12:01 am
They need as many bodies in the secondary as they can get. Coleman isn’t all that at either position, so nobody’s jobs safe out there except Dunta’s. Competition will help sort them out soon enough. But with Perry back and Peters contributing beside him, Bierman/Sidbury should be able to get pressure on the QB for a change and help whoever is in the secondary. I look for Owens to get after it this season though.