April 26, 2022 • 31 mins
Kris, Tori and Scott discuss how the Falcons can use five selections in the top 82 overall to improve their roster, by trading up or down in the draft or simply five possible impact players. We take it a step further and break down which positions should be prioritized, and whether the Falcons should target a quarterback to challenge Marcus Mariota and possibly succeed Matt Ryan as franchise quarterback. (00:00) Intro (01:53) Falcons Draft Possibilities (03:48) Additional Topics (05:34) Trading Up? (11:32) Draft Debates
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up, everybody, and welcome to a pre draft edition
of the Falcons Final Whistle Podcast. I'm Scott bar across
from Chris rim and Tory mclanny. The usual suspects and
how many mock drafts have we done? A billion? Maybe?
I think twelve ronts today? Twelve? Yeah, today is Monday.
On Monday when we are recording this podcast. That's a lot,
(00:23):
and we go over them too, and we've been talking
about the draft forever. Well, finally it's time to make
some freaking picks, right yeah. So coming down Thursday night
is the first round. Obviously a huge deal. The Falcons
have the number eight overall selection and heading into day
two they have a bunch of them. They have two
in the second round, they have two in the third round.
(00:45):
And while look, we're going to spend a lot of
this time talking about the number eight pick, that's what
everybody wants to talk about, right, But I think the
interesting thing is not just eight, it's five within the
top eighty two. And the possibility is that that creates
which is good podcast fodder, you know, because they can
(01:05):
do almost anything that they want now. They aren't the
Jets or the Giants with two top ten picks. Right,
that's ideal. But the Falcons have a lot of ammunition,
and that's because some of these trades they're finally going
to see some benefit from it. From the Julio Jones
trade last year, the main piece of that trade is
the second round pick from Tennessee. I believe it's number
(01:26):
fifty eight. And then the pick from Matt Ryan from
the Colts from last month is pick eighty two. That's
the fifth pick in in this kind of top grouping
over the first couple of days. And while say what
you will about the top of this draft class, especially
for quarterbacks and some other positions, this draft class is deep.
(01:47):
There's opportunities to get good players later on. So I
guess let's just open it up right there. What kind
of possibilities? What can the Falcons do with five picks
in the top eighty two over the course Thursday and Friday.
They can make some big moves. I think, yeah, I mean,
I think the it leaves the door open for a
lot of possibilities. You could keep all five and just
(02:10):
stockpile positions of need aka wide receiver aka pass rush,
but you could also use them as capital to I
don't know, move back into the bottom picks of the
first round or move down, move up. I mean there
are with five picks in the top eighty three overall
picks in the draft, you have kind of Terry font
(02:34):
who can kind of do what he wants to do
in place the picks where he wants someplaced. And I
think that's really really important at this point in time.
But I also at the exact same time, I think
it's really really important that you use all five of
those picks and use them well, yeah, I think I
think with that amount of capital, you have an opportunity
to get a lot of good guys as simple as that,
Like you can get you know, in the second round,
(02:55):
you have two picks in the second round, you're not
second round. You're drafting for a player you want to contribute,
you know, more often not obviously in the first round.
It goes without saying, with the exception I guess to
some quarterbacks you might want to sit them for a
year behind someone like with Trey Lance or something like that.
But if with two picks in the second round, you're
ideally hoping to get one starter out of that or
(03:15):
two guys who contribute this season, and then third round
as well. You see guys contribute from the third round
at least sometimes a year one sometimes and last season
everyone was playing, right, I mean, so it wouldn't be
so I think you have an opportunity to get a
lot of those guys. Like Tori said, you could trade up,
you could trade back, you could trade for the future.
(03:35):
But I think, first of all, with before any of
those moves, you have an opportunity to get five players
who can contribute early, just like you saw guys last
year when they didn't have this much capital in the
first three rounds. Yeah, and we're gonna talk more in
depth about that, including the real possibility that the Falcons
could be involved in trades. Everyone thinks about going down,
(03:58):
but what about going back up. You guys in in
the last mock Draft version twelve point zero, amazingly enough,
talked about trading back in like into the first round.
