Free Agency, No-Name Draft Picks, Trades That Didn’t Capsize, and the Heart of a Champion. What Worked for Atlanta Is a Blueprint for . . . : Winning in Today’s NFL

The Atlanta Falcons’ success makes them a model for downtrodden teams everywhere, proof that no situation is too hopeless to be turned around quickly and set on track for a happy ending.

They defied conventional wisdom at every step of their transformation from a sorry 3-13 in 1996 to a 14-2 regular-season record, the NFC West title and an upset of the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC championship game. They cobbled together a mishmash of players who were overlooked in the college draft, retreads and free agents who were pushed out by youth movements on their previous clubs, a formula that shouldn’t have worked--but did.

Of the Falcons’ starters in their stunning 30-27 overtime victory over the Vikings last week, only two were their own first-round draft picks: offensive tackle Bob Whitfield, the eighth overall pick in 1992, and cornerback Michael Booker, the 11th overall pick in 1997. One other starter, defensive end Chuck Smith, was a second-round selection. Two fourth-round picks, a sixth-round pick and two seventh-rounders were also in the mix, including running back Jamal Anderson, who was taken in the seventh round as the 201st pick in 1994 and was the NFL’s second-leading rusher this season with 1,846 yards.

“The best running back right now in football was taken in the sixth round, and that’s Terrell Davis,” Green Bay Packer General Manager Ron Wolf said of the Denver standout who led the NFL this season with 2,008 rushing yards but was unheralded in 1995. “Dorsey Levens [of the Packers] was taken in the fifth round [in 1994]. That kind of thing happens once in a while. If we all could look into a crystal ball, Jamal Anderson would never have lasted until the seventh round or Terrell Davis until the sixth. That part of it makes what we do so exciting and also so frustrating, that it’s not an exact science.”

Said ESPN analyst Mark Malone, who played quarterback with Pittsburgh, San Diego and the New York Jets: “You could say they did a good job with that, but then you can say, ‘Where are all their high draft picks?’ So you can say they made mistakes. A lot of people say the value of the draft is in the mid rounds. You could certainly make an argument that the scouting department did a good job and so did [Coach] Dan Reeves, who has proved over the years he’s a pretty good evaluator of talent, Ed McCaffrey notwithstanding.”

In building or rebuilding a team, it’s good to be smart and even better to be lucky. It may be better still to have a shrewd, experienced coach who is his own boss in personnel decisions.

The Falcons’ journey from sad-sack to Super Bowl XXXIII Sunday might not have been possible without Reeves, who was voted coach of the year this season for the third time in his career. Still, there’s no guarantee his blueprint would work with any other coach--or for any other team.

“There’s lots of different ways to win. The key is to settle on one way and stick with it,” said Fox analyst Matt Millen, the only NFL player who has been on three different winning Super Bowl teams--the Raiders, 49ers and Redskins. “Look at what Dan Reeves did with his personnel. It’s not so much people, but the first thing he did was straighten out the organization.

“Everybody said the big problem he had was he wanted control in Denver and New York, but the control in New York he was looking for wasn’t dictatorial. It was knowing you’re going one way, and not paralyzing the organization. . . . People will do the job they’re asked to do if you tell them clearly what’s expected of them. There’s nothing worse than going on the field and you don’t know what you’re supposed to do.

“They picked up Eugene Robinson [before this season] and Cornelius Bennett. Two years ago, I would have counted Bennett out. He’s playing great now. [Defensive end] Lester Archambeau has been other places. [Defensive tackle] Shane Dronett had been with Reeves in Denver. . . . Dan Reeves changed the face of the whole Atlanta organization. The hardest thing you can do in football has to happen in varying degrees: You have to change the attitude, and not only in the locker room, but in the front office. Dan Reeves changed Atlanta. Bill Parcells did the same thing with the New York Jets. He should be given the Nobel Prize. Philly is waiting for that guy to show up.”

The Falcons’ attitude began to change last season, when they won six of their last eight games. Their cast this season was improved with the acquisition of wide receiver Tony Martin in a trade with San Diego and the free-agent signing of Robinson, the veteran safety who started every game his previous two seasons with Green Bay.

