May 4, 2022 • 39 mins
NFL Network senior writer/reporter and Falcons contributor Steve Wyche joins the Scott, Tori and Kris to break down Atlanta’s NFL Draft from every angle, including the selections of Drake London and Desmond Ridder. We also react to the Grady Jarrett extension news, which broke as we were recording, and then provided a big-picture analysis of where the Falcons stand after the draft. Timecodes: (00:00:00): Intro; Steve Wyche joins the pod!!! (00:07:40): Why the Falcons went with Drake London at No. 8 (00:16:15): What it means landing QB Desmond Ridder at No. 74 (00:25:38): Reaction to Grady Jarrett extension news (which broke while we were recording!!) (00:31:10): National perception of what Terry Fontenot, Arthur Smith are doing with Falcons roster Welcome to Falcons Final Whistle – an Atlanta Falcons postgame podcast during the season and that shifts gears in the offseason and answers a pressing question about the team’s future each week through free agency, the NFL Draft and the offseason program. Join Atlanta Falcons Insiders Scott Bair, Tori McElhaney and Kris Rhim as they break down the hottest topics surrounding the Atlanta Falcons and how they can impact the team’s success. Like and subscribe to join us for the lively debate on Falcons Final Whistle. SUBSCRIBE: iTunes: [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/falcons-final-whistle/id1585038333](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/falcons-final-whistle/id1585038333) SPOTIFY: [https://open.spotify.com/show/4d9VGyX5e9OHJ7BFPaqdMH?si=gUaI61sVSvyy2yu5DtBhZw&dl_branch=1&nd=1](https://open.spotify.com/show/4d9VGyX5e9OHJ7BFPaqdMH?si=gUaI61sVSvyy2yu5DtBhZw&dl_branch=1&nd=1)
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
What's up, everybody, and welcome to another edition with the
Falcons Final Whistle Podcast. I'm Scott bar here with Tory
mclady and Chris rim as always and drumroll please. NFL
Network senior reporter Falcons contributor Steve Weish is on the
podcast with us. Steve, thank you so much for joining us.
Thanks for having me on. This is fun. It's about time.
(00:28):
By the way, you know, my feelings been hurt. You
guys have been like neglecting me with this. I don't
want to do this for a minute, so thanks for
finally having me on, Scott. I also think it's important
to note that Steve Weisch is so committed to bringing
you awesome Falcon's content that he's up at six forty
five Pacific time early riser or no. He's looking polished,
looking fresh dressed, ready to talk sports. And I don't
(00:51):
think any of us we're up at six forty five
Eastern Nobody wants to hear that. There are a lot
of folks, there are a lot of folks who are
up at five o'clock working a lot harder than we are.
We have no time for that, so on the grind Man. Well,
but We're here to break down the Falcons eight player
(01:14):
draft class that was just completed over the course of
the weekend. Um They started at number eight with USC
wide receiver Drake London and included seven guys after that.
They addressed defense a lot. On Day two. They made
five picks in the first eighty two. Those are what
I would considered premium picks. They gave up a fourth
round draft pick to go up just a little bit
(01:36):
in the second round and draft Penn State edge rusher
Arnold Ebikiti. Sounds right good miracle, and then they flushed
it out with some defense. They got some Day three
picks I would say, highlighted by BYU running back tire Owl.
Thank goodness, we have at least one professional TV guy
(01:58):
in the group, Tyler Algier, A big bowling ball covered
in butcher knives is what I'd like to call him.
A very physical runner. And we're gonna break all that
down over the course of this Falcon's Final Whistle podcast.
But let's just start with overall impressions of this draft class.
How do you think general manager Terry Fontneau and head
(02:19):
coach Arthur Smith did over the course of this three
day stretch let's start with our guests, Steve Weish, what
were your overall impressions of what the Falcons were able
to do? Yeah, first of all, it was very tactical
and very focused. You know, look, they you can talk
best player of available you want, but they went to
areas of need which are pretty much everywhere. But the
fact they got two edge rushers, right, you got a
(02:42):
running back who's a very productive running that might be
my favorite pick of there, Tyler al Jilie hell a player.
You know, you get Drake lenn in the first round.
You had to give your quarterback a shot. And the
top three edge rushers were off the board already. So
the fact that they kind of stayed focused and didn't
get teased by maybe a greater talent who might not
(03:04):
fit for what they're trying to do scheme wise, playing
time wise, and possibly replacing a veteran who could be
off the roster next year. I think the fact that
they stuck to that again, they were very tactical, and
I think, you know, the draft pick of Troy Anderson
kind of shows that he was an inside linebackers. And
why did the inside linebacker Well, Dean Jones contract expires
(03:25):
after the year, I believe I think they could get
out of it. That could be the successor right there.
So I get very smart, very focused and so and
I think that's the big perception of that as well. Chris, So,
what were your overall thoughts on this one. Yeah, I
thought they kind of knocked it out of the park.
I mean, I think I think they have one of
(03:47):
the best day twos in the league in terms of
snagging Arnold Eba Katie and then Desmond Ritter and then
DeAngelo later and Tyler Anderson, who I thought it was
my favorite guy after talking to him um that day
after the draft. He just seems like a dude who
loves football, a dude who hasn't scratched the surface of
what he can be at that position yet, somebody who
(04:09):
I think will grow a lot in the NFL. And Um,
I really liked the Desmond Rider pick. I think you
get great value at with him in the third round.
And it's it's low risk, high reward if it doesn't
If it doesn't pan out, you can always move forward.
It's not something that you know you're stuck at. I
think there so, I thought I thought they though they
did a really good job. And I think after day one,
(04:32):
I think some people, I think especially some of the
reactions that they got with with the pick, I think
people were worried. But I feel like after day two
everyone felt a lot better about what this class look like.
When you go and get two edge rushers, a quarterback,
and an inside linebacker. Um with the skills that Anderson has, Tori,
what do you got? I thought it was really interesting
(04:54):
because as good as I think this collective group is,
it looks very different than what I originally thought Terry
Fono and Arthur Smith are going to go after. I
thought that they're going to put more emphasis on interior
linemen and also interior on both sides of the ball
line of scrimmage inside talking about guards and centers and
(05:16):
then also defensive tackles. I thought they were going to
put more emphasis on inside. But I read something I
guess it was yesterday or the day before where it
was like they went outside in, not inside out. And
I thought that was very well put because they did
go after these skill positions of need. They went after
wide receivers, they went after EDG dreshers, went after a quarterback.
(05:39):
I mean, these are all positions that don't necessarily technically
help the interior of your offensive and defensive lines, but
maybe in the long run. D and So I do
think that that was something that was really really interesting
when you're kind of looking at where we thought the
Falcons were gonna go versus where they actually went. Yeah,
(06:01):
I really look back at it, and I think that
they were so much of it was about helping the
twenty two product a little bit, but but really trying
to keep their eye on the big picture, which is
important during this draft. I like that they went out
and got a bunch of dudes, a bunch of tough guys,
and a bunch of guys that were supremely motivated and
(06:22):
to kind of prove it. Right that you go out
and you get guys on prove it deals and f
agency because you have to because they can't afford, you know,
to give out longer term contracts. But then they go
out and get guys with a similar attitude, you know,
I thought, I thought that was really cool as well.
And we're going to break all this thing down further
where you're going to get into greater depth about the
(06:42):
Drake London pick and the strategy behind it. We're going
to go into probably the third round pick with the
most eyeballs on him throughout the entire league. That's Cincinnati
quarterback Desmond Ritter, who the Falcons got at number seventy four.
Where you're going to take a closer look at their
pass rouss, not only who they got, but who they
already have. And then of course we're gonna go kind
(07:03):
of big picture macro and look at the Falcons from
from thirty thousand feet and really try to get Steve's
opinion on how the rest of the league is looking
at the Falcons and they're kind of a reclamation project.
But before we get to all that, a big thank
you to our sponsor, Microsoft, Windows eleven, the official operating
system of the NFL and the Atlanta Falcons. The all
(07:25):
new Windows eleven is here to bring you closer to
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Windows dot com. So, as we were just saying we're
gonna get into this number eight overall selection, it's USC
wide receiver Drake London and Steve. As you watched the
(07:45):
draft play out right, you would kind of mention that
the top three edge rushers that's Aiden Hutchinson, Cavon Thibadeau
and Trayvon Walker were off the board. We saw a
mini run of offensive tackles with with with ecky he Juana.
One of these days, I'm gonna get one of these pronunciations,
right and Evan Neil easier to say off the board
(08:07):
at six and seven when the Falcons are on the clock.