So we're gonna go over that. We're gonna obviously take
a close look at that number eight pick and maybe
what it could mean for the other picks and where
there are some areas of draft class depth where they
(04:18):
can pick up good players in the second round. So
I voted my handy dandy notebook here. Um, so we
can say thank you. That was Alference. That's because I
watched children's programming all the time, his kids just by himself.
I was gonna say, you should clarify you you have
two kids children. Yeah, and that's why he's watching Blues Clues. Yeah,
(04:42):
that's definitely it. It's definitely not like it is most
of the time where my kids are playing in the
yard and my wife is still watching the movie, uh
Incanto for the forty fifth time. Great movie. Great movie.
We don't talk about Bruno here, No, you got me?
Oh how I don't know how I transition back to this,
(05:04):
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Awesome awesome. So as we were talking before, right before,
in conto. We were talking about having all these picks
available and the trade possibilities that are created. Um. I
(05:48):
was out for the weekend. I let the inmates run
the asylum and then I come back in. Desmond Ritter
in the mock draft is a falcon and I was like, Okay,
you guys just want to watch the world burn and
they're like, Scott, it's not at eight okay, chills. Yeah.
Scott immediately message us when he saw we put it
in like the headline in our CMS system, and he
(06:09):
was like, y'all. Literally, He's like, I haven't been gone
twenty four hours and you trade up into the bottom
of the first round now, he said, And Desmond riders gone.
I think he's had gone yeah, and he was just
gonna watch the world burns the cover photo. He saw
the cover photos. Desmond, He's like, how dare you? And
I was like, look, yeah, let me have some fun
(06:33):
the draft trade simulators and stuff, and hey, what if
we trade it up? Theresa h why not? Why not?
I actually told Chris. I was like, I'm going to
do it. I was like, watch me, I don't care
what it is. When we get to like third pick
thirty thirty one. I was like, I'm getting back in there. Okay, well,
then take me through the logic of why you would
want to trade back into the first round pick, maybe
(06:54):
why a quarterback or another prize player is there, and
maybe kind of why what why Terry and the Falcons
may want to consider that route as well, right. I
think it's something we've been talking about this whole offseason,
the Falcons having a secession plan for Matt Ryan. Yeah,
and it's like, Okay, what if you're in love with
one of these quarterbacks. I'm not personally, but we're not
(07:15):
asking my opinion here. We're thinking about what Terry Fontino
thinks is the move for the overall help of the
end longevity of the organization. So what if they like
Matt Correll, what if they like Desmond Ritter, And what
if those or maliqu willis Atlanta guy that I know
fans really like. What if the Falcons gave away one
(07:36):
of their second round picks, one of their third round
picks and traded with I don't know, Detroit at the
bottom of the first round, and what say one of
those quarterbacks are there. I think the only reason you
would trade back into the first round is if you
were going after one of those quarterbacks, because you do
get the fifth year option, and it only makes sense
really for a quarterback. I don't know if it makes
(07:58):
sense to go edge a number eight and then trade
up to get a wide receiver. I mean, I guess
if you're absolutely in love with the guy, you could
do that. But I just think there's gonna be wide
receivers available to you with that forty third pick, right, Yeah.
I think you're you're going to get a good wide
receiver there too, if that's what you want. So for me,
I think if you're if the Falcons are trading up
(08:20):
into the first round, that means that they would be
going after a quarterback the way that I see it. Yeah,
And if we're talking about trades down, let's say from
number eight, we've talked a lot about trades and about
how you can amass more picks. They've got five in
the top, you know, eighty two. That's a lot. Do
you want six or seven? Or at some point do
(08:41):
you think and this isn't necessarily for Falcons fans who
are thinking only about the twenty twenty two product, something
that we don't do a lot around here, that we
try to think big picture. But if you trade down,
is there some attraction Chris in getting twenty three capital
that you can have maybe that you can build up
next year's class as well, or are you Are you
(09:02):
not thinking about that? I think I think you have
to think think about it. But I think it's all
about how the scouts and how personnel the coach's view
this class versus next year's class. Right, So if you
think that there are guys next year, if you think
next year's class is deeper, and you feel like if
we had five of the top eighty two next year,
(09:22):
I like that, Like I feel a lot better about
that than I feel about having that this year, then
you do that. You saw the Eagles, for example, traded
they had three first round picks and essentially traded to
get one next year. That kind of says maybe they're
looking at something next year, maybe they like something next year.
