FAN_O_THE_ATL

I like alot of those players...particularly Baker if he is available in Rd 2 and Hardman on Day 3. Here is a counter of an all Bama draft. Blend the two and we'd be solid...or make it an all Bama, UGA, & Clemson draft... Rd1 - Jonah Williams, OT Alabama Rd2 - Josh Jacobs, RB Alabama or Damien Harris, RB Alabama or Irv Smith TE, Alabama Rd3 - Mack Wilson, LB Alabama Rd4a - Deionte Thompson, S Alabama Rd4b - Isaiah Buggs, DL Alabama Rd5a - Saivion Smith, CB Alabama Rd5b - Christian Miller, Edge Alabama Rd6 - Ross Pierschbacher, C Alabama Rd7 - Lester Cotton, OG Alabama

Who is your first choice?

I think he's also had a couple knee injuries...still would be my #1 choice.

Interesting trade down. Really like the Lawrence pick. I think he can immediately strengthen our entire D-line and make guys like Tak and Beasley better. Lindstrom, not so much. Just not a fan. Would prefer one of the other OT's instead. Also would prefer a LB higher. Like the two CB's you picked and like a WR that can be a PR/KR (I prefer Mecole Hardman). Lastly, not a fan of Holyfield at all.

Trade down 12 spots and pick up a 2nd and a 4th??....YES I'm on board with that! I actually like Simmons as a player but I'm not taking a player in the first round that probably won't play this year. A first round guy needs to be a solid contributor year 1. I'd be OK taking him in the 2nd though, especially if we added an extra 2nd. I bet if you tweaked your draft to take a DE or OT in round 1, then Simmons at 45, then the DE/OT at 59 most folks would love the draft. I like the rest of the draft too.

really good mock! Like the first two picks and love picking up Hardman...he will be a punt return stud. Nitpicking but would have preferred a LB.

Thanks and I agree with you that we should be able to get Lawrence a little later and pick up additional draft capital. To me it comes down to how much we love Lawrence in this case. If he is the guy we have targeted we aren't going to trade down. If he is among a pool of players still on the board that we have rated similarly, such as Lawrence, Wilkins, and Gary, then we'd be more apt to take the risk.

We lost Alford, Poole, and Bethel, have our top two safeties returning from injury and haven't really added anyone as of yet. Drafting a couple CB's and a S to develop seems reasonable. Plus these guys, assuming they make the roster, will be expected to contribute on special teams. I don't love the day 3 safeties which is why I think we may go the route of finding a college CB that we move to S. We've done it before. Definitely not opposed to drafting a mid to late round RB though.