Kind of what were your thoughts and what were your
initial reactions to the pit given who was off the
board and who is left on the board. Well, don't
forget the run on corners. You know you had you know,
Stingley and Gardner off at three and four, and that
was another position that they were looking at. So when
you look at their board and how they rated him,
the guys that were the next ra highest rated guy
(08:27):
was a wide receiver, and you know, you look, you
look at some of the other wide receivers out there.
So with a big home run hitters Garrett Wilson, Chris Lave,
you know, Jamison Williams like, well, you know there's there's
the game breaker you want. We know Arthur Smith likes
wide receiver, big wide receivers, right, So Drake London fits
the mold. He's not the fastest of that group. He's
fast enough. I mean, I live in LA I saw
(08:48):
plenty of him, you know, breaking long runs and big
plays at USC. But he can play inside, he can
play outside. He's good in the run game. Let's not
forget that wide receivers in this offense have got to
blow and oftentimes a big wide receiver like Dake London's
gonna be matched up on a safety who's kind of
equal size or something comparable. So that's why they helped.
(09:09):
They probably won't with Drake London. Plus, look, you've got
quarterbacks coming in. You get a bigger target for a
quarterback pairing with Kyle Pitts. That gives you some options, right,
And so they got to autom take another big wide receiver.
They still don't have great speed at wide receiver. That's
something they really wanted to address throughout the team, and
for the most part in the draft they did. But
(09:30):
when I saw it, I was like, oh, that's interesting
because the Tori's point, I thought they were trying to
build a little more inside out. They went with a
guy who was highest rated on their board that was
a wide receiver, a need position, and he's a really
good player. Again, a big guy, faster than you think,
and could snatch anything that's stone in his area code.
(09:52):
I was interested in how far Florida State and former
Georgia Bulldog addresser Jermaine Johnson fell Steve. It seem maybe
that the Falcons might have some interest in a player
like that. He seemed like a scheme fit. What have
you heard about not only why he didn't go that high,
but why he tumbled all the way to a twenty
five or twenty six. Yeah, and again I don't have
(10:14):
it a great authority. Some people said some of his interviews,
they just they weren't great. I mean, that's something clearly
it alerted a lot of teams. Now we know all
thirty two teams did not pick in the first round,
so many teams did have a first round pick to
the second round, but a lot of teams passed on him.
It's still really good talent, so you got to take
a little deeper, and some of the things that happened
right there, the Jets end up come and get him
(10:35):
an incredible value pick at twenty six. But I just
think when it came to their board that he just
did not rate is highly. Is Drake London and some
other players that they went with. And again that's what
I talk about. Their draft was focused. That's attempting to
apple to bite, right that Jermaine Johnson, Edge Russ tempting
apple to bite. But then they know they had Arnold
Keyte possibly sitting right there for them in the second
(10:58):
round at a better value. But they knew they had
to come up and get this is someone who was
going to go in the high second round. So they
got about a better value and then someone who they
figured could fit their scheme equally, if not better than
what they were trying to do with Jermaine Johnson. So
when you look at scheme fit, Chris Um, what do
you think about Drakelin and kind of kind of stepping
(11:18):
in and what were your impressions You actually had a
chance to speak with him one on one and kind
of get a chance to to know his family on
Friday afternoon, what what were your big takeaways from that
and how do you think he's going to fit into
this offense? Well, I think my biggest take great from
the first time I talked to him is that maybe
(11:39):
they should cool off the media for the first round
draft picks, because by the time he got to me,
he was I think he was done, weren't out, And
the next the next day I talked to him, he
kind of told me that, like, yeah, I was, I was,
so I just wanted to be with my family and
there was just a lot of media going on, and
he seemed like a really nice, nice guy, good family,
(12:00):
good family who you know, was focused on letting him
be whatever he wanted to be growing up. You know,
didn't push any sport on him, which was clear because
he played basketball all the way up until twenty twenty
when it just became too hard with COVID to do
two sports. But overall, I think with the like for
all the things that Steve mentioned, he obviously fits his scheme.
(12:20):
But I think, yes, like like we just talked about,
I thought that, you know, based off everything that we
were hearing, based off the amount of roundups, you know,
mind drives that we looked at. We I think we
all kind of thought Jermaine Johnson was was going to
go high. Thought he might even go before the Falcons pick,
maybe even the Falcons had him rated higher on their board.
(12:43):
But they did it and clearly, you know, many teams didn't.
And I think what I think I understood more about
the pick later on was that it was it was
less about you know, Drake versus the other rode receivers,
wide receivers versus, like Drake was the highest player on
their board at a time. And also, you know there's
different flavors for rod receivers where you go speed or
(13:05):
height or physicality, and Drake definitely fits Arthur Smith's flavor
in terms of the guy that he's looking for. So
I think when you look at the pick, it makes
a lot a lot of sense looking back at it,
but I think when it happened there was a little
bit of surprise. I think, yeah, if you go back
to as I was watching the draft in real time,
(13:26):
you would have thought that if somehow sauced lands at eight,
that's but he was never gonna land it at eight.
But if he lands at eight, that's the pick I
think came on. Thibodeau may have been a difficult guy
to pass up on, but ultimately, as the you know,
as those three edge rushers went off in the top five,
I think all like all three of us that were
(13:47):
sitting in very close proximity on draft night really kind
of huddled up and thought, Okay, it's starting to line
up towards towards that white out with the Johnson as
the X factor. Ultimately, Drake London is the guy, and
we actually had an opportunity to talk to some of
the regional scouts who took a look at Drake. What
(14:07):
were your impressions, you know, did you feel or like,
what kind of impressions did you get about about kind
of what they thought about Drake and when Drake was
kind of on their radar tory, Yeah, I think it
was really interesting. I mean, there's a lot of things
that that I've already been said that I feel like
(14:30):
I could go down a rabbit hole and kind of
each of it. But when I was talking to Joel Collier,
who is the area scout who essentially was the point
of contact for the Falcons organization with Drake London, he
said everything that everybody else has already said, you know,
using the word scheme fit, using the word build and fit.
(14:53):
I mean that word fit I think goes a very
very long way. Because when I was doing the draft
grades of the overall league media the night after the
first round, everybody was like, how could you go with
Drake London when Garrett Wilson and Jamison Williams are still
on the board, and everyone was saying that. Everyone was
saying like, it's it's why why pick Drake when you
(15:17):
have the other ones? And the reason is is because
the Falcons didn't want the other ones. They didn't see
them fitting the way that Drake London would in what
Arthur Smith wants this offense to be. That is the
key here, and I think that's oftentimes misconstrued when everything's
happening around the first night of the draft and even
talking to the area scouts, talking to the position position
(15:39):
coaches t J. Yates, I mean they said that over
and over. It was like, this is the guy that
we wanted because we think that he works in this
system best. And I think we have to remember that
when we're when we're talking about this pick and what
it means for the Falcons, not just in twenty twenty two,
but moving forward to Yeah, as they pair him with
(16:00):
tight end Kyle Pitts, it's gonna be interesting. I don't
think that Arthur Smith loved the self proclaimed Twin Towers nickname.
I think he just said, that's going to be more
AMMO for the meeting room, and they're always looking for
new ways to dig him. Mean, he actually did that
right before the first press conference, he let that twin
towers thing. I don't think that's gonna last. But nonetheless,
(16:23):
as we move on here, let's let's skip the second
round for just a little bit. Talk about the fact
that as we saw the first round develop, that that
that that quarterback run never materialized. It was Kenny Pickett
at twenty and that was it for a very long time,
(16:43):
and some of the guys in the green room never
got picked. I'm thinking of Atlanta native and Liberty quarterback
Malik Willis was still on the board late, and really
the quarterback run never started until the Falcons chose the
second quarterback taken at number seventy or Steve. I don't
know if you can remember a time when there was
that much of a quarterback gap. There's only been a
(17:05):
handful of times in the last ten years or so
when you've seen so few quarterbacks go. But to go
all the way to seventy four and then they get
a Cincinnati quarterback, Desmond Ritter, it's weird because if he
were to get drafted at eight, you'd have a much
or even at a thirty eight or at fifty eight.
But but getting him at seventy four his talent level.
(17:27):
They sent I don't know the entire organization to Cincinnati's
Pro Day to check out Gardner, but to also check
out to check out their their their signal callers. So
Desmond Ritter at seventy four, give me the kind of
big picture look at that selection, how he fits, when,
(17:48):
what and kind of like what your overall thoughts were
about this guy at that spot. Well, look, I mean
great value scheme. Yeah, right, he almost has the same
physical aspect as Marcus Mariota, the starter for the fastest
forty of all the quarterbacks you know at the combine.
So part of this, and this is speaking people in
the organization, is now they got Mariota, they've got Desmond Ritter,
(18:10):
and I wrote about this on the column. Now they've
got people who can move the pocket. Right now, they've
got quarterbacks you can scramble, bootleg, run game, all kinds
of things. Now that they can do stuff to protect
the offensive line, which wasn't addressed until the sixth round.