But I think people have gotten kind of super focused
on the quarterbacks at the top of the draft next year,
(09:44):
and it's kind of like everyone wants those guys. You
have to be really really bad to probably get one
of those guys or trade a lot to get up.
So I don't think it's a safe bet or a
smart bet to say, oh, we're just gonna put all
our eggs in that basket for Stroud or Young or
another guy who's you know, undoubtedly will become great next
(10:05):
year and we'll be at the top of the class.
So I think ultimately it's just how they view the
class now, how the outside of us the class. Now
the media use a class. If they liked this class
and they think it's a deep class, wherever, as you
know many think is deep edge and wide receiver, if
they think is deeper than next year, then I think
it makes sense and you should be confident in having
those picks. But Tory just raised your hand. I also
(10:27):
think to go off of that, it's almost you have
to look at next year's class. Quarter If we're talking
about quarterbacks, you have to look at next year's class too.
But I am also team trade for a quarterback who's
already established for a veteran qu veteran quarterback in the
overall league, yeah, for sure. And I think because of
you look at the scope of the league in the
last five years, and we have seen so many big
(10:51):
time quarterback trades in five years time, and It is
not out of the realm of possibility in my mind
that the Falcons have a veteran in mind more than
building it up through the draft, if they're wanting to
be competitive immediately. That's kind of the way that I
think you go about doing that is you and the
Falcons will have a lot of cap space, like over
(11:13):
one hundred million supposedly, So if you look at that,
you have the money to go out and get a
guy that you want. You probably will have the draft
capital or to go out and get the guy you want.
If there's someone that you love, go get him in
whatever capacity you have to do it. Go. Okay, we're
gonna debate now, Oh, this is gonna be fun. When
(11:35):
you draft a quarterback in the first round and you're
paying him, even if it's the first pick, and you're
paying him on a rookie deal, that's like hitting the lottery. Right.
Then you can use that money on building everything up.
If you trade for maybe somebody who's not in love
with their situation. I don't know details about it. I'm
just gonna say Kyler Murray out loud, okay, but you know,
(11:57):
if it's something like that, and then you gotta go
pay that dude market rate, which is a lot of
guaranteed money. As we've seen, we're talking about heavy nine figures.
Then you're having to you have less freedom to build
up the roster around you. That is the counter argument
to what you're saying. Now, we've seen it work a lot.
(12:18):
Tennessee is the most obvious one. The Arthur Smith connection.
You look at Ryan Tannehill, come in, make some pretty
legit pretty fast. Him and Derrick Henry have a good
thing going. But that's what I worry about. Now. You
could come right back at me. I'm gonna argue with
myself now, right, just keep going back and forth, where
basically you could say, if you screw up the quarterback
pick early, then you've made it worse for yourself because
(12:41):
now you're two or three years invested in a guy
who may not be getting paid very much, but is
also not helping you win. Right, But also if you
if you, if you do mess the quarterback pick up,
I think the part about these disgruntled quarterbacks, they're not
your team has to be attractive for the quarterback to
not be also disgruntled here or to even approve the
(13:04):
trade to come here. Right, you know what I mean
right now? I think next year, do we think the
Falcons are going to be in a position where a
QB looks and says, oh, I can go there, Because
that's what's happening now. Qbs are kind of picking places
and saying I can go there. They're a quarterback away
from contending. So even if you miss on a quarterback,
as long as you're building around that position, you have
(13:26):
you know what O line is, solid wide receivers, the
defense is coming together. If you miss, you could still
bounce back and get one of those guys who will
undoubtedly become available. Because that's just like what's happening across
the league right now. Right, Okay, So let's just stay
on the quarterback theme here, right. So, and I'm looking
right at Tory because she's been she's been the resident.
