'He Did Great': Atlanta Falcons Tab Starting Center as Dalman Injury Replacement

The Atlanta Falcons have formally announced their starting center in place of the injured Drew Dalman: backup Ryan Neuzil.

The Atlanta Falcons are turning to center Ryan Neuzil to replace Drew Dalman, who's on injured reserve with an ankle injury. / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

When Atlanta Falcons center Drew Dalman hobbled off the field in the second quarter of last Sunday's 22-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the mind of Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins began to race.

But not entirely due to Dalman's absence.

Instead, Cousins had already moved onto the future -- working with backup center Ryan Neuzil. Throughout the summer, Neuzil was next up in Atlanta's line behind Dalman, but he worked primarily with backup quarterbacks Michael Penix Jr. and Taylor Heinicke, who was later traded to the Los Angeles Chargers.

And so, with the Falcons' offense still on the field, Cousins wanted as much time as possible to get up to speed with Neuzil.

"I'm thinking, 'No, no, no, don't trot into the bench. You go down on the ground so you can buy me time to get some snaps with Neuzil,'" Cousins said of his immediate reaction to Dalman's injury. "So, I was like, 'You go down, take all the time you need, TV time out, run a bunch of commercials.'"

Cousins then moved from Dalman to Neuzil, a 27-year-old from Bradenton, Fla., who played in 17 games with four starts last season. Each of his starts came in place of Dalman, who missed time last season with an ankle injury.

"I was screaming for Neuzil, and I said, 'Give me a ball,'" Cousins said. "So, I was screaming for a football. And so, then we just started getting under center snaps, shotgun snaps, pistol snaps, just trying to make sure that it would be as clean as possible."

Atlanta went three-and-out the series Neuzil entered for Dalman. Upon getting back to the sidelines, Cousins gave Neuzil a brief state of the union on the Falcons' offense.

"Just a conversation on the sideline of, 'Hey, here's what we're thinking, here's what we were doing with Drew on this look,'" Cousins said. "In the huddle, even, ‘Hey, I want you to go this way for this look.’ But he did great, and he handled it really well, no surprise. And I expect that to continue."

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The Falcons need it to continue, as Dalman was placed on injured reserve Tuesday with a high left ankle sprain. In steps the 6-foot-3, 301-pound Neuzil, who Falcons coach Raheem Morris officially named the starter Wednesday during his press conference.

Dalman is an important piece to the middle of Atlanta's offensive line. The center is, in a sense, an extension of the quarterback. Morris noted centers act as a visual aid for their signal callers, be it calling out protection, helping control mic points and redirecting other players.

There's a lot that goes into playing center, Morris said, and Dalman brought a calm, reliable presence. Cousins, who's in his 13th professional season, has another set of traits he wants from his center.

"I think you love the ability to see the whole picture, be decisive, making calls quickly," Cousins said. "You like the sense of urgency from a center because you're always fighting the play clock, and the center kind of leads the tempo out of the huddle to the line of scrimmage, making the call, getting everything set.

"So, you want them to move fast and almost be a step ahead of you."

Neuzil, in his first regular season action of 2024, drew considerable praise after Sunday's loss. Cousins said postgame he thought Neuzil was phenomenal in terms of making protection calls, delivering quality snaps and handling cadences.

And after watching the film several times, Morris reached a similar conclusion.

"Ryan Neuzil stepped in the game and did a fine job," Morris said Wednesday. "When you're not the starter, you have to act like you are the starter, you have to be ready. And I was very pleased with Neuzil going out there and being able to get done some things that you can get done.

"Obviously, he'll have things that he'll want to correct, the coaches will have things they want to correct, but we'll get out there and we'll compete at the highest level with those guys."

Neuzil played 42 offensive snaps against the Chiefs, 26 of which came in pass protection. He allowed only one pressure, but no hits or sacks on Cousins, according to Pro Football Focus.

The game marked Neuzil's eighth in which he's seen action on offense, but he's played in 29 total contests since entering the league in 2021 as an undrafted free agent out of Appalachian State.

A practice squad player during his rookie season, Neuzil hasn't missed a game since making his NFL debut Nov. 6, 2022, against the Los Angeles Chargers.

And even though he's making just his fifth professional start Sunday, Neuzil has more than enough experience in the eyes of Cousins -- but there remains a different set of challenges.

"It's great that Neuzil’s had so much action and has played a lot, been around a while," Cousins said. "There's subtle differences where he's a lefty instead of a righty -- how the ball may rotate on a pistol snap or a gun snap.

"You've just got to get the reps to get comfortable with it. But once you do, it just goes instinctually."

Like with lefty quarterbacks, the spin on the football differs with a lefty center. It's usually a drastic change, Cousins said, but Neuzil makes it close to a non-factor on snaps under center.

Cousins still has an adjustment period ahead with shotgun and pistol snaps, but it's nothing major and should become smooth as the duo moves forward together.

Neuzil and Cousins will spend the next four weeks as the first two players to touch the ball on each of Atlanta's offensive snaps. They're still learning how each other operates, but they're making strides.

And they'll get to show it at 1 p.m. Sunday, when the Falcons (1-2) host the New Orleans Saints (2-1) inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.