Right now they're not as much of a static offense.
So what Ritter does. He comes in one, he's a winner.
I mean you look at what he did, what Cincinnati
did last year. It's fairly accurate completion percentage. That's gonna
(18:35):
be huge. Yeah, you've got the twin towers that they're
not going to call them. But you know this is
this is the NFL. You gotta have some people. You
gotta put the ball, you know where it has to
be in these tight windows. But this is open competition.
Marcus Mariota told me, hey has not been promised anything
the Desna. Ritter has a chance to come in and
win this job, and if not, he has the chance
(18:56):
to learn from one of the most quality individuals in
the NFL. I mean, Marcus Mariota will teach him to
eventually take his job, which is a crazy thing because
most veterans don't do that. But Marcus, as much as
he wants to resurrect his career, is just that type
of human being. So again, this fits the character that
Tory talked about earlier of the draft class. I mean,
(19:16):
these are people who are hungry and they're coming into
a culture where a lot of people know they're not
going to be here for a while, or you know,
so let's help out. So again, Devin Ritter, I'm not
going to expect anything out of him this year other
than to compete. I think he will see the field
at some point. But a solid pick. And you know,
you talk about the quarterback sliding into the third round.
(19:38):
Once you got to do the first round and you
saw all the running backs and all these other positions
still on the board and all these offensive linemen and
edge guys, you knew that these quarterbacks were going to
continue to drop and get an incredible value, which started
the run on quarterbacks there in the third. Yeah, and
they're going to have a close eye on this quarterback,
whether he Steve, Steve whoever. Do you feel like he
(20:01):
needs to play at some point during the twenty twenty
two drafts or over the course of this season. Do
you feel like he needs to play so they know
who they have going in going into the next draft.
Is it something that they're gonna have to find a
way to get him in there. I don't know thoughts
on that, don't. I don't think he I don't think
he needs to play. I think if if he wins
(20:22):
a job, or if obviously if they see an opportunity
for him to play, if if Mariota is struggling or
something of that sort of happens. But I think oftentimes
the best scenarios for first year quarterbacks is that time
to learn. If if it's a full year, if it's
a few games, if it's a lot of games. I'm
(20:43):
giving him that time to learn. Again, they chose him
with the third round pick, so are they invested in
how long are they going to be invested in him?
Are they still looking next year? Again? We have to
think about that. So yeah, I don't think he needs
needs to play next year necessarily. I think it would
be good for him to play. But I don't get
the impression that Arthur Smiths and Terrified No feel rushed
(21:04):
like they need to get him on the field. I
think they like what they have him in Mariota, and
I don't think I don't think they feel the need
to get him on the field right away. At some
point you have to find out how how he plays
in the game, dude, because the big point, like you said,
is are they gonna get back in the quarterback market
next year? You know that that is the big issue
They're going to have the money, there's gonna be some
other guys that can draft. Maybe some of these other
(21:26):
quarterbacks become available in free agency. They have to figure
out if he can play. Guys can look terrible in
practice and you can make man he's not ready, and
then all of a sudden he gets in the game
and it's something different or vice versa. But I think
towards the back end of the season, depending on how
Mariota is playing and how the season is going, you
know they're gonna know. They're gonna know within a couple
of months. And again, listen to this part, not on
(21:48):
how much he can play, but how his teammates respond
to him. Right if your teammates are like, this is
the guy, but you're not playing him because maybe he
can't read a certain defense, at some point you have
to give the guy an opportunity just to go out
there and see see if he can do it. I mean,
I think it all depends on how the season goes.
(22:08):
But not right away, Torry, what do you think, ye
just about how he's going to kind of step in here.
He's a big athletic guy. I love the fact that
he's won more than forty games. I just think that
that says something he seems scared of nothing, which I
think is good. Never lost a home game either, I'm
pretty sure. Yeah, I don't think he's ever lost a
home game. Which when I was talking to people in
(22:31):
the building, that was something that kept coming up, is like,
you want someone in the locker room that is that
has that mentality of a winner like that. Sorry excuse me,
but that's like what it was like. Everybody kept bringing
up his record at Cincinnati. And something that I do
think is interesting is like when we're looking ahead, even
(22:52):
I know everybody saw this, but when Desmon Ritter is
legit talking about how Marcus Mariota is the guy who
he models his game after and someone he's looked up
to and someone who he really wants to learn from,
and the fact that it couldn't have been better that
Marcus Mariot is in that room with him, I think
that is very very interesting to hear somebody like a
(23:14):
Desmond Ritter say that. And so I do think it's
going to be I'm looking forward to this year. I
do think that it's gonna be Marcus, like right off
the bat, just from kind of like what Arthur was
saying in his post draft press conference after Desmond was taken,
he was like, you know, Marcus is our guy and
he's the veteran. I think that was Arthur. I don't,
(23:35):
I'm not. I feel like I'm not putting words in
his mouth, but it almost felt like it was Arthur
kind of being like, let's pump the brakes on the
Desmond starting day one, talk like we still have Marcus
in here. So it's gonna be It's gonna be interesting
and I'm looking forward to and then also thinking about
the future. Are the Falcon's going to be in the
market to take a quarterback next draft? Are they going
(23:57):
to be in the position too? Are they going to
be able to hit the trade market and look for
somebody in that regard? I think that's going to be
interesting too. How can you package different players for potentially
trading for a quarterback next year? I y'all know I
was team don't take a quarterback this draft too, and
I was very anti taking a quarterback this year. And
(24:21):
so now that it's now that it's happened, I don't
want people to be like, oh, Tori's already packaging Desmond
ritterd to whoever so that they can the Falcons can
get a veteran quarterback in there. That's not what I'm saying.
I'm just saying that's a possibility, and I think it
would be interesting and real and real quick, real quick, tory.
I mean, that's a great point, Desmond. Ritter could be
a trade asset. It's crazy as it sounds, because you know,
(24:43):
we're gonna think about, oh, after all the trades this
year betting quarterbacks, it's not going to happen. Tama Bay
could be in the market for quarterback next year. Green
Bay could be in the market for quarterback next year. Houston,
there are so many team Washington, almost all of the
teams Philadelphia that we're in the market for quarterbacks this
year could be back in the market for quarterbacks next year.
So the hope is either markets or desment pans out
(25:04):
because if the Falcons are back in the quarterback market,
they are going to have stiff competition, whether it's in
the draft or whether it's for some of these veteran quarterbacks.
So I like how you're thinking territories possibly ritter being
a nice trade asset to do something. It's absolutely wacky
because sometimes you try to get these podcasts outlined. You
know what you're going to talk about, you lay it
(25:25):
out at the top, and then you start recording it,
and then your phone explodes because, according to NFL Networks,
get a rappaport. The Falcons have agreed on an extension
with defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, giving him a three year
deal with up the fifty one million dollars. I'm just
reading his tweet. By the way, Jarrett cashes in again,
ATL gets a lowered cap number in twenty twenty two.
(25:47):
We can't just ignore it. That's not that can't be
a thing when it breaks. We got Steve Weiss right here.
We have had no chance to really process. I'm sure
everybody else's phone was doing the exact same thing. Okay,
instant reaction, Steve Grady. I mean they're surprised. I mean,
I know it took took a little ball longer, but
(26:07):
they wanted to do this, you know, they're hoping to
do this earlier so they could get their cap, you know,
in a little bit better situation. But then once they
traded Matt Ryan, there was no way it was gonna
be in a better situation with the dead cap hit.
So this lower stings a little bit. It gives them
some flexibility in the post draft free agent market because
there are going to be some veterans released or it's
going to be some movement. But they get more importantly,
(26:27):
they get a player that they like. I mean, they
really like Grady for his on and off the field stuff.
He's someone who's committed to this organization. So no surprises
right there. This is this is a nice savvy move.
Tori said, you thought they're going to be address the
defensive interior maybe a little bit more. Well, this is
one of the anchors um of that defensive interior, and
they're hoping that some of those guys that they drafted
(26:48):
last year inside can continue to develop as well. And
Marlon Davidson as well, who's been here for a couple
of years. Being able to have a guy like that,
a veteran locker room leader, a guy who hosts film
sessions during during the regular season, coaches up a lot
of these younger players. Excuse me, on a defense that's
(27:08):
transforming that that that we're seeing new younger edge rushers
come in. We've seen a younger turn in terms of
the secondary. Having Grady Jarrett there for whoever wants to
address this. Having him committed to the team for a
longer term. Uh, that really has to help this group
(27:29):
that is getting a lot younger. But but you've got
that captain right there in the middle. I think this
is a big signing. Yeah, I think also too. There
are some questions about Grady's future. He hasn't been at
OTAs and AMJ was asked on the first day of
Otier's about being like kind of like the oldest guy there.
