Keanu Neal: I’m Not Happy
I’m just going to be blunt. Keanu Neal is a good safety, a hard worker, and seems like he will be a good fit with the Falcons defense. This is nothing against him as a person or his playing abilities. With that being said…
…This was NOT a good pick!!! The Atlanta Falcons had 19 sacks in 16 games last season. 19 sacks in 16 games! Yet somehow, in the deepest pass rushing draft class in recent history, the Falcons managed to come away with nothing in the first round. The likes of Kevin Dodd, Shaq Lawson, Emmanuel Ogbah, Noah Spence, and – of course – Myles Jack were all on the board. Even for defensive tackles we could have done well with Andrew Billings, A’Shawn Robinson, or Jarran Reed. Yet, despite all of this talent, we took a safety.
There were so many ways that the Falcons could have gone with this pick, yet somehow Thomas Dimitroff and his staff managed to go down the one avenue that they didn’t need to go down. Congratulations Thomas. You did it again.
In fairness to Keanu though, he does have an upside. He is a hard-hitting safety that has been compared to Kam Chancellor by some. Dan Quinn has needed that type of player in his defense since he arrived in Atlanta, and he might have one in Neal. He can cover pretty well, and when players do get into the second level, he provides punishing hits that can change a game.
However, sometimes this can lead to mistakes. He will go after some big hits to help change the momentum of the game instead of just making the sure tackle to bring the ball carrier down. He also gets a little bit late on the first step reactions and can get burned on the deep ball.
Another plus is that he will fill a gaping hole at safety that was left by William Moore. The Falcons chose not to re-sign the veteran safety this offseason, and have needed a safety since. It wasn’t the most pressing issue on the team, but he does fill a need.
The Falcons are also putting a lot of faith in him. He was the first of the first round draft picks to sign a contract. They also only added two more players to their torrid defense, both sideline-to-sideline linebackers. They are putting all of their eggs from the 2016 Draft in Neal’s basket in the hopes that he will bud into a star. The pressure is on for this kid out of Florida. He needs to deliver.
Verdict:
Knocking a player that fills a need is not ideal, but I’m doing it anyway. Safety was not the biggest need this team had by any means, but they addressed it with their first round pick anyway. A lot of very talented defensive ends and tackles were available for selection, yet they took a player they could have gotten in round two with their #50 overall selection. As a Falcons fan, consider me disappointed.
Grade: D