(13:49):
Don't draft a quarterback? Okay, So I assume that's at eight.
Does that mean through eighty two? Also, kind of what's
your your stance on that? Does that change as we
go through the draft. Yeah, I'm anti taking a quarterback
at eight. I'm not anti taking a quarterback down at
a road. Yeah, Okay, I think it's okay if you
use one of the seconds or one of the thirds.
(14:09):
I say one of the seconds more than one of
the thirds. But if you use any of the one
of those four picks that you have in on Day
two for a quarterback, I'm okay with that. I don't
know if I'm happy about it. I don't think I am.
I don't think I'm happy about it, but like I
could understand the reasoning of that, and again, I just
keep going back. I just I think the Falcons, if
(14:32):
they're drafting a quarterback, they have to absolutely believe in
him one hundred and ten percent. And I just feel like,
and this is I feel bad saying this because I
want I want to see the success of players at
any level that care a lot about the game. But
I am not sold on this quarterback class. I'm just not.
I haven't been from the beginning. And I hope they
(14:54):
prove me wrong. I hope they go out and I
hope they have fantastic careers in the league. But I
don't know if that's the Falcons in Atlanta right now,
and it would worry me, and it would feel like
this would be a reach. If you're going quarterback, it
feels more of a reach than it would be to
go edge wide receiver. Tackle these positions that you know
(15:17):
you have to fix and you have to build depth
right now. Yeah, I mean I think I think for me,
it would depend on who's there in the second round,
Like if who would you be willing to take in
the second round if they were there? Malik? Yeah, I
think I agree with that. Yeah, I think if Malik
was there in the second round, I'd be fine with that.
(15:40):
And I think, I mean, I think there's a I
think there's a lot to like about a lot of
these guys, like specifically, like you know, Desmond, there's a
lot to like about the guy who's six four, who's
won a lot, who runs a four four, who can
make all the throws. You know, there's also you know,
accuracy and consistency concerns, but there's a lot to like
about him too. You know, I think I wouldn't be
(16:01):
I wouldn't hate that. So and you think about you
know who he compares himselves to all the time, Ryan
Tannehill and you know, some other quarterbacks to like with
the dynamic ability. But yeah, I think my number one
would be, like if Malik's there at forty three, you
take a guy who has a super high ceiling and so.
But other than that, I'm not sure. I mean, I
(16:22):
also think Matt Carroll has has some high highs. I
really liked him. I think he has been team Matt
Crow for a little bit. Yeah, I think I think that.
Not to go on Tangier, but thinking about I watched
him throw six picks against LSU I think it was
like two years ago, and then he threw like he
had I don't know how any picks he had in
the season. He had eleven picks in two games. Last
(16:42):
year only had five interceptions. But it's just like that
just stays in my mind, like it's the same thing
McKenny pickett, Like, was last year you or was that
flashing the pan? Or are you what's your decision making?
Are you? Are you gonna throw thirteen picks in the
right NFL hitting a game or something? Yeah. So I
just go back and I think about it, and I
(17:02):
feel like, if you're going to invest in a quarterback
that you believe could be a franchise guy, that's generally
a first round pick, And as you go through it,
I think, Okay, do I want a draft and develop
quarterback at I don't know fifty eight, or do I
want Isaiah Spiller? Right? You know, I start comparing, do
(17:23):
do I want a quarterback that may or may not
be the guy? Or do I want Pickens or Dylan Parnham,
like a solid offensive guard or an an offensive tackle
or another one of my draft crush is Cameron Thomas
from San Diego Stage. Yeah, and I think that goes
if we're talking about that, it goes against if the Falcons,
(17:45):
in my opinion, we're to go quarterback. It goes against
kind of what Terry Fontineau has said since he's gotten
here where he's like, we are I think draft best
player available? Are we for sure certain to feel confident
in saying that one of these quarterback is the best
player available at the time the Falcons pick wherever it
is they pick, right. I don't know if I could
(18:05):
say that, especially considering that you also, in the back
of your mind have to think about the needs that
you do have. I know no one wants to say
draft for need, but the Falcons have so many needs
that you it's like, whoever you take is going to
fill a need on this roster right over time, especially
because we've always kind of looked at this as this
isn't I think. I brought it up and I stood
(18:28):
corrected as I said that this is their last chance,
to their last major chance to improve the twenty twenty
two product, Like obviously they can still sign guys, but
like this is a big moment to help this product.
