By that metric, the Falcons were disappointing. I’ll write more this later, but few teams strayed further from consensus than Atlanta, and that led to most of their picks being considered reaches by analysts. The grades you’re going to see below are reflective of that; in the case of fans here at The Falcoholic, they’re perhaps reflective of that and partially based on disappointment with the players the team didn’t pick, as well as the top ten quarterback and the second round trade up.
Let’s get to them, so we can re-visit this a few years down the line to shake our heads or nod. I’ll add to the list as new grades come in today.
For a pick-by-pick writeup, visit their site.
Matt Verderame: Call me crazy, but I’m a huge fan of the Penix pick. The quarterback landscape could be great in two years. It could be barren. But if the Falcons are truly building toward the future, why not make the inevitable transition easy. I think there’s a lot of pro-Kirk Cousins sentiment out there, but Cousins will be 36 in August and is coming off an Achilles injury. He has also never reached a conference title game, so it was time to explore all options.
Vinny Iyer: GM Terry Fontenot got plenty of heat from every direction for taking Penix in the top 10 after the team committed big money to Kirk Cousins. Penix’s big arm is a good fit in the new passing offense, but the Falcons left a lot of elite, impact talent on the board as part of the opportunity cost. Not surprisingly, they chased that misstep by going defense-heavy for new coach Raheem Morris. McClellan and Washington were real offensive reaches on Day 3.
