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Factoid

Defensive takeaways

Falcons hiring of Sutton could be shrewd

The Falcons hired Bob Sutton as a defensive assistant last week. Sutton was recently fired by Kansas City, taking the fall for their season ending just short of the Super Bowl. Kansas City's defense was pretty bad in terms of yards and points allowed, so it wasn't exactly a stunning move. But the Falcons might be making a sound hire here.

One area that Sutton's defenses were very good in was takeaways -- statistically the best in the league over the past four seasons, in fact. They're the only defense to finish in the top 10 in takeaways in all four years, with 6 more than 2nd-place Carolina.

TAKEAWAYS, 2015-2018
Team'15'16'17'18Tot
Kansas City29332627115
Carolina39272122109
LA Rams26182830102
Philadelphia26263117100
Arizona3328211698
Denver2727172798
Buffalo2518252795
LA Chargers2028272095
Tampa Bay2329261795
Washington2620232695
Baltimore1428341793
New Orleans2221252492
NY Giants2725192192
Seattle2219252692
New England2123182890
Pittsburgh3023221590
Indianapolis2517202688
Minnesota2227192088
Houston2517162987
Chicago1711223686
Oakland2530141786
Green Bay2225221584
Miami1625152884
NY Jets3012202082
Jacksonville1813331781
Cincinnati2820141880
Atlanta2322161980
Cleveland2113133178
Detroit1814321478
Tennessee1918211775
Dallas1120212072
San Francisco122020759

Atlanta? Well, they weren't as good. Only five teams have had fewer takeaways than the Falcons over those four seasons.

Dan Quinn, who is of course a defensive-minded head coach, said that Sutton is being brought in to help with "Calling the defense, spending the extra time to get that right, and making sure our style and identity come across in the right way. ... Adding someone with Bob's knowledge and experience to assist with clock and game-management strategies will help us be the best version of the Falcons that we can be in 2019."

Quinn should pay particular attention to what Sutton might bring to the table in terms of forcing turnovers. If so, it will be an improve Falcons defense (certainly in fantasy terms) in 2019.

--Andy Richardson

Fantasy Index