With Arthur Smith calling the plays in Tennessee in 2020, Derrick Henry surpassed 2,000 rushing yards. When Smith arrived in Atlanta, Falcons fans didn’t expect Henry-like numbers from any of the running backs on the roster but were certainly left wanting more from the running game at times throughout the season.
With their top two rushers from 2021—Cordarrelle Patterson & Mike Davis— set to hit free agency, the Falcons running back room may look a lot different when the start of the 2022 season rolls around. If the Falcons look to the draft to rebuild the room, CBS Sports’ Emory Hunt told Andy & Randy on 92.9 The Game that this is a good year to do just that.
“If you’re Atlanta, this is another class where it’s deep. You can find some good backs, you can double up on backs because guys can play off one another. So, it's a great year to need a tailback because you can get any type of flavor you want out there in the backfield,” Hunt said.
Iowa State’s Breece Hall, Isiah Spiller out of Texas A&M and Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker are considered to be the top prospects at the position at this point in the pre-draft process. The Falcons enter the 2022 draft with the eighth-most draft capital, so while they may have more pressing needs in the first round, Atlanta still has plenty of opportunities to find a running back with two second-round picks, a third-rounder and their later-round picks.
In fact, Daniel Jeremiah’s latest mock draft doesn’t have a running back being selected in the first round—something that hasn’t happened since 2014.
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Asked which prospects could catch the Falcons’ eye in the mid-rounds of the NFL Draft, Hunt quickly mentioned Florida State’s Jashaun Corbin.
“He has the vision and footwork that marries together that allows him to be his own blocker. You’ll see him make things happen 3-4 frames ahead of the defender. Sometimes we find ourselves watching the play and we’ll see it set up and say ‘there’s a cutback there,’ but he sees it in realtime on field-level and he has the footwork to get there,” Hunt said.
Corbin rushed for just under 900 yards with the Seminoles in 2021, but at 6.2 yards per carry, Hunt suggested that he was underutilized.
Hunt also mentioned BYU’s Tyler Allgeier as a prospect flying under the radar and that his game translates well to the pro game. Allgeier finished 2021 tied for the national lead with 23 rushing touchdowns and was fourth in terms of rushing yards with 1,601.
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The Falcons could choose to draft a running back and bring back Patterson, who led the team with 618 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns, now that they’ve got some extra cap space following the suspension of WR Calvin Ridley.