Vic Beasley Moved to OLB

The Atlanta Falcons have finally put a merciful end to experiment of 2015 1st-round pick Vic Beasley at LEO. It works just fine on passing downs with Beasley’s speed as pass rusher but he’s not big enough to hold up against the run.

And to put it simply, going against a 330-pound tackle on every play wears on a player that’s only 245 pounds. So he’ll be doing the same thing Von Miller and Khalil Mack have been doing. He has been moved to SAM (strongside) linebacker and he’ll probably play DE in subpackages.

And Beasley sounds pretty optimistic about the change, telling Atlanta Falcons.com, “It’s off to a great star. I just know that it’s a new position. I played a little bit of linebacker in college, but it’s different in the league; there’s more responsibility.

“But I’m off to a great start with it. … I’m pretty sure in the game plan they’ll use me in rushing and obviously dropping back, going back and forth.”

The 2015 No. 8 overall should flourish as a SAM, with his athleticism to make plays in space when needed. The only thing now is making sure Beasley gets enough pass-rushing attempts with the move. You don’t want your best edge-rusher to only rush the passer on third down.

Bruce Irvin complained that he wasn’t allowed to rush the passer enough when he played for head coach Dan Quinn’s defense in Seattle. So the Falcons should send Irvin on a lot of blitzes to keep his pass-rushing attempts up. Now all the team needs for that defense is for a LEO to emerge.