He started laughing, like, I can't even believe that you
(27:50):
just said that that I'm the oldest guy here right now.
So it's good to kind of not have those questions
in the locker room about whether guy's here or if
he's he's going to be here long term and get
a guy who's one of the best days positions in
the league on your defense, Um, you know, you can't
can't ask for more than that. I guess, Sorry, what
(28:12):
do you think? Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. I wish
I could say that I've been listening to y'all over
the last like two minutes, but my phone is like
blowing up with all these people asking about Grady and
wanting me to do like radio and stuff, and I'm
like all over the map. But just if y'all said this,
I'm sorry, but I do think that this is really
good news for the Falcons, and I as someone who
(28:34):
I've very much enjoyed watching Grady Jarrett over the last
few years especially, but this past year was really really something.
And I think it just this past year for Grady
Jarrett fly so under the radar because of the lack
of production. But if you turn on the tape at
any point in time in any game, you have Grady
Jarrett going up against three offensive linemen. Yeah, yeah, and
(29:00):
that is that's a sign of respect. First of all,
I mean, talking to offensive coordinators across the league who
have to go up against Grady Chair, They're like, you
have to know where he is at all times. If
you don't, I mean, you're screwed essentially. And so the
fact that this is a guy who garners that much
respect across the league and you're getting him to come
back on a multi year deal, multi year extension, I
(29:25):
think is really really important for I don't know just
how competitive you can be in twenty twenty four that
I'm thinking about the future here, and so it's I
think it's really good news for the Falcons. Now what
they have to do. You have your guy back, get
him some freaking help, I mean, and that's that was
the start of the draft. I mean, when you go
(29:46):
out and you get a couple of edge rushers in
the draft and making sure hopefully you can get Marlon
Davidson on track and the way that you want him
to go. And so get Grady Jats some help. You've
got him in the building for another four years, so
let's see what you can do. You got four years
with him, go and get him some guys and develop him,
(30:07):
some guys around him who can take some of that
pressure off of him. That's got real quick, It's got
REALI give Grady to give Grady credit because they weren't
sure when they when Arthur Smith and his staff took
over last year that he was going to fit their scheme. Yeah,
I mean, it was very much of a wait and
see year for him before they did anything with that contract,
and he played his tail. Office story just said, so
(30:28):
give him a lot of credit for adjusting, taking one
for the team, so to speak, fighting those double one
triple teams all over and standing up againt this extension. Yeah,
I talked to him back in November, and he didn't
have the same type of sack numbers that he had
in recent years, in twenty twenty especially, And he said,
(30:48):
you know what, man, the most important moment for me
is after a game if the opposing offensive line coach
comes up to me and says it was a nightmare
trying to plan for you. That that and he said
that that that that had recently happened to him, and
that that that those become the moments more than the
box score. Right, turning on the like tape, having people
(31:10):
who have to scheme against him say, hey, man, it
was tough sledding Um all day. So again we're on
complete audible here. Tory has to write as best as possible. Uh,
Steve has to be on television very soon. So let's
just try to kind of wrap this thing up. It's
obviously less about the draft now because you have this
Grady jarrett Um extension. So let's just try to make
(31:32):
a more general question, Right, what's the national perception, Steve?
You were talking to people across the league, throughout throughout
the NFC self about what the Falcons are doing, how
the Falcons are kind of I don't rebuild reset, Who
cares what the term is, right, just that they're trying
to reformulate things get back right with the cap. They
just finished their draft, Like, what's the rest of the
(31:54):
league thinking about what the Falcons are doing here? Well,
post draft it was kind of a nice life preserver
because after the failure to trade for Deshaun Watson and
then moving off from Matt Ryan, the perception is, what
are the Falcons doing? Like what is the blueprint? Because
you know, the one thing you don't want to do
when you start building your team as a as a
new organization with leadership wise and whatnot, is to deviate
(32:17):
from the process. And Arthur Smith pretty much said that's
what they did when they threw the hell Mary attempt
for Deshaun Watson. So the fact that they had such
a rock steady draft, and again, whether you like the
players or not, they were very intent and very focused
on sticking to their board addressing needs. This was a
need addressed draft. They hit needs everywhere they need a lot.
(32:38):
But and they upgraded their speed and athleticism, which are
two things they said that they had to do. Everything
I hear is like it was a fantastic draft. Again,
they got really good players. We didn't get a chance
to talking about Tyler Algae or that guy is a
hell of a player, which is why you saw Mike
Davis let go right after the draft. But it was
(32:58):
steady and now they can eventually. And I wrote about
this form a nucleus because before in the draft, I
asked Terry Fontineau, what is your nucleus? And I got
kind of vague Terry font no answer. But in other words,
they didn't really have one besides you know, a j
Terrell and Grady Jarrett and Lyndstrom. And so now hopefully
from last year's draft class, you know, with Kyle Pitts
(33:21):
and some other guys, they have a nucleus at the
end of the season. So now they really know where
to build once they do have that free agent money
and wherever they end up drafting next year. Yeah, it's
it's it's been an offseason, that's you're right. Yea. There
was a deviation from the plan and to have Matt
Ryan get traded and go through the transition at quarterback,
(33:43):
and I think at some point they were going to
try to play through it and work their way through
the salary cap and grind their way out of it eventually,
and then the Watson Ryan thing happened. It's like, all right,
let's just do it all now and get it's sixty
two something million dollars in dead cap space. That ain't
good NFL high of course, button but they get out
(34:04):
of it next year. So it may be rough, but
they're still so. There was a hiccup, there was a valley,
but they seem to, in my opinion, be coming out
of it pretty well. This is gonna have some tough choices,
some tough decisions, some tough cuts, and that's what we've
seen over the course of this offseason. It's been up
and down. I do think that this draft class offers
(34:24):
a lot of optimism. We have no idea how these
guys are going to turn out, but it could be
kind of the restart. Right that they got seven wins
last year, they may not get seven wins this year.
I think that would be a real good season if
they got seven wins. But as they start to kind
of build this thing back up, just real quick from
(34:45):
from Tory and from Chris, as we wrap this thing
up here, you know, thoughts of where the Falcons are
post draft, post Jarrett signing, post Ryan Trip. It's been
an active offseason now them listing them all, where do
you where do you think they are right now and
where do you think that they need to go? I
think they should feel really good about where they're at.
Like teams, so I think they address needs while also
(35:05):
getting the best players available on their board. I think
there's a lot to be excited about on the offense.
I think Kyle Pitts and Drake London is very scary.
When you look at Drake London's film, that guy is.
That guy is a monster in terms of like he
does not avoid contact and he goes up and gets
the ball, and I think that'll be dynamic for the
(35:28):
offense and a lot of help for whoever is throwing
the ball. Just throw it up and one of them
will get it. Um. So I think in terms of
the positions of me, I thought they got some also
got some competition at that left guard spot late late
in the draft, So I think they should feel good
about where they're at and they hit a lot of
places of need, and I think that there's a lot
(35:49):
of potential this year and moving forward. You can see
Toria is doing like a thousand things at once. Eyes
are all over the probably writing a story, answering a text,
dealing with all this breaking news. I will let you
get to your actual job here, just real quick, wrap
this thing up for us. Oh gosh, okay, I think
I'll keep it short and sweet and simple, because again
(36:12):
I haven't been listening to y'all. I am so sorry.
But what I will say is, I think you can sell.
If you're an organization at this point in time, you're
trying to sell two things. You're either trying to sell
hope or you're trying to sell anger. And for right now,
the Falcons can sell hope because there is something to
(36:33):
be hopeful about in regards to this draft class and
the moves that they're also making, I think in free agency.
Yet we know that they're gonna ask. Terry Fines said
take it on the chin this year with the dead
cap money, and that is significant. I mean, we can't
talk about the Falcons and not talk about the money
that that dead money. I mean, it's it's tough, so
(36:54):
that part makes it difficult, But there is a certain
hope that you can sell to the fan base now
that you couldn't sell I think even at this time
last year, and it is that they're crawling their way
out of a salary cap situation that really really sucked.
They're gonna have money next year, and they're gonna have
an exciting core of young players to see what the
(37:16):
heck they can do with that group, with with Arthur
Smith's scheme, with Danp's scheme, there's a lot looking forward
that you can be excited and hopeful about. Now. I
know there are Falcons fans everywhere being like, I'm jaded,
and I hate that you said that, but it's okay,
feel a little hopeful. This is the time, and this
(37:37):
is the time now more than ever, to feel hopeful
about what direction the Falcons are going in. So just
sit in that, just just be okay with that for
the time being. And and with that, I'm out. I'm
gonna dive out of jaded Falcons fan no way away.
