Most Atlanta Falcons fans were pleased with the acquisition of former New England Patriots safety James Sanders, even though he'd been expected to provide a utility backup role throughout the secondary. Now it seems he's in line to push to start, as Thomas Dimitroff told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. [Tweet since deleted, but Falcons fans are discussing the report at the link.]
Sanders has played both strong safety and free safety, and I agree with Dave Choate that Thomas DeCoud's free safety position could be a likelier fit than William Moore's strong safety spot. DeCoud has made at least a couple of visible mistakes this preseason -- not that you'd base such a thing strictly on preseason performance. Moore adds value as a run defender and over-the-middle enforcer, meaning his own middlin' pass coverage isn't all that noticeable.
At minimum, this is a little bit of tough talk meant to put some fire into DeCoud and Moore, and that really can't be a bad thing. From what we've heard, if Sanders has to step up, Falcons fans have reason to be confident he can handle just about anything.
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