“The other thing people forget is who you pick up in free agency has to fit into your team chemistry. Team chemistry is important,” Malone said. “It’s difficult to bring in a superstar whose personality might not fit in with the other 51 or 52 players, and that’s something Dan Reeves has done a tremendous job with. He’s made good free-agent acquisitions, such as Eugene Robinson. This is a football team that, even though it struggled, you could see it had a lot of talent.”

Said Millen: “The coach brings with him a plan, and he has to sell it. The key is, you look at your players and if you have John Riggins you can’t say, ‘We’re going to have a speed-based offense.’ You have power, and you go with that. That’s the key to a good coach. You adapt the plan to your personnel. That’s good coaching, good managerial skills. You don’t make people fit into roles that they’re not suited for.”

Finding the right people to build a winning team is a tough challenge in today’s salary cap-conscious NFL.

“I think it’s a combination of draft and free agency. How you do in the draft is the basis you’re starting with and from that, you expand and fill in holes,” Wolf said. “You can use free agency to fill in gaps. Trading is almost out of the picture because of the salary cap, but it can be used, and Atlanta has used it well this year. You have to take advantage of everything available to you.”

The NFL’s last two expansion teams provide vivid examples of how to build from scratch--or maybe how not to build from scratch.

Carolina and Jacksonville, which debuted in 1995, adopted contrasting philosophies. Carolina decided to build around veterans and Jacksonville went with rookies; both advanced to the conference championship games in their second season, but their fortunes have since diverged.

The Panthers won the NFC West title in 1996 and defeated the Dallas Cowboys, who had won three of the previous four Super Bowls, in the playoffs. They had six defensive starters over age 31, 12 players who had been to Super Bowls and six who had Super Bowl rings, and four stars on defense in Eric Davis, Kevin Greene, Sam Mills and Lamar Lathon. They took an early lead over Green Bay in the championship game but lost, 30-13.

The Jaguars leaned more toward youth. In their playoff debut, they upset the Bills at Buffalo and the Broncos at Denver, but lost to New England, 20-6, in the conference championship game.

Since then, the Panthers have struggled, while the Jaguars have built upon their early foundation. They won the AFC Central title this season, but lost to the Jets in the divisional playoffs.

“One wanted short-term success, the other looked at the long term,” Millen said of the Panthers and Jaguars. “The short-term guy [Dom Capers] has been fired already, although I think when they didn’t re-sign Kevin Greene [in 1997], that killed them.”

Malone agreed. “Carolina self-destructed in a lot of ways. Jacksonville went more with rookies and a couple of key free agents,” he said. “The backbone of your football team has to be constructed in the draft. Too many people get overzealous after losing talent after the season and then overpay for free agents. You have to be prudent.

“In today’s age, you make too many mistakes and it can kill you. You can’t recover from a cap standpoint or a financial standpoint. Free agency will allow you to fill some holes, and if you get the right people in key spots, it will help you construct a good team.”

The expansion Cleveland Browns will have several options in formulating their strategy. Going with veterans who have name recognition might work in a city with deep NFL roots. But relying on youngsters might provide better long-term results.

“Cleveland is so darn happy to have football back they couldn’t care less who’s on the team,” Malone said. “They’re going to want the team to be successful almost right away, which Carolina and Jacksonville did. It will be tough for Cleveland to be as competitive as quickly. But [General Manager] Carmen Policy is a wonderfully bright guy and the new coach they hired, Chris Palmer, has proven himself [as Jacksonville’s offensive coordinator].”

If there’s one thing the Falcons have shown, it’s that any team can be turned around, no matter how many skeptics say it can’t be done because losing has become too ingrained.

“People said the same thing about San Francisco before [Bill] Walsh got there. People said the same thing about Green Bay before [Vince] Lombardi arrived. People said the same thing about the New York Jets before [Bill] Parcells got there,” Millen said. “It all starts with that one pivotal guy. You can look at these things as a problem or an opportunity.”

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How Super Teams Were Built

How the AFC champion Denver Broncos and the NFC champion Atlanta Falcons acquired the players to take them to the Super Bowl XXXIII

Denver Broncos

Free agents: 33

Trade: 2

Draft: 18

Atlanta Falcons

Free agents: 27

Trade: 4

Draft: 21