(37:57):
That's awesome. Well, thank you all so much for a
doubt loading and listening to the latest episode of the
Falcons Final Whistle. You know what to do, right, Subscribe
five stars. Nice things to say about us, please, Steve Weish,
Steve Wish in the house, thank you so much. We
kept you, I think everybody longer than we planned. Really
appreciate you man and obviously Falcons fans. Stay tuned to
(38:18):
the website for more Steve Wish columns. We moved through
the offseason into camp. He's part of the preseason broadcast team. Y'all,
this is big time, Steve. Thank you so much for
the time. Chris Tory, you know you gotta come so anyway.
Appreciate everybody's talking. Talk to you next week. The best
(39:04):
beat the best for the st
What's up, everybody, and welcome to another edition with the
Falcons Final Whistle Podcast. I'm Scott bar here with Tory
mclady and Chris rim as always and drumroll please. NFL
Network senior reporter Falcons contributor Steve Weish is on the
podcast with us. Steve, thank you so much for joining us.
Thanks for having me on. This is fun. It's about time.
(00:28):
By the way, you know, my feelings been hurt. You
guys have been like neglecting me with this. I don't
want to do this for a minute, so thanks for
finally having me on, Scott. I also think it's important
to note that Steve Weisch is so committed to bringing
you awesome Falcon's content that he's up at six forty
five Pacific time early riser or no. He's looking polished,
looking fresh dressed, ready to talk sports. And I don't
(00:51):
think any of us we're up at six forty five
Eastern Nobody wants to hear that. There are a lot
of folks, there are a lot of folks who are
up at five o'clock working a lot harder than we are.
We have no time for that, so on the grind Man. Well,
but We're here to break down the Falcons eight player
(01:14):
draft class that was just completed over the course of
the weekend. Um They started at number eight with USC
wide receiver Drake London and included seven guys after that.
They addressed defense a lot. On Day two. They made
five picks in the first eighty two. Those are what
I would considered premium picks. They gave up a fourth
round draft pick to go up just a little bit
(01:36):
in the second round and draft Penn State edge rusher
Arnold Ebikiti. Sounds right good miracle, and then they flushed
it out with some defense. They got some Day three
picks I would say, highlighted by BYU running back tire Owl.
Thank goodness, we have at least one professional TV guy
(01:58):
in the group, Tyler Algier, A big bowling ball covered
in butcher knives is what I'd like to call him.
A very physical runner. And we're gonna break all that
down over the course of this Falcon's Final Whistle podcast.
But let's just start with overall impressions of this draft class.
How do you think general manager Terry Fontneau and head
(02:19):
coach Arthur Smith did over the course of this three
day stretch let's start with our guests, Steve Weish, what
were your overall impressions of what the Falcons were able
to do? Yeah, first of all, it was very tactical
and very focused. You know, look, they you can talk
best player of available you want, but they went to
areas of need which are pretty much everywhere. But the
fact they got two edge rushers, right, you got a
(02:42):
running back who's a very productive running that might be
my favorite pick of there, Tyler al Jilie hell a player.
You know, you get Drake lenn in the first round.
You had to give your quarterback a shot. And the
top three edge rushers were off the board already. So
the fact that they kind of stayed focused and didn't
get teased by maybe a greater talent who might not
(03:04):
fit for what they're trying to do scheme wise, playing
time wise, and possibly replacing a veteran who could be
off the roster next year. I think the fact that
they stuck to that again, they were very tactical, and
I think, you know, the draft pick of Troy Anderson
kind of shows that he was an inside linebackers. And
why did the inside linebacker Well, Dean Jones contract expires
(03:25):
after the year, I believe I think they could get
out of it. That could be the successor right there.
So I get very smart, very focused and so and
I think that's the big perception of that as well. Chris, So,
what were your overall thoughts on this one. Yeah, I
thought they kind of knocked it out of the park.
I mean, I think I think they have one of
(03:47):
the best day twos in the league in terms of
snagging Arnold Eba Katie and then Desmond Ritter and then
DeAngelo later and Tyler Anderson, who I thought it was
my favorite guy after talking to him um that day
after the draft. He just seems like a dude who
loves football, a dude who hasn't scratched the surface of
what he can be at that position yet, somebody who
(04:09):
I think will grow a lot in the NFL. And Um,
I really liked the Desmond Rider pick. I think you
get great value at with him in the third round.
And it's it's low risk, high reward if it doesn't
If it doesn't pan out, you can always move forward.
It's not something that you know you're stuck at. I
think there so, I thought I thought they though they
did a really good job. And I think after day one,
(04:32):
I think some people, I think especially some of the
reactions that they got with with the pick, I think
people were worried. But I feel like after day two
everyone felt a lot better about what this class look like.
When you go and get two edge rushers, a quarterback,
and an inside linebacker. Um with the skills that Anderson has, Tori,
what do you got? I thought it was really interesting
(04:54):
because as good as I think this collective group is,
it looks very different than what I originally thought Terry
Fono and Arthur Smith are going to go after. I
thought that they're going to put more emphasis on interior
linemen and also interior on both sides of the ball
line of scrimmage inside talking about guards and centers and
(05:16):
then also defensive tackles. I thought they were going to
put more emphasis on inside. But I read something I
guess it was yesterday or the day before where it
was like they went outside in, not inside out. And
I thought that was very well put because they did
go after these skill positions of need. They went after
wide receivers, they went after EDG dreshers, went after a quarterback.
(05:39):
I mean, these are all positions that don't necessarily technically
help the interior of your offensive and defensive lines, but
maybe in the long run. D and So I do
think that that was something that was really really interesting
when you're kind of looking at where we thought the
Falcons were gonna go versus where they actually went. Yeah,
(06:01):
I really look back at it, and I think that
they were so much of it was about helping the
twenty two product a little bit, but but really trying
to keep their eye on the big picture, which is
important during this draft. I like that they went out
and got a bunch of dudes, a bunch of tough guys,
and a bunch of guys that were supremely motivated and
(06:22):
to kind of prove it. Right that you go out
and you get guys on prove it deals and f
agency because you have to because they can't afford, you know,
to give out longer term contracts. But then they go
out and get guys with a similar attitude, you know,
I thought, I thought that was really cool as well.
And we're going to break all this thing down further
where you're going to get into greater depth about the
(06:42):
Drake London pick and the strategy behind it. We're going
to go into probably the third round pick with the
most eyeballs on him throughout the entire league. That's Cincinnati
quarterback Desmond Ritter, who the Falcons got at number seventy four.
Where you're going to take a closer look at their
pass rouss, not only who they got, but who they
already have. And then of course we're gonna go kind
(07:03):
of big picture macro and look at the Falcons from
from thirty thousand feet and really try to get Steve's
opinion on how the rest of the league is looking
at the Falcons and they're kind of a reclamation project.
But before we get to all that, a big thank
you to our sponsor, Microsoft, Windows eleven, the official operating
system of the NFL and the Atlanta Falcons. The all
(07:25):
new Windows eleven is here to bring you closer to
what you love, like the Falcons Final Whistle Podcast. Learn
all about the awesome new features of Windows eleven at
Windows dot com. So, as we were just saying we're
gonna get into this number eight overall selection, it's USC
wide receiver Drake London and Steve. As you watched the
(07:45):
draft play out right, you would kind of mention that
the top three edge rushers that's Aiden Hutchinson, Cavon Thibadeau
and Trayvon Walker were off the board. We saw a
mini run of offensive tackles with with with ecky he Juana.
One of these days, I'm gonna get one of these pronunciations,
right and Evan Neil easier to say off the board
(08:07):
at six and seven when the Falcons are on the clock.
Kind of what were your thoughts and what were your
initial reactions to the pit given who was off the
board and who is left on the board. Well, don't
forget the run on corners. You know you had you know,
Stingley and Gardner off at three and four, and that
was another position that they were looking at. So when
you look at their board and how they rated him,
the guys that were the next ra highest rated guy
(08:27):
was a wide receiver, and you know, you look, you
look at some of the other wide receivers out there.
So with a big home run hitters Garrett Wilson, Chris Lave,
you know, Jamison Williams like, well, you know there's there's
the game breaker you want. We know Arthur Smith likes
wide receiver, big wide receivers, right, So Drake London fits
the mold. He's not the fastest of that group. He's
fast enough. I mean, I live in LA I saw
(08:48):
plenty of him, you know, breaking long runs and big
plays at USC. But he can play inside, he can
play outside. He's good in the run game. Let's not
forget that wide receivers in this offense have got to
blow and oftentimes a big wide receiver like Dake London's
gonna be matched up on a safety who's kind of
equal size or something comparable. So that's why they helped.
