FAN_O_THE_ATL

Love the investment into the trenches....long overdue.

In this scenario I'm taking Wilson and sitting him behind Ryan for a year. Definitely not trading down if Wilson (or another QB) is the target.

After watching most of Zach Wilson's games this year I'm onboard with picking him with our likely top-5 pick. I'm a little worried that he may go above Fields tho. If his shoulder checks out he should be our guy!!

Surtain is a stud for sure but I wouldn't draft another 1st round CB with all of the other needs on this defense.

Ryan is a good QB but our offensive scheme is lacking. Koetter can't scheme a run game to save his life. And once a defense makes adjustments it's game over because Koetter has nothing. Getting a new OC & offensive scheme should help. Our line could be solid for the right scheme and we are good at WR and QB. We definitely need a solid RB and could use another TE. We will likely have some tough decisions with Matthews and Mack on the OL. On Defense we are lacking. TD built this team from the outside in with limited successful investments in the heart of the defense. Good teams build their defense from the inside out. Injecting talent at DL, LB, & S will be the key to transforming this defense from meh to good.

I remember the disappointment with the Duke Riley pick having watched him in college and videos of him leading up to the draft. Never thought of him as a stud LB and that proved to be the case. As for Mykal Walker I again was disappointed when the pick was announced, albeit for a different reason...I'd never heard of him or watch him play and there were some solid names still on the board. I thought oh no here we go again with another no name small school TD draft pick. But 10 minutes later after doing a little research on him and watching some videos of his game I was actually pretty happy with the pick. He looks the part to me. Time will tell of course but I would not be surprised to see him turning into one of the best LB's from this draft class in a few years.

Walker wasn't on my radar but looking at 5 minutes of video of him I'm not sure why he wasn't. Dude looks like a solid player. What do we need in a LB that plays the Campbell role?...can cover, has physicality / is a good tackler, ability to rush the passer periodically, instinctive...this guy appears to check all these boxes. Played 2 yrs and was all conference first team both years, that tells me that he's consistently good. MVP of his bowl or championship game, again tells me the guy makes plays. Going into today I was struggling to find a LB that I really liked. I had Troy Dye on my list as instinctive and playmaker but I didn't love his physicality. At first glance I like what I see from Walker way more than Dye. Could be a sneaky good pick by TD.

The main position of need is LB to replace Campbell but could definitely also use talent at DT, Edge, S, and arguably TE & QB. Guys I like include (in no particular order)...- Bradlee Anea, Edge Curtis Weaver, Edge Shaquille Quarterman, LB - intriguing…good tackler Michael Divinity, LB - character issues likely mean not even on our board but he probably the best guy talent wise to take over for Campbell. Troy Dye, LB - like the instincts but lacking bulk Jordan Fuller, S Jason Stowbridge, DT Leki Fotu, DT Richard Lawrence, DT

My thoughts exactly.

I know some people hate comps to the Seattle defense but I think the hope is that Davidson turns into our Michael Bennett. He played mostly defensive end at AU and was productive there so I definitely think we drafted him to play DE but really like that he can slide inside a bit.

I hear ya with the frustration...I was frustrated with the DB pick in round 1 in are part because we haven't invested in our defensive line and we NEED that!!! But I have to admit, seems like TD was right. We got a really good CB and then 3 more DB's went in round 1 while no (zero) other DL players went in the remainder of round 1. Outside of Kinlaw who I would have taken at 16 my preferred pick was Gross-Matos. YGM went at 38 so turns out I would have arguably overdrafted him. And while I believe YGM would have been the pick if he slipped to 47, Marlon Davidson is a good pick and I believe he'll be a disruptive DL player for us. iOL/C was on everyone's list of needs and Hennessy seemed all along like a perfect fit for our scheme while bringing added value of being able to play both G and C. Frankly I'm most thankful that TD was patient and didn't sacrifice picks to trade up. So far we have drafted 3 really good football players at positions of need IMO.

My preferences day 2 are YGM, Winfield, Delpit, Uche as an initial list

This! I truly hope Terrell turns into a stud but **** TD avoids the DLine like the plague. I guess that's what we get with a former DB scout. #frustrated

Definitely an intriguing draft. I like the players you drafted. I don't love giving up next year's 2nd and Kazee.

I'm a big fan of Gross Matos. If we don't get Kinlaw then he's next on my list. Getting them both would be amazing even if it does cost us a 3rd round pick. It would definitely help turn our DL weakness into more of a strength. Clearly Blank said fix the OL after the 2018 season and I've felt all along that he said fix the DL after this past season. We should find out shortly if that looks to be the case. Also, I'm not sure about his pass swatting skills but he's a prototypical DE with both pass rush skills/technique and physicality to set the edge / play the run.