Isaiah Oliver

Oliver had season-ending knee surgery in October last season and appeared in just four games. He was a limited participant during minicamp and is expected to be full go for training camp. Before his injury-plagued season, Oliver recorded 132 tackles, 17 pass deflections, two forced fumbles and one sack over his two previous campaigns. Operating under a one-year deal, Oliver will be extremely motivated to bounce back and regain his usual role in Atlanta's secondary.

The "senior" member of a young cornerback group, Oliver repeatedly was picked on in 2020, finishing the season with an overall grade of 58.8 from Pro Football Focus. Entering the last year of his rookie deal, the 24-year-old will need to make a dramatic turnaround after back-to-back subpar seasons if he's to uphold the Falcons' decision to make him a second-round selection of the 2018 NFL Draft.

Oliver is an encouraging third-year defensive back who started all 16 of Atlanta's regular-season games during 2019, but growing pains should be expected in a secondary where he may serve as the top cornerback. On paper, Oliver's 11 pass deflections from last year were impressive, but his 54.5 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus ranks barely within the upper half of 112 eligible NFL cornerbacks. There may not be much relief on the other side just yet, either, as rookie A.J. Terrell slots in as the starter opposite Oliver. Along with Kendall Sheffield, this is a skilled and youthful trio that can excel eventually, but cornerback is notoriously a position group that takes time to acclimate to the speed of the NFL. That pattern may become especially evident for Atlanta's defensive backfield considering there are four in-division meetings against Tom Brady and Drew Brees.

The Falcons' brass decided to hand the No. 2 cornerback job over to the 22-year-old Oliver, after Robert Alford ranked as one of Pro Football Focus's lowest-rated starting cornerbacks last season. Oliver doesn't offer a ton of NFL experience (two starts and 14 games played as a rookie), but the coaching staff loves his length and ability to defend the deep ball. It will be a trial by fire situation, with the team hoping that he can improve as the season progresses and help Atlanta improve upon a 27th-place finish in pass defense.

Being the best Colorado cornerback to enter the NFL since 2011, when Jimmy Smith was drafted late in the first round by Baltimore, it came as a surprise that Oliver was still on the board when the Falcons' second selection rolled around at No. 58 overall. Oliver possesses superb length for a defensive back and shows up in press coverage, but the reason he was continually passed on by personnel evaluators in the draft may be due to less than impressive lateral movement, which could be come into play if Atlanta keeps Robert Alford on the outside and asks Oliver to cover out of the slot. Opposing quarterbacks had much more success in exploiting Oliver when they could target shifty receivers running routes that require a change of direction. Take for example the fact that Oliver allowed a passer rating of 64.6 on out patterns in 2017 and a rating of 60.4 on hitches, compared to a stifling rating of 23.8 on go routes, per Pro Football Focus.