And you guys were kind of like, okay, sure, like
that's true, but how can they help this roster grow
and evolve right through twenty two and twenty three and
create the roster depth that is required? You know, And
(18:52):
I covered the Raiders for a long time. I have
a lot of stories about them, but I always go
back to twenty fourteen when they were zero and ten,
finished three and thirteen fired a coach. Is bad of
a season as you can have. But every week they
had Khalil Mack and Derek Carr on the top of
their of that draft class, and you could tell something
was there. And if you can come out of now
(19:13):
there's a quarterback involved, a second round quarterback, nonetheless, but
you can find those players for the fan base to
get excited about, and you could see something being built.
And that's what I think that we want to see,
right is something positive being built this foundation, being expanded
and being fortified. Of course, all that starts right, all
these things that we're talking about, trade up, trade down,
(19:36):
make your five picks, and develop those guys and go
to battle with them. It all starts at number eight, right.
So much talk about team needs, Well, after number eight,
that team needs thing is going to get adjusted a
little bit. Now. We've talked a lot about who they're
going to take at eight. I'm not asking necessarily for
bold predictions, but you look at what could be a
(19:57):
very early run on edge rushers. We talked about wide receivers,
Sauce Gardner. Can we just say he's not gonna be
there at this point? I mean, I don't know if
he's not gonna be there. I think if you go
really really heavy edge rusher right off the bat and
really heavy offensive tackle off the bat, I think things
can happen. Yeah, I think he could fall. Yeah. I
think eight is a weird spot. It is, right, there's
(20:18):
a possibility that like seven, like seven guys, I mean
there'll still be like maybe there's Charles Charles car but
he could be going to like there's a chance that
the four edge right, well, in that scenario, Sauce would
be there, but there's a chance that the top three
or you have four edge got top four edge guys ago,
the top two tackles go and Sauce goes. Right, So
(20:41):
I mean Charles people, Charles cross to be, you know,
a good talent too, so he's a guy there. But yeah,
I think I always envisioned the Jets taking Sauce at
four if he I mean may if he gets past four,
then then he will be there at eight. But yeah,
I think it's like a tough spot because it's like
we've talked about on our last podcast. They the difference
between the fourth edge guy verses fourge wide receiver, right, Yeah,
(21:06):
it's a lot different. Sure, so yeah, yeah, No, what
I was gonna say is like, there are seven picks math,
which I'm not particularly good at, but I just did some.
There are three top offensive tackles, there are four top
edge rushers. That is seven picks. You go off for
all seven off the board. Sauces there at eight. Yeah,
(21:29):
I don't know if that happens, but the math checks
out thing it does. And eight is an awkward spot
because if you're let's say the Giants at five, you
feel pretty good that if you really want an edge rusher,
you're gonna get one of these top three. You you
at least feel that that way, or but at eight,
it's like, okay, you're getting maybe right, all four ad
(21:51):
dressers are gone, all three tackles are gone. Kind of
the things get weird. You're kind of subject to what's
happening above you with that spot. I look a lot
at it, and I tweeted it the other day, and
you know, of course, you get lots of positives and
negatives when you tweet anything but them. I didn't watch
Florida State during season, I'll admit, but I've watched a
(22:12):
lot of Jermaine Johnson since. Yeah. I like him and
I like the way he plays, and I think he's
one of those guys that could be there for you.
