All offseason long we’ve heard the term ‘positionless football’ associated with the Atlanta Falcons offense because of the versatile playmakers the team has, such as Kyle Pitts, Bijan Robinson, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Jonnu Smith.
Falcons offensive coordinator, Dave Ragone, joined The Morning Shift Thursday and explained why the Falcons are more concerned with creating mismatches on offense rather than playing positionless football.
“Since I’ve been playing football as a fifth grade 11-year old, 12-year old or even before that, you’re just trying to put your players in position, regardless of what their position is, to be successful," Ragone said. "Ultimately what you want to do as an offense pre-snap is make the defense think.
“Therefore, their slower to react potentially because they’re not necessarily knowing what you’re going to show them at first. So if that motion or shifts or whatever that may be, but ultimately right you’re trying to get your guys in a place where you think if they do have the football in their hands they have a chance to make a play, therefore moving the ball down the field which ultimately allows you to score points.”
Finally, the Falcons coordinator finished his thought.
"Regardless of what you want to title that position, the X, the Y, the Z, the H, the Joker, all those positions that we have, it doesn’t really matter in terms of how we label them it’s just where we’re able to put them to allow them a chance," said Ragone. "That’s what a player wants is a chance, to be successful and that’s what we’re trying to do as a staff, and that’s our job and hopefully we’re able to execute that here on this Sunday”.
With all the playmakers on the offense, what position they’re in doesn’t matter, the name of the position doesn’t matter. What matters is that they are put in favorable positions, given mismatches, and most importantly take advantage of those mismatches.