Atlanta Falcons: Spoon’s attracting early Pro Bowl hype
Eagles quarterback Michael Vick (7) fumbles the ball, stripped by Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon (56). (Jason Getz / jgetz@ajc.com
BIRDLAND — Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, who’s set to enter his third year in the league, is receiving some extremely early Pro Bowl hype.
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We checked in with Spoon back in May. CLICK HERE.
Also, it is clear that defensive coordinator Mike Nolan has high expectations for Weatherspoon.
“He’s playing the same position in this defense that he was before, so there are no changes there,” Nolan said. “It’s very familiar to him. The expectation of him is that he continues to play well.”
Weatherspoon figures to have a big role in Nolan’s pressure packages.
“All players like to have their numbers called when you are pressuring and things like that,” Nolan said. “I’d like to think we’ll spread it around a little bit more than most. A lot of that depends how good of a guy he is at doing those things. Spoon is a very good player. I would hope that if he was pressuring or not, he would be making plays.”
Gregg Rosenthal, of NFL.com, is doing an around the league feature before training camps open. He predicted a breakout season for Weatherspoon in 2012.
I’m uncomfortable making Weatherspoon my “Making the Leap” pick for the Falcons, because he’s already made a sizable jump. He’s the leader of this Falcons defense. (Why do you think they let Curtis Lofton walk?) Weatherspoon is already one of the best 4-3 outside linebackers in football. He easily could have made the Pro Bowl last year, but he’s not a big enough name yet.
He’s listed here because he deserves more attention. Those Pro Bowl nods are often built on reputations gained one or two years after a player truly earns recognition. I’m doing my tiny part to elevate Weatherspoon’s reputation now.
Last season, the NFC Pro Bowl outside linebackers were Green Bay’s Clay Matthews, Dallas’ DeMarcus Ware and Chicago’s Lance Briggs. Weatherspoon had more tackles than all of them and more sacks than Briggs, according to NFL.Com stats.
Ware had 58 tackles and 19.5 sacks. Briggs has 105 tackles and no sacks. Matthews has 50 tackles and six sacks. He also had 12 passes defensed and three interceptions.
I don’t think Rosenthal is off the mark at all. But, do you all think, Weatherspoon will make the Pro Bowl in 2012?
–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
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133 comments Add your comment
Jean Claude Killy
July 9th, 2012
3:02 pm
Joe Tess Fish House
July 6th, 2012
1:53 pm
This is nutz. No way Witherspoon is pro bowel matreail. He is injruy prone and never has a compleat seasion. Whoever think this is hig or sumtin.
I’m sorry,, thats just tooo dang funny!! come on Fishbreath,, lets hear some more wisdom,,
SeenThisB4
July 9th, 2012
3:02 pm
And look over yonder! The falcan’t offense still hasn’t score a single point against the Giants! Will….they….ever…..score?!!!! LOL!
SUX2BaBYRD
July 9th, 2012
3:12 pm
3rd plae in the nfcs won’t be so bad after all , it is a rebuilding year for us with new coordinators you know !
Sean Payton Used Cars
July 9th, 2012
4:23 pm
`
sAints = 4th place
SUX2BaBYRD
July 9th, 2012
5:04 pm
Good comeback…for a failclown fan ! lol
Rick
July 9th, 2012
5:42 pm
Oooops and look, the water boy just got suspended from the Aints for putting a bounty on the Other water boys in the leauge.
hiramsaint
July 9th, 2012
6:53 pm
well rick , with that in depth knowledge of whats going on in the waterboy world , i suppose we can guess your occupation . did you get hurt by the way –lol lol lol lol
Rick
July 9th, 2012
7:21 pm
Well Hiram its better than being a “po boy maker” by the way can you add extra shrimp to my sandwich? And please make sure you clean the shrimp and I will have a side of gumbo with that.
hiramsaint
July 9th, 2012
8:23 pm
actually you are wrong . a poboy maker gets paid and no self respectin’ new orleanian cleans a shrimp- thats for you mid town types
SeenThisB4
July 9th, 2012
9:25 pm
Clean the shrimp? What?! I bet Rick want to see Magic Mike this weekend.
Rick
July 9th, 2012
10:50 pm
Well we see that you are no self respecting new orleans…..guess you told on yourself? Speaking of telling on yourself “Seen” tell us what you are referring to with regards to magic mike?
DR. FALCON
July 10th, 2012
1:04 am
SEENTHISB4, AND HIRAMSAINT, WE DO IT THE RIGHT WAY! NO BOUNTIES HERE! WITHERSPOON WILL BE ALL-PRO. THIS YEAR! YOU NEED TO STOP CRACKING ON ‘SPOON, AND WORRY ABOUT SIGNING YOUR FRANCHISE QB! WHAT A JOKE! THE SAINTS ARE PATHETIC! HOW MANY WINS CAN CHASE DANIEL GIVE YOU? LOL! GEEZ!
Cejay
July 10th, 2012
9:02 am
Seenthis, really?? I’m in utter amazement that you can show your face around here after your team’s pathetic debacle….have you no dignity man !!
Cejay
July 10th, 2012
9:04 am
Then again…you are an aint’s fan….
