NFL1000: Rookie Review from Week 9

November 11, 2016   ·   Doug Farrar   ·   Jump to comments

On Monday, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank extended general manager Thomas Dimitroff's contract though the 2019 season. It was the right call, though Dimitroff's drafts have been hit-and-miss. Now, with head coach Dan Quinn in line with personnel—Quinn's contract also runs through 2019—the Falcons have scouting and personnel in lockstep.
There's no better evidence of that than the success of their first four picks of the 2016 draft—Florida safety Keanu Neal (pictured above), LSU linebacker Deion Jones, Stanford tight end Austin Hooper and Minnesota linebacker De'Vondre Campbell. All four have made our Rookie Review Top 50 at least once, and Neal and Jones have been standout players just about every week.
In Neal, Quinn got what he had in Seattle with the Seahawks' Kam Chancellor—a coverage safety who could also crowd the box and deliver jarring hits. Neal has been a game-changer for a defense that had been less than dynamic in prior years, and ...

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