Coming off a disappointing season, Dan Quinn and the Atlanta Falcons are looking to bounce back with one of the best rosters in the NFL. The team saw a great defensive surge last year but also had a small setback on offense. Thankfully, the team maintained almost all of their team as well as added a few pieces through the draft and free agency. For the 2018 season, the Falcons have set their eyes on the Super Bowl and there are a few players poised for breakout seasons to help achieve that goal. The first candidate for Falcons breakout player of the year is Mohamed Sanu.
Over the next few days, I’ll be going over three of my top candidates for a breakout year with the Falcons
Atlanta Falcons Breakout Player Candidates: Mohamed Sanu
After a disappointing season in 2015 where the Falcons went 8-8, Dimitroff and Quinn decided to bring in another wide receiver as Roddy White was cut. Dimitroff went with the versatile yet unproven receiver in Sanu. In Sanu’s four years with the Cincinnati Bengals, he hauled in 152 catches for only 1,793 and 11 touchdowns. He had a poor final season in Cincinnati with 394 yards and 0 touchdowns so the signing wasn’t very well received as keyboard warriors expressed their disgust with the signing and most notably, TheFalcoholic referred to him as a ‘bust’.
In the last two years, Sanu has been an extremely solid player averaging 680 yards and 4.5 touchdowns as a slot receiver. Last year, he was rated 22nd by Pro Football Focus with a rating of 77. Although he ranked better than most second wide receivers and some first wide receivers along with having over 700 yards last year, he still has yet to “breakout.” All you really need from a second/slot receiver is a reliable target in the red zone and on third downs because the first is usually covered. Sanu is exactly that. He has good hands and is a good possession receiver but his game still isn’t complete, despite being one of the most versatile players in the NFL.
One of the things Sanu has done better since he came to Atlanta is his attitude. Sanu is still the cocky, funny, lovable guy we know but he’s improved his already decent work ethic while in Atlanta. His biggest improvement that makes me think he’ll have a breakout year is his fitness. Sanu is a big dude, weighing over 240 pounds while being 6’2″ but his strength and speed haven’t been as great as one would think from looking at him.
For example, Sanu caught a screen and has wonderful blocking from Wes Schweitzer and Ben Garland. He runs towards the safety and makes a nice move to create separation. If Julio or Gabriel had caught this, I guarantee this would’ve been a touchdown but with Sanu, his speed lets him down and doesn’t score.
Another example of his fitness hurting him is when he can’t stiff arm a defender. Sanu catches the slant from Matt Ryan, makes a move upfield but gets caught. He attempts a stiff arm but doesn’t have enough strength to push the defender off. We’ve seen countless stiff arms from Jones and on this play, he most likely would’ve taken it to the house or at least gotten closer.
As for Sanu’s stats, I think he takes a step up in both targets and yards but with the addition of Calvin Ridley, Austin Hooper‘s rise, and my belief in Steve Sarkisian to throw it to Jones, I think his touchdowns will stay around the same. Most likely he will have about 70 catches for 750 yards and five touchdowns. I think the biggest impact he will have will once again be on third downs and in the red zone (last year, Sanu had the second highest catch rate on contested targets in the red zone). He is tremendous on short routes and with the attention mainly going to Jones and Ridley, Sanu will be the “forgotten man” and will make defenses pay. Sanu’s versatility alone is enough for Falcons fans to be excited for next season but you can’t forget his true talent as a wide receiver. His ability to split defenses, find space, and catch contested balls combined with an increased work rate and more weapons on the offense means he is certainly poised for a breakout year.