(09:09):
They probably won't with Drake London. Plus, look, you've got
quarterbacks coming in. You get a bigger target for a
quarterback pairing with Kyle Pitts. That gives you some options, right,
And so they got to autom take another big wide receiver.
They still don't have great speed at wide receiver. That's
something they really wanted to address throughout the team, and
for the most part in the draft they did. But
(09:30):
when I saw it, I was like, oh, that's interesting
because the Tori's point, I thought they were trying to
build a little more inside out. They went with a
guy who was highest rated on their board that was
a wide receiver, a need position, and he's a really
good player. Again, a big guy, faster than you think,
and could snatch anything that's stone in his area code.
(09:52):
I was interested in how far Florida State and former
Georgia Bulldog addresser Jermaine Johnson fell Steve. It seem maybe
that the Falcons might have some interest in a player
like that. He seemed like a scheme fit. What have
you heard about not only why he didn't go that high,
but why he tumbled all the way to a twenty
five or twenty six. Yeah, and again I don't have
(10:14):
it a great authority. Some people said some of his interviews,
they just they weren't great. I mean, that's something clearly
it alerted a lot of teams. Now we know all
thirty two teams did not pick in the first round,
so many teams did have a first round pick to
the second round, but a lot of teams passed on him.
It's still really good talent, so you got to take
a little deeper, and some of the things that happened
right there, the Jets end up come and get him
(10:35):
an incredible value pick at twenty six. But I just
think when it came to their board that he just
did not rate is highly. Is Drake London and some
other players that they went with. And again that's what
I talk about. Their draft was focused. That's attempting to
apple to bite, right that Jermaine Johnson, Edge Russ tempting
apple to bite. But then they know they had Arnold
Keyte possibly sitting right there for them in the second
(10:58):
round at a better value. But they knew they had
to come up and get this is someone who was
going to go in the high second round. So they
got about a better value and then someone who they
figured could fit their scheme equally, if not better than
what they were trying to do with Jermaine Johnson. So
when you look at scheme fit, Chris Um, what do
you think about Drakelin and kind of kind of stepping
(11:18):
in and what were your impressions You actually had a
chance to speak with him one on one and kind
of get a chance to to know his family on
Friday afternoon, what what were your big takeaways from that
and how do you think he's going to fit into
this offense? Well, I think my biggest take great from
the first time I talked to him is that maybe
(11:39):
they should cool off the media for the first round
draft picks, because by the time he got to me,
he was I think he was done, weren't out, And
the next the next day I talked to him, he
kind of told me that, like, yeah, I was, I was,
so I just wanted to be with my family and
there was just a lot of media going on, and
he seemed like a really nice, nice guy, good family,
(12:00):
good family who you know, was focused on letting him
be whatever he wanted to be growing up. You know,
didn't push any sport on him, which was clear because
he played basketball all the way up until twenty twenty
when it just became too hard with COVID to do
two sports. But overall, I think with the like for
all the things that Steve mentioned, he obviously fits his scheme.
(12:20):
But I think, yes, like like we just talked about,
I thought that, you know, based off everything that we
were hearing, based off the amount of roundups, you know,
mind drives that we looked at. We I think we
all kind of thought Jermaine Johnson was was going to
go high. Thought he might even go before the Falcons pick,
maybe even the Falcons had him rated higher on their board.
(12:43):
But they did it and clearly, you know, many teams didn't.
And I think what I think I understood more about
the pick later on was that it was it was
less about you know, Drake versus the other rode receivers,
wide receivers versus, like Drake was the highest player on
their board at a time. And also, you know there's
different flavors for rod receivers where you go speed or
(13:05):
height or physicality, and Drake definitely fits Arthur Smith's flavor
in terms of the guy that he's looking for. So
I think when you look at the pick, it makes
a lot a lot of sense looking back at it,
but I think when it happened there was a little
bit of surprise. I think, yeah, if you go back
to as I was watching the draft in real time,
(13:26):
you would have thought that if somehow sauced lands at eight,
that's but he was never gonna land it at eight.
But if he lands at eight, that's the pick I
think came on. Thibodeau may have been a difficult guy
to pass up on, but ultimately, as the you know,
as those three edge rushers went off in the top five,
I think all like all three of us that were
(13:47):
sitting in very close proximity on draft night really kind
of huddled up and thought, Okay, it's starting to line
up towards towards that white out with the Johnson as
the X factor. Ultimately, Drake London is the guy, and
we actually had an opportunity to talk to some of
the regional scouts who took a look at Drake. What
(14:07):
were your impressions, you know, did you feel or like,
what kind of impressions did you get about about kind
of what they thought about Drake and when Drake was
kind of on their radar tory, Yeah, I think it
was really interesting. I mean, there's a lot of things
that that I've already been said that I feel like
(14:30):
I could go down a rabbit hole and kind of
each of it. But when I was talking to Joel Collier,
who is the area scout who essentially was the point
of contact for the Falcons organization with Drake London, he
said everything that everybody else has already said, you know,
using the word scheme fit, using the word build and fit.
(14:53):
I mean that word fit I think goes a very
very long way. Because when I was doing the draft
grades of the overall league media the night after the
first round, everybody was like, how could you go with
Drake London when Garrett Wilson and Jamison Williams are still
on the board, and everyone was saying that. Everyone was
saying like, it's it's why why pick Drake when you
(15:17):
have the other ones? And the reason is is because
the Falcons didn't want the other ones. They didn't see
them fitting the way that Drake London would in what
Arthur Smith wants this offense to be. That is the
key here, and I think that's oftentimes misconstrued when everything's
happening around the first night of the draft and even
talking to the area scouts, talking to the position position
(15:39):
coaches t J. Yates, I mean they said that over
and over. It was like, this is the guy that
we wanted because we think that he works in this
system best. And I think we have to remember that
when we're when we're talking about this pick and what
it means for the Falcons, not just in twenty twenty two,
but moving forward to Yeah, as they pair him with
(16:00):
tight end Kyle Pitts, it's gonna be interesting. I don't
think that Arthur Smith loved the self proclaimed Twin Towers nickname.
I think he just said, that's going to be more
AMMO for the meeting room, and they're always looking for
new ways to dig him. Mean, he actually did that
right before the first press conference, he let that twin
towers thing. I don't think that's gonna last. But nonetheless,
(16:23):
as we move on here, let's let's skip the second
round for just a little bit. Talk about the fact
that as we saw the first round develop, that that
that that quarterback run never materialized. It was Kenny Pickett
at twenty and that was it for a very long time,
(16:43):
and some of the guys in the green room never
got picked. I'm thinking of Atlanta native and Liberty quarterback
Malik Willis was still on the board late, and really
the quarterback run never started until the Falcons chose the
second quarterback taken at number seventy or Steve. I don't
know if you can remember a time when there was
that much of a quarterback gap. There's only been a
(17:05):
handful of times in the last ten years or so
when you've seen so few quarterbacks go. But to go
all the way to seventy four and then they get
a Cincinnati quarterback, Desmond Ritter, it's weird because if he
were to get drafted at eight, you'd have a much
or even at a thirty eight or at fifty eight.
But but getting him at seventy four his talent level.
(17:27):
They sent I don't know the entire organization to Cincinnati's
Pro Day to check out Gardner, but to also check
out to check out their their their signal callers. So
Desmond Ritter at seventy four, give me the kind of
big picture look at that selection, how he fits, when,
(17:48):
what and kind of like what your overall thoughts were
about this guy at that spot. Well, look, I mean
great value scheme. Yeah, right, he almost has the same
physical aspect as Marcus Mariota, the starter for the fastest
forty of all the quarterbacks you know at the combine.
So part of this, and this is speaking people in
the organization, is now they got Mariota, they've got Desmond Ritter,
(18:10):
and I wrote about this on the column. Now they've
got people who can move the pocket. Right now, they've
got quarterbacks you can scramble, bootleg, run game, all kinds
of things. Now that they can do stuff to protect
the offensive line, which wasn't addressed until the sixth round.
Right now they're not as much of a static offense.
So what Ritter does. He comes in one, he's a winner.
I mean you look at what he did, what Cincinnati
did last year. It's fairly accurate completion percentage. That's gonna
(18:35):
be huge. Yeah, you've got the twin towers that they're
not going to call them. But you know this is
this is the NFL. You gotta have some people. You
gotta put the ball, you know where it has to
be in these tight windows. But this is open competition.
