What do most people do after an NFL comes and goes? Immediately move on to next year’s draft, and that’s precisely what is happening here. The Atlanta Falcons had one of the best drafts this season, but it’s time to look at who the Falcons could be drafting in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
The first order of business is understanding where the Falcons will probably be picking in next year’s draft. Despite having a very good draft this year the Atlanta Falcons’ overall roster is still not very good, and they will end up with one of the toughest schedules in the NFL this year as their 2022 opponents are very tough as you can see below.
With the roster and opponents in mind, the Atlanta Falcons will at least be picking in the top ten again, and probably the top five. With that being said, could the Atlanta Falcons be in the market for another quarterback or Will Anderson Jr. next year? Even though the Atlanta Falcons did just get what seems like a steal of a draft pick in Desmond Ridder to potentially be the future franchise QB, if the Falcons are in position to draft CJ, Stroud or Bryce Young could they really pass up on them? Unless Desmond Ridder wins the job in training camp and the person or takes over for Marcus Mariota at some point this season and blows Terry Fontenot and Arthur Smith away, could they really pass up on one of those QB’s in the 2023 draft if they have a high enough pick?
Now, they could go a different route if they have a top three or top five pick and make defensive coordinator Dean Pees very happy by drafting not only the best defensive player in college football right now, but who a lot of people think is the best overall College Football player right now in Will Anderson Jr. The linebacker out of Alabama will more than likely make any NFL instantly better including the Atlanta Falcons.
It will be very interesting to see what the Falcons decide to do if they do in fact end up with a top pick, but their decision could become clearer depending on how the 2022-23 NFL Season goes.