FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Atlanta Falcons middle linebacker Divine Deablo watched Kaden Elliss’ leadership style closely last season.“Just in case,” Deablo said.“Just in case” became “now it’s real” in March when the Falcons watched as Elliss, their most versatile and maybe most important defender, departed in free agency for a three-year, $33 million deal with the New Orleans Saints.“As a coach, I want to keep everybody, but it’s just not the reality of our business,” coach Kevin Stefanski said.Elliss led Atlanta in tackles (380), quarterback pressures (33) and tackles for loss that weren’t sacks (18) in his three years with the team. He was also second in sacks (12.5) and third in passes defended (12) in that span. Last year, in his first year under defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, Elliss played everything from middle linebacker to edge rusher to nickel.“What we asked Kaden to do, I had never been around,” Ulbrich said.Now the Falcons are handing that role — or at least part of that role — to Deablo, 27, a sixth-year pro who joined the team last year after four seasons in Las Vegas. The 6-foot-3, 223-pound converted safety is focusing mostly on one key part of it during OTAs: wearing the green dot on his helmet.That designation is for the defensive player who has a headset in his helmet to receive the play call from Ulbrich.“I’m very impressed with Divine, somebody we have gotten to know here over the last few months, wired the right way, very intelligent,” Stefanski said. “I don’t think you can overstate how important it is to have that intelligence right in the middle of your defense.”Understanding the defense will be the easy part for Deablo. The less natural part will be communicating the calls to his teammates. One of the quietest players in the Falcons locker room, he’s working this spring to find and project his voice on the field.“I’m excited for him to get the green dot. I think it’s an opportunity to really push him in the direction he’s headed,” Ulbrich said. “I think he’s got the capacity to really be an amazing leader. The stage is there for him now.”Deablo closely watched the way Elliss handled the job last year, knowing it might be his this year.“Naturally, I am a quiet guy,” he said.He’s been trying to have more casual conversations with his teammates inside the building “to show that I am comfortable with talking,” he said. “On the field, I’ve been yelling and loud so everybody can hear me, even the coaches. I want them to know I’m confident, too.”Ulbrich, too, is confident about the transition.“He’s not the real big, demonstrative, pound-my-chest guy,” the coach said, “but I think he has so much to say and has so much value in that way that I want to keep pushing him to speak and affect people.”Deablo’s new position mate, Christian Harris, said Deablo is “a great dude, quiet, but he’s a good dude.”Deablo’s physical ability to take over the middle linebacker role isn’t in question. He was fourth on the team in tackles (73) and passes defended (seven) last year despite playing only 13 games, and when he was absent from the lineup for a month due to a broken forearm, the defense cratered.Atlanta gave up 120 more yards and eight more points per game on average in the four games Deablo missed than in the 13 he played.“When he’s out there, we feel different,” Ulbrich said. “He’s so athletic, he’s so intelligent, he’s so instinctual, he’s long and big, he checks so many boxes for you.”The broken forearm was the second of Deablo’s pro career. The first cost him nine games in 2022, and he’s been taking extra Vitamin D and calcium this offseason in hopes of guarding against any more.“It was frustrating sitting on the sideline,” he said. “I just want to stay healthy this year so I can be there for my teammates.”A student of the sport, Deablo often watches old games in his spare time, which he credits for increasing his football IQ. But the most valuable lesson for his new job was simply watching Elliss last season, he said.“He knew everybody’s position, and he put everybody in the right position, but he was also calm with it,” Deablo said.Now Deablo must find his own voice.“He’s so unique,” Ulbrich said. “I have been around guys who are really demonstrative leaders. It’s like their voice just calms you down because they are so certain in everything they do. He does that in a way I have never seen before with his calmness and consistency in everything he does.”The Falcons will continue throughout the offseason to work to help Deablo find his comfort zone.“You’re always trying to find ways for guys to affect the football game, and Divine is a guy we feel like can do that,” Stefanski said. “We will spend a lot of time on that all spring.”