Marcus Mariota told me, hey has not been promised anything
the Desna. Ritter has a chance to come in and
win this job, and if not, he has the chance
(18:56):
to learn from one of the most quality individuals in
the NFL. I mean, Marcus Mariota will teach him to
eventually take his job, which is a crazy thing because
most veterans don't do that. But Marcus, as much as
he wants to resurrect his career, is just that type
of human being. So again, this fits the character that
Tory talked about earlier of the draft class. I mean,
(19:16):
these are people who are hungry and they're coming into
a culture where a lot of people know they're not
going to be here for a while, or you know,
so let's help out. So again, Devin Ritter, I'm not
going to expect anything out of him this year other
than to compete. I think he will see the field
at some point. But a solid pick. And you know,
you talk about the quarterback sliding into the third round.
(19:38):
Once you got to do the first round and you
saw all the running backs and all these other positions
still on the board and all these offensive linemen and
edge guys, you knew that these quarterbacks were going to
continue to drop and get an incredible value, which started
the run on quarterbacks there in the third. Yeah, and
they're going to have a close eye on this quarterback,
whether he Steve, Steve whoever. Do you feel like he
(20:01):
needs to play at some point during the twenty twenty
two drafts or over the course of this season. Do
you feel like he needs to play so they know
who they have going in going into the next draft.
Is it something that they're gonna have to find a
way to get him in there. I don't know thoughts
on that, don't. I don't think he I don't think
he needs to play. I think if if he wins
(20:22):
a job, or if obviously if they see an opportunity
for him to play, if if Mariota is struggling or
something of that sort of happens. But I think oftentimes
the best scenarios for first year quarterbacks is that time
to learn. If if it's a full year, if it's
a few games, if it's a lot of games. I'm
(20:43):
giving him that time to learn. Again, they chose him
with the third round pick, so are they invested in
how long are they going to be invested in him?
Are they still looking next year? Again? We have to
think about that. So yeah, I don't think he needs
needs to play next year necessarily. I think it would
be good for him to play. But I don't get
the impression that Arthur Smiths and Terrified No feel rushed
(21:04):
like they need to get him on the field. I
think they like what they have him in Mariota, and
I don't think I don't think they feel the need
to get him on the field right away. At some
point you have to find out how how he plays
in the game, dude, because the big point, like you said,
is are they gonna get back in the quarterback market
next year? You know that that is the big issue
They're going to have the money, there's gonna be some
other guys that can draft. Maybe some of these other
(21:26):
quarterbacks become available in free agency. They have to figure
out if he can play. Guys can look terrible in
practice and you can make man he's not ready, and
then all of a sudden he gets in the game
and it's something different or vice versa. But I think
towards the back end of the season, depending on how
Mariota is playing and how the season is going, you
know they're gonna know. They're gonna know within a couple
of months. And again, listen to this part, not on
(21:48):
how much he can play, but how his teammates respond
to him. Right if your teammates are like, this is
the guy, but you're not playing him because maybe he
can't read a certain defense, at some point you have
to give the guy an opportunity just to go out
there and see see if he can do it. I mean,
I think it all depends on how the season goes.
(22:08):
But not right away, Torry, what do you think, ye
just about how he's going to kind of step in here.
He's a big athletic guy. I love the fact that
he's won more than forty games. I just think that
that says something he seems scared of nothing, which I
think is good. Never lost a home game either, I'm
pretty sure. Yeah, I don't think he's ever lost a
home game. Which when I was talking to people in
(22:31):
the building, that was something that kept coming up, is like,
you want someone in the locker room that is that
has that mentality of a winner like that. Sorry excuse me,
but that's like what it was like. Everybody kept bringing
up his record at Cincinnati. And something that I do
think is interesting is like when we're looking ahead, even
(22:52):
I know everybody saw this, but when Desmon Ritter is
legit talking about how Marcus Mariota is the guy who
he models his game after and someone he's looked up
to and someone who he really wants to learn from,
and the fact that it couldn't have been better that
Marcus Mariot is in that room with him, I think
that is very very interesting to hear somebody like a
(23:14):
Desmond Ritter say that. And so I do think it's
going to be I'm looking forward to this year. I
do think that it's gonna be Marcus, like right off
the bat, just from kind of like what Arthur was
saying in his post draft press conference after Desmond was taken,
he was like, you know, Marcus is our guy and
he's the veteran. I think that was Arthur. I don't,
(23:35):
I'm not. I feel like I'm not putting words in
his mouth, but it almost felt like it was Arthur
kind of being like, let's pump the brakes on the
Desmond starting day one, talk like we still have Marcus
in here. So it's gonna be It's gonna be interesting
and I'm looking forward to and then also thinking about
the future. Are the Falcon's going to be in the
market to take a quarterback next draft? Are they going
(23:57):
to be in the position too? Are they going to
be able to hit the trade market and look for
somebody in that regard? I think that's going to be
interesting too. How can you package different players for potentially
trading for a quarterback next year? I y'all know I
was team don't take a quarterback this draft too, and
I was very anti taking a quarterback this year. And
(24:21):
so now that it's now that it's happened, I don't
want people to be like, oh, Tori's already packaging Desmond
ritterd to whoever so that they can the Falcons can
get a veteran quarterback in there. That's not what I'm saying.
I'm just saying that's a possibility, and I think it
would be interesting and real and real quick, real quick, tory.
I mean, that's a great point, Desmond. Ritter could be
a trade asset. It's crazy as it sounds, because you know,
(24:43):
we're gonna think about, oh, after all the trades this
year betting quarterbacks, it's not going to happen. Tama Bay
could be in the market for quarterback next year. Green
Bay could be in the market for quarterback next year. Houston,
there are so many team Washington, almost all of the
teams Philadelphia that we're in the market for quarterbacks this
year could be back in the market for quarterbacks next year.
So the hope is either markets or desment pans out
(25:04):
because if the Falcons are back in the quarterback market,
they are going to have stiff competition, whether it's in
the draft or whether it's for some of these veteran quarterbacks.
So I like how you're thinking territories possibly ritter being
a nice trade asset to do something. It's absolutely wacky
because sometimes you try to get these podcasts outlined. You
know what you're going to talk about, you lay it
(25:25):
out at the top, and then you start recording it,
and then your phone explodes because, according to NFL Networks,
get a rappaport. The Falcons have agreed on an extension
with defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, giving him a three year
deal with up the fifty one million dollars. I'm just
reading his tweet. By the way, Jarrett cashes in again,
ATL gets a lowered cap number in twenty twenty two.
(25:47):
We can't just ignore it. That's not that can't be
a thing when it breaks. We got Steve Weiss right here.
We have had no chance to really process. I'm sure
everybody else's phone was doing the exact same thing. Okay,
instant reaction, Steve Grady. I mean they're surprised. I mean,
I know it took took a little ball longer, but
(26:07):
they wanted to do this, you know, they're hoping to
do this earlier so they could get their cap, you know,
in a little bit better situation. But then once they
traded Matt Ryan, there was no way it was gonna
be in a better situation with the dead cap hit.
So this lower stings a little bit. It gives them
some flexibility in the post draft free agent market because
there are going to be some veterans released or it's
going to be some movement. But they get more importantly,
(26:27):
they get a player that they like. I mean, they
really like Grady for his on and off the field stuff.
He's someone who's committed to this organization. So no surprises
right there. This is this is a nice savvy move.
Tori said, you thought they're going to be address the
defensive interior maybe a little bit more. Well, this is
one of the anchors um of that defensive interior, and
they're hoping that some of those guys that they drafted
(26:48):
last year inside can continue to develop as well. And
Marlon Davidson as well, who's been here for a couple
of years. Being able to have a guy like that,
a veteran locker room leader, a guy who hosts film
sessions during during the regular season, coaches up a lot
of these younger players. Excuse me, on a defense that's
(27:08):
transforming that that that we're seeing new younger edge rushers
come in. We've seen a younger turn in terms of
the secondary. Having Grady Jarrett there for whoever wants to
address this. Having him committed to the team for a
longer term. Uh, that really has to help this group
(27:29):
that is getting a lot younger. But but you've got
that captain right there in the middle. I think this
is a big signing. Yeah, I think also too. There
are some questions about Grady's future. He hasn't been at
OTAs and AMJ was asked on the first day of
Otier's about being like kind of like the oldest guy there.
He started laughing, like, I can't even believe that you
(27:50):
just said that that I'm the oldest guy here right now.
So it's good to kind of not have those questions
in the locker room about whether guy's here or if
he's he's going to be here long term and get
a guy who's one of the best days positions in
the league on your defense, Um, you know, you can't
can't ask for more than that. I guess, Sorry, what
(28:12):
do you think? Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. I wish
I could say that I've been listening to y'all over
the last like two minutes, but my phone is like
blowing up with all these people asking about Grady and
wanting me to do like radio and stuff, and I'm
like all over the map. But just if y'all said this,
I'm sorry, but I do think that this is really
good news for the Falcons, and I as someone who
(28:34):
I've very much enjoyed watching Grady Jarrett over the last
few years especially, but this past year was really really something.