Rd1 - Dexter Lawrence, DT Clemson - I have mixed feelings about this pick but at the end of the day I’m going to assume they view Lawrence more in the mold of Dontari Poe who played way more than a 2-down run stuffer role during his time with the Falcons. Lawrence will immediately slot alongside Jarrett and will improve both run and pass defense. Lawrence’s presence will require double teams routinely and will make lives easier for the rest of our DL and LBs. The ideal scenario here is to drop down from 14 to the 17-20 range and pick up an extra day 2 pick. Then we would have the assets needed to move up for our RT target in the 2nd or 3rd round. Rd2 - Mack Wilson, LB Alabama - I wouldn’t be upset if we took Devin White with our first pick because we have needed a second solid LB for a while now. Unacceptable if we see another year of Duke Riley getting legit playing time. Wilson has speed, physicality, is a good blitzer, good in coverage, and is a smart & instinctive football player. Could provide instant help on special teams but will likely take over the starter role by the end of the year. That’s important because with Deion Jones and Campbell both being free agents next year it is likely that one will not be back. Mack Wilson & Deion Jones will give the Falcons one of the NFL’s best LB corp for the coming years. Rd3 - Tytus Howard, OT Alabama St - Reading the tea leaves it sure feels like the Falcons would prefer to draft a RT that doesn’t necessarily have to be forced into a starting role but that can develop into the starter over time. Dalton Risner, Kaleb McGary, and Tytus Howard are three guys I think they consider. For the purpose of this mock I’m going with Tytus as the one still on the board in the 3rd round. Apparently did well at the Senior Bowl. Note that if we traded back a bit in the first then we could package our 3rd + the extra day 2 pick to move up for our targeted RT. Rd4a - Anthony Nelson, DE Iowa - I like his size and strength on the edge. Has ability to drop inside. Wins with power alot, gets home routinely on stunts, and is athletic enough to expand his pass rushing arsenal with Quinns tutelage. Reminds me a bit of Adrian Clayborn with his powerful style. Ideally he develops into a player that upgrades the Jack Crawford role. Rd4b - Isaiah Johnson, CB Houston - a tall, athletic CB that can be developed into a potential starter down the road. Similar to Oliver, year 1 is a learning year for Johnson and he can contribute on special teams. Saivion Smith is another CB I think they consider if Johnson is off the board. Rd5a - Jalen Hurd, WR Baylor - an intriguing player that could go higher. Falcons should be looking to find a potential replacement for Sanu after the 2019 season. Sanu creates mismatches and brings a unique set of skills that will be difficult to replace. Similarly, Hurd’s size and ability to run with the ball (former RB) can enable the Falcons to continue with some of their creative packages. Rd5b - Jimmy Moreland, CB James Madison - not great size but good cover guy to add to the rotation. His ability to create turnovers should be very attractive. The Falcons can bulk him up a bit and he can develop into a solid slot DB. Rd6 - Iman Marshall, S USC - 3 CB’s in this draft??? Well Iman played CB in college but for the purpose of this mock the Falcons view him more as a safety and will plan to develop him there. Rd7 - Javon Patterson, OG/C Mississippi - Falcons will likely pick an interior OL to compete for a spot and develop.

Love it!...I think they grab an OL who can play RT though.

Amen!!!

Yep I mocked him to us as 2nd round pick in my first mock. I like Mack a lot. He checks most boxes IMO. Very athletic, good in coverage, good tackler and run defender but not in the mold of bigger old school Alabama MLBs like Hightower, McClain, and Ragland. He's a good blitzer too. He's not as fast a D Jones but he plays fast for a LB and is definitely a sideline to sideline guy. He and Deion Jones would be great together IMO, would be an improvement over what we have today, and would allow the team to move on from a LB next year if financially necessary.

G-Dawg, a couple of comments and questions... 1. I'm glad others see that LB is a need. a. we can improve our current LB play drastically and b. next offseason the LB decisions are going to be difficult. Having 2 stud LB's would make this defense so much better and right now we only have 1. 2. Are you assuming Devin White is off the board in your mock or do you prefer Devin Bush over White? I prefer White over Bush. 3. I like Gilliard as a prospect but not a fan of Holyfield.

Agree that run and pass were both less than stellar but IMO run defense was far worse. We gave up almost 5 yds per rush. That's bad. And that IMO is far worse than giving up chunk passing plays because teams successfully play ball control against us and keep the ball away from our offense. Let's be real, we are built to be an offense led team where our offense is effective enough at scoring to cause opposing offenses have to keep up, thereby forcing situations where our defense can create turnovers. That's when this team is at its best. Getting a big DT/NT to plug the middle makes a ton of sense. Whether that's Lawrence at 14 or later or signing Shelton or another FA, this is a position we need filled on this defense....and not a developmental player but a solid, impactful starter. I keep hearing there's less value to a 2 down player, but I would argue that what is happening on those 2 downs is the problem...also pretty insightful that Poe played ~75% of the defensive snaps with us two seasons ago (the same # as Grady).

I'm not so sure Shelton is the answer but would love to see Devin White as our pick. Devin & Deion would be a ridiculous pair of LB's and Campbell would be on the field as SLB in 3 LB sets. And since all of these LB's have solid cover skills I'd expect more 3LB sets that we ran last year. I've been saying all along that our LB corp needs an early round addition in this draft.