Falcons’ ‘future shock’ elevates Nicholas

By Darrell Laurant  |   Sunday, August 19, 2007  |  Comments( 0 )

Atlanta Falcons
Got something to say?

Sign Up and be the first to comment on this article!

Preseason games always give NFL fans a glimpse of the future. In the case of the Atlanta Falcons, however, last week's opener with the New York Jets was more like future shock.

While Michael Vick has been "dog-bit," the team as a whole is snakebit. Running back Warrick Dunn is coming back from back surgery, while TE Alge Crumpler, DT Rod Coleman, LB Demorrio Williams, RB Jerious Norwood and a number of other key Falcons are currently less than 100 percent.

Therefore, Atlanta's starting lineup against the Jets included four first-year players -- DE Jamaal Anderson (Arkansas), OG Justin Blalock (Texas), TE Martez Milner (Georgia) and LB Stephen Nicholas (South Florida). The night's leading receiver turned out to be another rookie, Laurent Robinson out of Northern Illinois.

Of this group, it was perhaps Nicholas who was the most impressive.

Atlanta coach Bobby Petrino urged his team to draft Nicholas, because he saw the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder perform for four years in the Big East and Conference USA. It seems like a hundred years ago, but Petrino was the head coach at Louisville last season.

The best thing about Nicholas, from the point of view of Falcons linebacker coach Billy Van Gorder, was that he wasn't scared.

"He wasn't paralyzed by his first NFL game experience," Van Gorder said later on the Falcons' team website. "I thought he held up pretty well."

Better than pretty well, actually -- Nicholas was the team's second-leading tackler against the Jets with five stops.

The bad news is, Nicholas was starting on the weak side because Williams is still recovering from a serious chest injury suffered when he was lifting weights.

On the other hand, Nicholas is as close to Williams as you can get -- a quick, active linebacker who is just a bit larger than a strong safety but muscular enough to operate against interior linemen.

Nicholas was a fourth-round pick of the Falcons, having played in relative obscurity at South Florida.
But he was a three-year starter, All-Big East as a senior, and his 2006 numbers were eye-catching -- 102 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, five sacks, two interceptions.

"It was a good experience, (my) first NFL game," Nicholas said. "(Williams' injury) is definitely making me speed up a little bit. My biggest thing is just trying to learn and understand the defense and just try to get better."

Nicholas said he was just hoping to play special teams this season. But for the Atlanta Falcons in 2007, anything can happen.

Got a bone to pick with a newspaper columnist, talk show personality or television analyst? E-mail us at mediawatch@realfootball365.com. For more information, visit our Media Watch info page.
Got something to say?

Sign Up and be the first to comment on this article! (0)

About Darrell Laurant

...Sorry, Darrell Laurant's bio is currently not available. Please check back soon!
read more
Article Tools Share!   |  RSS  |  Bleacher Report About Bleacher Report