And I think it just this past year for Grady
Jarrett fly so under the radar because of the lack
of production. But if you turn on the tape at
any point in time in any game, you have Grady
Jarrett going up against three offensive linemen. Yeah, yeah, and
(29:00):
that is that's a sign of respect. First of all,
I mean, talking to offensive coordinators across the league who
have to go up against Grady Chair, They're like, you
have to know where he is at all times. If
you don't, I mean, you're screwed essentially. And so the
fact that this is a guy who garners that much
respect across the league and you're getting him to come
back on a multi year deal, multi year extension, I
(29:25):
think is really really important for I don't know just
how competitive you can be in twenty twenty four that
I'm thinking about the future here, and so it's I
think it's really good news for the Falcons. Now what
they have to do. You have your guy back, get
him some freaking help, I mean, and that's that was
the start of the draft. I mean, when you go
(29:46):
out and you get a couple of edge rushers in
the draft and making sure hopefully you can get Marlon
Davidson on track and the way that you want him
to go. And so get Grady Jats some help. You've
got him in the building for another four years, so
let's see what you can do. You got four years
with him, go and get him some guys and develop him,
(30:07):
some guys around him who can take some of that
pressure off of him. That's got real quick, It's got
REALI give Grady to give Grady credit because they weren't
sure when they when Arthur Smith and his staff took
over last year that he was going to fit their scheme. Yeah,
I mean, it was very much of a wait and
see year for him before they did anything with that contract,
and he played his tail. Office story just said, so
(30:28):
give him a lot of credit for adjusting, taking one
for the team, so to speak, fighting those double one
triple teams all over and standing up againt this extension. Yeah,
I talked to him back in November, and he didn't
have the same type of sack numbers that he had
in recent years, in twenty twenty especially, And he said,
(30:48):
you know what, man, the most important moment for me
is after a game if the opposing offensive line coach
comes up to me and says it was a nightmare
trying to plan for you. That that and he said
that that that that had recently happened to him, and
that that that those become the moments more than the
box score. Right, turning on the like tape, having people
(31:10):
who have to scheme against him say, hey, man, it
was tough sledding Um all day. So again we're on
complete audible here. Tory has to write as best as possible. Uh,
Steve has to be on television very soon. So let's
just try to kind of wrap this thing up. It's
obviously less about the draft now because you have this
Grady jarrett Um extension. So let's just try to make
(31:32):
a more general question, Right, what's the national perception, Steve?
You were talking to people across the league, throughout throughout
the NFC self about what the Falcons are doing, how
the Falcons are kind of I don't rebuild reset, Who
cares what the term is, right, just that they're trying
to reformulate things get back right with the cap. They
just finished their draft, Like, what's the rest of the
(31:54):
league thinking about what the Falcons are doing here? Well,
post draft it was kind of a nice life preserver
because after the failure to trade for Deshaun Watson and
then moving off from Matt Ryan, the perception is, what
are the Falcons doing? Like what is the blueprint? Because
you know, the one thing you don't want to do
when you start building your team as a as a
new organization with leadership wise and whatnot, is to deviate
(32:17):
from the process. And Arthur Smith pretty much said that's
what they did when they threw the hell Mary attempt
for Deshaun Watson. So the fact that they had such
a rock steady draft, and again, whether you like the
players or not, they were very intent and very focused
on sticking to their board addressing needs. This was a
need addressed draft. They hit needs everywhere they need a lot.
(32:38):
But and they upgraded their speed and athleticism, which are
two things they said that they had to do. Everything
I hear is like it was a fantastic draft. Again,
they got really good players. We didn't get a chance
to talking about Tyler Algae or that guy is a
hell of a player, which is why you saw Mike
Davis let go right after the draft. But it was
(32:58):
steady and now they can eventually. And I wrote about
this form a nucleus because before in the draft, I
asked Terry Fontineau, what is your nucleus? And I got
kind of vague Terry font no answer. But in other words,
they didn't really have one besides you know, a j
Terrell and Grady Jarrett and Lyndstrom. And so now hopefully
from last year's draft class, you know, with Kyle Pitts
(33:21):
and some other guys, they have a nucleus at the
end of the season. So now they really know where
to build once they do have that free agent money
and wherever they end up drafting next year. Yeah, it's
it's it's been an offseason, that's you're right. Yea. There
was a deviation from the plan and to have Matt
Ryan get traded and go through the transition at quarterback,
(33:43):
and I think at some point they were going to
try to play through it and work their way through
the salary cap and grind their way out of it eventually,
and then the Watson Ryan thing happened. It's like, all right,
let's just do it all now and get it's sixty
two something million dollars in dead cap space. That ain't
good NFL high of course, button but they get out
(34:04):
of it next year. So it may be rough, but
they're still so. There was a hiccup, there was a valley,
but they seem to, in my opinion, be coming out
of it pretty well. This is gonna have some tough choices,
some tough decisions, some tough cuts, and that's what we've
seen over the course of this offseason. It's been up
and down. I do think that this draft class offers
(34:24):
a lot of optimism. We have no idea how these
guys are going to turn out, but it could be
kind of the restart. Right that they got seven wins
last year, they may not get seven wins this year.
I think that would be a real good season if
they got seven wins. But as they start to kind
of build this thing back up, just real quick from
(34:45):
from Tory and from Chris, as we wrap this thing
up here, you know, thoughts of where the Falcons are
post draft, post Jarrett signing, post Ryan Trip. It's been
an active offseason now them listing them all, where do
you where do you think they are right now and
where do you think that they need to go? I
think they should feel really good about where they're at.
Like teams, so I think they address needs while also
(35:05):
getting the best players available on their board. I think
there's a lot to be excited about on the offense.
I think Kyle Pitts and Drake London is very scary.
When you look at Drake London's film, that guy is.
That guy is a monster in terms of like he
does not avoid contact and he goes up and gets
the ball, and I think that'll be dynamic for the
(35:28):
offense and a lot of help for whoever is throwing
the ball. Just throw it up and one of them
will get it. Um. So I think in terms of
the positions of me, I thought they got some also
got some competition at that left guard spot late late
in the draft, So I think they should feel good
about where they're at and they hit a lot of
places of need, and I think that there's a lot
(35:49):
of potential this year and moving forward. You can see
Toria is doing like a thousand things at once. Eyes
are all over the probably writing a story, answering a text,
dealing with all this breaking news. I will let you
get to your actual job here, just real quick, wrap
this thing up for us. Oh gosh, okay, I think
I'll keep it short and sweet and simple, because again
(36:12):
I haven't been listening to y'all. I am so sorry.
But what I will say is, I think you can sell.
If you're an organization at this point in time, you're
trying to sell two things. You're either trying to sell
hope or you're trying to sell anger. And for right now,
the Falcons can sell hope because there is something to
(36:33):
be hopeful about in regards to this draft class and
the moves that they're also making, I think in free agency.
Yet we know that they're gonna ask. Terry Fines said
take it on the chin this year with the dead
cap money, and that is significant. I mean, we can't
talk about the Falcons and not talk about the money
that that dead money. I mean, it's it's tough, so
(36:54):
that part makes it difficult, But there is a certain
hope that you can sell to the fan base now
that you couldn't sell I think even at this time
last year, and it is that they're crawling their way
out of a salary cap situation that really really sucked.
They're gonna have money next year, and they're gonna have
an exciting core of young players to see what the
(37:16):
heck they can do with that group, with with Arthur
Smith's scheme, with Danp's scheme, there's a lot looking forward
that you can be excited and hopeful about. Now. I
know there are Falcons fans everywhere being like, I'm jaded,
and I hate that you said that, but it's okay,
feel a little hopeful. This is the time, and this
(37:37):
is the time now more than ever, to feel hopeful
about what direction the Falcons are going in. So just
sit in that, just just be okay with that for
the time being. And and with that, I'm out. I'm
gonna dive out of jaded Falcons fan no way away.
(37:57):
That's awesome. Well, thank you all so much for a
doubt loading and listening to the latest episode of the
Falcons Final Whistle. You know what to do, right, Subscribe
five stars. Nice things to say about us, please, Steve Weish,
Steve Wish in the house, thank you so much. We
kept you, I think everybody longer than we planned. Really
appreciate you man and obviously Falcons fans. Stay tuned to
(38:18):
the website for more Steve Wish columns. We moved through
the offseason into camp. He's part of the preseason broadcast team. Y'all,
this is big time, Steve. Thank you so much for
the time. Chris Tory, you know you gotta come so anyway.
Appreciate everybody's talking. Talk to you next week. The best
(39:04):
beat the best for the st
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