And if we're talking about ticking off a number of
different things right, scheme, fit and positional need and how
that sets you up down the road, right, that that
may be a spot where you can go get something
(22:33):
like that. I mean, we've talked a lot about not
drafting for position right, but it seems like if they
if you can go get one of those top four
edge rushers, you probably do it. Yeah, I would. I
look at it like with Jermaine Johnson. Yeah, I know
he's not Trayvon Walker and he's not Ian Hutchinson and
he's not Cavon Thibadeaux. But he's right there, he's not
(22:54):
like I like, you know, I was gonna say, I
mean he was. I think the whole thing with Trayvon
Isy was banking on what he can be like right
versus Jermaine already is already is that he was one
of them, like out of the let's cut you up,
out of the group, he was like the most productive
behind Aiden or right right there, he was the best
in acc So it's like this, this guy's kind of
(23:14):
more polished than than like a Treyvon. Yeah. I think
that people kind of look at Treyvon and it's like ooh,
the like the flash of ooh, this is interesting. He's different.
But but like you're what you're saying, like, Jermaine is
good in his own right. And I think that he
looked you're talking about scheme fit, I think, and I
think that's something we've talked about where he looks like
a Dean Peace guy, right, Like he looks like a
(23:37):
guy that Dean Peace would like a lot and if
that's if it comes down to it and you're looking,
I think it's between in my personal opinion, Jermaine Johnson,
Charles Cross, Sauce, I think those are the three. I
don't put Kyle Hamilton in there because I and I
feel like you're gonna be like, how dare you? But
(23:59):
I don't put Hamilton in there. I think those three
are going to be there, and I think those three
are the ones that they make key in on. I
think Sauces there, Sauce is coming to Atlanta. Yeah, I
think so, oh yeah that question. Yeah, I'm saying like
if like those three, like if any of those three
or there, they would have an interest in Yeah for sure. Yeah.
(24:21):
I mean Sauce Gardner as well. Six three didn't allow
a touchdown. I don't know. He looks like he was
created in a lab, right, which I don't think is
my quote. I think maybe Desmond Ritter said that, right,
Yeah that that heah right? Um, but yeah, you think
about what you can get at eight, right, And I
(24:42):
don't know so many mocks bring Garrett Wilson or a
wide receiver to that spot because of the obvious need there.
But Chris is as as you pointed out that if
we're moving down from eight, right, because obviously, if if
we were all thinking ideally you take a a player
like Gardner, you go get an edge rusher, all right, Well,
(25:04):
then what do you do it at forty three? It
seems like that there are there's some receiver depth where
you can maybe come away with at number forty three,
a pretty darn good impact player at that at that
wide receiver spot. Kind of uncertain how everybody's gonna pick them.
Who's gonna be left on day two? Yeah, I guess
the challenge with banking on that too is like what
(25:24):
if you aren't and it just goes wide receiver frenzy
in that's possible too exactly. But I still think there
are there's been like ten guys who in their ranking,
like in the in the bottom half of that group obviously,
like after Pickens, when you talk about like Calvin Austin
from from that in that group, there's like four guys
(25:46):
who are ranked around the same level. You get one
of those guys later in the second who you still
would be comfortable with. But again, like I was saying,
like a guy like George Pickens, who's been projected to
go like second round. I think he's a guy who
if he played more, he would be a surefire first
round pick, but he only paid like twenty four games.
(26:07):
So you have guys like that, like Christian Watson and
Jamison Williams, who knows where he ends up. Like Scott said,
he's his stocks going up. His agent might be doing
a lot of work. Is that a hustling Yeah, there
were some videos this morning too of him doing was
kind of shocked to see that a little bit, which
is exactly what you want four days before the draft,
be like, hey man, he might go at ten. You
(26:28):
might have to trade up to get that guy. But
he's another intriguing prospect. I think there's a lot of
them in that cluster, in that first to second round
that you would think, unless there's an absolute frenzy, you'd
feel confident getting one of those um as. Like as
we moved through the draft, right, we talked so much
about about wide receiver and edge rusher. Right, I mentioned
(26:48):
running back offhand. If you look back at the top
of eighty two picks on Saturday, is there a position
I know we don't like to do. Position you know,
best player blah blah blah. But where if they don't
get it, let's say a running back, or they don't
get a tackle, they don't get a guard where you're like, oh,
if that was a missed opportunity, Like, are there any
must haves in the high group the trenches? Yeaheah, just
(27:12):
just keep building up there, any anybody on the line
of scrimmage, Yeah, that's what I yeah, yeah, and that's all. Yeah,
that's okay to add you know, to add another big body,
nose tackle or I think adding an offensive guard. Let's
add some competition there. You're gonna have to look long
term it a tackle. So it sounds like, go get
(27:33):
your wide receiver, Go get your edge rusher if you can. Yeah.
