Whether it’s in the trenches on either side of the ball or at a number of skill positions, the Falcons have holes to fill throughout their roster entering the 2022 NFL Draft. A quick way to retool a roster is by piling up picks.
The Falcons hold the eighth overall pick and nine total picks in the upcoming draft, but could Atlanta move back in the first round to accumulate additional capital? The NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah thinks so.
“My guess is you try to auction it and try to get out there because of all the needs you just mentioned. [The Falcons] would be a prime candidate if you can convince somebody that they wanted somebody to come up there. I think they make a lot of sense to get out there,” Jeremiah told Dukes & Bell on 92.9 The Game.
Should the Falcons choose to stay put at eight, the draft expert told the guys that the highest-rated player left on the board at that point will likely be a wideout—either Ohio State’s Garrett Wilson or USC’s Drake London.
This offseason, the Falcons have added Auden Tate, KhaDarel Hodge and Damiere Byrd while also bringing Cordarrelle Patterson and Olamide Zaccheaus back. With the loss of Calvin Ridley to suspension and Russell Gage—now in Tampa—wide receiver remains a position of need for Atlanta.
If the Falcons don’t want to use the eighth overall pick on a pass catcher, Jeremiah did mention that this is a deep wide receiver class. Another position of need for the Falcons is pass rusher—another deep position in this year’s draft, according to Jeremiah.
With Matt Ryan now in Indianapolis, Marcus Mariota is the presumed week one starter at this point, but that doesn’t mean the Falcons won’t select a quarterback in the draft—a possibility that Jeremiah says cannot be ruled out based on recent conversations he’s had in league circles.
“I was talking to a GM the other day that said ‘I’m having a hard time believing that Arthur Smith, who saw the limitations he had with Marcus Mariota and how the offense took off when he went to Ryan Tannehill, that he wants to hitch his wagon to Marcus here even for this whole season,’ so I wouldn’t rule out the QB thing,” he said.
Falcons fans hope that a reunion between Mariota and his former offensive coordinator in Tennessee prospers as opposed to what happened in 2019 when Smith benched the former second overall pick before his eventual release.
Jeremiah continues to state that his highest-rated quarterback in the 2022 draft class is Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett. The Falcons had a strong presence at the pro days for the Heisman finalist as well as Ole Miss’ Matt Corral, Liberty’s Malik Willis and Cincinnati’s Desmond Ritter.
Given Mariota's lengthy injury, Falcons owner Arthur Blank recently told Dukes & Bell that he hopes to see the team add a quarterback either through the draft or in free agency.
