What Should Atlanta Falcons Do With First Round Pick In NFL Draft?
By W. M. Lawson
The Atlanta Falcons finished the 2017 season at (10-6) in the regular season, eventually losing to Super Bowl Champ Philly. What should they do in the NFL Draft First Round?
With the NFL Draft just a few short days away, all eyes will turn to the future of the National Football League, and of our beloved Atlanta Falcons. There seems to be some solid consensus about what the Falcons need and what they will or should do in the early rounds of the Draft. But are the prognosticators right?
For the most part, conventional wisdom tells that Atlanta has needs at the following positions that should be addressed: DT, WR, TE, DE, FB. The loss of Dontari Poe at Tackle and Taylor Gabriel at Wide Receiver is pretty easy to figure out. Both were heavy contributors, and at times, made plays that directly helped win ball games.
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Levine Toilolo is now gone, so Tight End seems to be a serious depth issue. Though, Austin Hooper looks to be on track, with continued improvement, to be a genuine threat in the passing game.
A quick look at the Atlanta Falcons roster and one sees that there is no “true” Fullback listed. That seems to be an issue. And everyone who knows anything about Head Coach Dan Quinn knows that he can never have too much pass rush, hence the Defensive End need listed.
That seems like a fairly simple, cut and dry explanation of said conventional wisdom. Except there is one glaring need missing.
It is impossible to believe that OG isn’t a position of need. That position has been one of the worst played on the field in the last few years, and seemingly, there is no effort to improve it except for nibbling around the edges with additions like possible help in Brandon Fusco, who is listed as a Center.
Look, this isn’t meant to call out or denigrate specific players. But reality is that Ben Garland has been serviceable, especially at DT when on that side of the ball, Wes Schweitzer has been average, at best, and sometimes terrible (yes, I know he is young), and we still don’t know what we have in Jamil Douglas or Sean Harlow.
It is apparent that those other positions require attention. That said, you can’t win in a game of football without a solid, earth moving, space eating Offensive Line. And Matt Ryan isn’t Benjamin Button.
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Maybe it doesn’t have to be in the 1st Round, but the Atlanta Falcons need to address Offensive Guard. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if they did it in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft.