5 Things from Quinn's Interview at League Meetings

1. Working Together: Since arriving in February as the Falcons' 16th head coach in franchise history, Dan Quinn has hit the ground running, working with Falcons general manager on evaluating the team's current roster and pinpointing areas to improve it via free agency and the upcoming draft. "For me, over the last five weeks, he’s the person that I’ve spent the most time with, and that was definitely by design," Quinn said of Dimitroff Wednesday. "(We focused on) how may players we could watch together and if we had a disagreement, let’s talk through it. We did that with he and I together in terms of the scheme that we’re going to run, and we did that with the whole scouting staff." 2. Combine Experience: Not long after Quinn began his new job in Atlanta, the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine took place, Feb. 17-23. Quinn, Dimitroff and their collective staffs used the event to evaluate many of the 300-plus pro prospects in attendance. Quinn said the 15-minute interviews with the players at the Combine were probably what he enjoyed most at the event, "getting to connect with the guys and finding out a little bit more about what makes each of them unique." 3. Leo Requirements: Falcons fans will become very familiar with what is known as the Leo position on defense. Used in victorious fashion by Quinn in the past as defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, the club's new head coach gave more specifics about the unique Leo role."Really, the thing you’re looking for at that (Leo) position is speed and length," Quinn said. "Length doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re 6-foot-6, but you do have long arms, you can separate, and as a pass rusher, you want to have enough length that a guy doesn’t engulf you. I bet there’s eight to 10 guys (pro prospects) we’ve identified who have the traits; they have the stuff, and then it’s up to us to help develop it and pull it out of them." 4. Explosive Offense: While the defensive success on Quinn's resume has captured headlines, that shouldn't take away from his focus on the offensive side of the ball. When the Falcons take the field in 2015, their offense will again be led by three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Ryan and his arsenal of weapons. "We’re going to be an explosive team," Quinn said. "We have some explosive players, and it’s our job to help feature those players. To me, teams that are always the most challenging are the guys that have a balance and so, that explosiveness, combined with teams that know how to run it and feature the quarterback, and all the unique stuff that Matt does, those are the things you’ll see from our team." 5. Exceeding Potential: There are a lot of privileges of being a head coach in the NFL and Quinn has been very clear, beginning with his introductory press conference, that among them all is the challenge of getting the most of out each and every player on his roster. "In coaching for us, it's one of the great things that we enjoy the most is to say, 'can you take a player from where he is now and bring him to a spot that maybe he's not even sure he can go to," Quinn said.

5 Things from Quinn's Interview at League Meetings

Top News

Bair Mail: On Bijan Robinson, Matthew Bergeron and how Falcons can compete in NFC South

How 'natural-born leader' Desmond Ridder is using offseason program to help Falcons level up

Notes, observations from first week of Falcons OTAs

Mike Hughes discusses life as a first-round pick, getting healthy and realizing potential | Falcons in Focus Podcast