Can Nate Ollie's 'Superpower' Fix the Falcons' Run Defense?

FLOWERY BRANCH – The Atlanta Falcons defensive line understands where the improvement must come this season.

The run defense, which finished 27th in expected points added per rush last season, needs to find its legs. The attack-minded defense helped them set a franchise record for sacks (57), one year after finishing 31st in the NFL (31), and the Falcons will look for a similar year-to-year jump from their run defense.

Defensive line coach Nate Ollie will lead that charge, and the high-energy position coach brings that passion to the practice field. That feeling is contagious, and it’s what third-year player Zach Harrison calls his “superpower.”

“I like Nate. He allows you to go make plays,” Harrison explained. “He allows you to just go be yourself and use your superpowers to go make plays. He doesn’t get in your way; he just tries to help you make plays, which I respect and I appreciate.”

John Timu jokingly referred to his passion as “art.”

“It’s in the eye of the beholder or the listener,” the outside linebacker said with a smile. “So, if you see it as yelling, so be it, but the energy is always high. The guys really bounce off of him.”

Ollie wants his defensive linemen “running in a dark room” during the game, attacking gaps and hitting things at every opportunity. He wants to eliminate any thinking and have his players focused solely on creating a “controlled chaos.”

“You think, you stink,” Ollie said through a grin after a particularly hot mandatory minicamp. “Get off the ball and blow stuff up on the way.”

His philosophy worked well for the pass rush last season, and he is confident that it will bring similar results in run defense.

“When you pause that film, you want to see everybody look like they’re running in a dark room and playing on their line of scrimmage,” he said. “And that’s when you get the TFLs, because at the end of the day, you’re trying to stop the run on the way to the quarterback.”

Brandon Dorlus, Zach Harrison, and LaCale London are entering their second season in Ollie's system, but the biggest boost against the run will likely need to come from the offseason additions.

Da’Shawn Hand, a player Ollie refers to as “kingpin” for the way he aggressively steps into the A-gap, Maason Smith, and Chris Williams will step in to replace several departed Falcons. They lack the prototypical size that many defenses want in their trenches, but Ollie is not concerned about that. He believes their quickness and aggression can compensate.

And that's why the energy will do the talking.

“At the end of the day, the No. 1 objective we talk about, I’m just gonna say this, [is] G.T.F.O.,” Ollie said with a chuckle. “Take it for what that means right there.”

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