Cejay
July 10th, 2012
9:13 am
@Dr.Falcon hahahaha
Even Brees doesn’t want to be on the aint’s team. lol !
Rick
July 10th, 2012
10:57 am
HAHAHAHAHAHA Chase Daniels. The Aints or should we call them the STAINTS after they decide to sign Brees. They will revert back to the brown paper bag because when all the free agents see how they wont take care of one of the best QB’s in the game no one will want to play for them. LOL. Get your paperbag ready Seen and Hiram……….you knew this day was coming! LOL.
St Simons - we're on Island time
July 10th, 2012
11:57 am
hot dam Joe Tess, that is some pro quality stuff.
laughin so hard i can’t breathe. Dude, you should be
writing for somebody really.
5150 UOAD
July 10th, 2012
12:15 pm
That is GREAT I hope they LIVE UP to it.
sheeesh
July 10th, 2012
1:34 pm
STB4 earns the life-time achievement award for obtuseness. He is in an even greater state of denial than the convicted liars from the Saints.
Personally, I would love to see this go to court. I have little doubt that the NFL has not yet played their strongest cards in this game. Plus, there are more lawyers in the NFL offices than there are players on the field. If these thug players think they can “lawyer up” on a level with The League, they are sadly mistaken.
At some point, they are going to have to take their whuppin and move on. They should save their lawyer dollars and get on with their careers and lives.
hiramsaint
July 10th, 2012
3:15 pm
and with all that – the Saints will make the playoffs and the failclowns will be trying to hire a new head coach after this season is done
THE Peroxide Bandit
July 10th, 2012
3:18 pm
I’m not looking for a new job next year . I’m gonna throw my Oc and Dc under the bus and save my skin like I did last season !
Michael M.
July 10th, 2012
5:03 pm
It will be the Falcons most likely in the NFC South to win the Division this year with the Taints working from the cellar trying to escape to finish in third place from last place to finish off their upcoming disgraceful Season. This Atlanta Team really is looking better now and will play a new inspired defense and the offense should be ready to showboat and strut their stuff this year and make believers out of the rest of the league.
Don’t worry Tainter Fans for I have a good supply of super sized paper sacks you can bunch two together and hide all of yourselves in after your Taints let you down ” again” this Season,
Just Sayin.....
July 10th, 2012
8:01 pm
Did I just hear correctly on the NFL Network that our qb has never thrown for 200 yards in a playoff game with 3 tds & 4 picks?
FEATURED ARTICLE: Atlanta Falcons: Spoon’s attracting early Pro Bowl hype | Falcons - NFC South Daily | Atlanta Falcons Blog
July 10th, 2012
8:29 pm
[...] The rest of the article can be found here: Atlanta Falcons [...]
Literacy now
July 10th, 2012
9:12 pm
Why the extra comma.
hiramsaint
July 10th, 2012
9:27 pm
he also lead an O that went scoreless in the last playoff game . yep , he’s elite !
JSS
July 11th, 2012
5:24 am
@ Just Sayin’…
That’s correct, he’s the king of the sub 200 yard post season performance! And he’s accomplished that feat while posting completion rates of 65%, 69%, and 58%! Sorry, that’s not the result of scheme, that’s just a piece of his problems…
JSS
July 11th, 2012
5:34 am
By the way, even the inept Mark Sanchez has passed for more than 225 twice in 6 playoff appearances. How can a nare-de-well like that have 9 TD passes and only 3 INTs?
JSS
July 11th, 2012
5:54 am
Ha ha, even Tebow passed for more than 200 (actually it was 316)!
Note
July 11th, 2012
9:13 am
Sproles had 86 receptions last year, That outlet goes a long way in making Brees a good qb. Hope our new OC uses quizz in a similar way this year.
Rick
July 11th, 2012
9:42 am
If Drew Brees does not have a long-term contract in place by Monday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline, the New Orleans Saints quarterback has no plans to sign his franchise tender and report to training camp, according to league and team sources.
Brees and the Saints must work out a long-term contract by July 16 or he will be required to play the 2012 season under his $16.371 million exclusive-rights franchise tender that restricts the free agent from signing with another team.
However, sources say Brees has made it clear to confidants that he will not sign the tender and report to Saints training camp when it begins July 24. The sources also said that even though Brees is on record as saying he won’t miss the regular season, he may leave the Saints guessing as to whether he will report in time for the team’s opener against the Washington Redskins on Sept. 9.
So this is directed to all those “Aint” fans out there. It so appears that you might not even have a QB! LOL!!! Wow what an organization……………..wont even pay the guy who is one of the best in the leauge. Now that is classy!
viagra
July 11th, 2012
4:11 pm
Last van een erectiestoornis en weet je niet wat je moet doen? Je kunt nu online viagrakopen voor de laagste prijs!
Drew Brees is 10 of 12 vs. the Falcons
July 11th, 2012
5:07 pm
Thanks for showing your ignorance Rick . He’s been offered 19.25 mil per year but I guess you got tired and forgot to read that part huh ! Every time I think the Falcons fans might not be the idiots I think them to be , someone like you post and reassures me that I’m right !