And it's weird because I was breaking down all of
the cornerbacks. I'm like, hey, like there's a lot of
talent there, um, but that's that's like positional strength at
this point. Yeah. I actually don't think quarterback a cornerback
is a significant need because I do like Casey Hayward
a lot, and you have him to two years. So
(27:56):
I think that the Casey Hayward aj Terrell pairing is
going to be really good, good. I'm looking forward to
seeing that. So I don't really put cornerback that high.
The only reason I say cornerback is because Sauce is there.
I feel like we've been beating Sauce's name into the
ground in this podcast, but that would be the only reason,
because I think he's like that best player available at
that point if you wrote, right, yeah, So I think
(28:18):
that if you can come away with that and really,
um again, it's one of those opportunities that the Raiders
in twenty fourteen is the one that I always use.
I think the Eagles in twenty eighteen had, like they
extended four guys in like in their draft class. The
Saints had one where you can get one of those
foundational draft classes that even if it doesn't include a quarterback,
very clear, we don't think it should that that that
(28:41):
that you can get the fan base excited in those
individuals and what they can produce for the team. And
going back to what we've all been saying, right is
that you and what Terry and Arthur have been saying
since we all got here, you know, is that they
need to build up this team to help whatever quarterback
they have right now, that's Marcus Mariota. And the thing is,
(29:03):
Marioda is you gotta see what Mariota does. Y. Ryan
Tannehill wasn't guy, right, I mean still Ryan Tanhill is
still not you know, but he wasn't you know what
I mean, He wasn't Tennessee's guy. He became the guy
because he stepped in from Marcus and he did more
than was expected. But I think again, don't count out
Marcus shocking everyone and becoming guysn't started in two years.
(29:27):
So yeah. The thing is is, like I think, for
a quarterback, it's always the situation that you come into. Yeah,
if you have a good situation around you, it's really
easy for you to be good. Yeah, and I think
that Marcus will have an opportunity. He's supremely motivated. Everything
I heard about his time with Las Vegas was really positive,
and I think that he's still an athlete. He was
(29:49):
still drafted number two for a reason. Build up the
team and the defense around him, give him a shot,
and then in six months, see where you're at. So
that's our grea truth. Um If Terry and Arthur, if
you could just go ahead and follow that blueprint, I
think that we'll be in it. Just give us credit.
Yeah uh so, anyway, thank you guys so much for
(30:12):
joining us for this episode of Falcons Final Whistle presented
by Windows eleven. Uh you know what to do right,
rate review, subscribe, and there's one more step this time.
Can you please go and download the episode of the
Falcons Audible podcast presented by AT and T. It's going
to be a good one heading into the draft. Those
guys know what they're talking about. And then just subscribe
(30:34):
and have your phone do its thing because right after
the first round they're going to give their initial thoughts
about that first round draft pick. So you want to
know more about that first round draft pick, those guys
are going to have it for you ready to go.
So again, thank you guys so much. We are going
to have a Falcons Final Whistle draft review podcast with
Steve Weisch on this television screen right right here joining us.
(30:59):
So look forward to that, guys, Thank you so much
for the time. Obviously, tune in. Big week for the Falcons,
Big week for the NFL. Who are they going to
take at eight? We're gonna find out really soon.
What's up, everybody, and welcome to a pre draft edition
of the Falcons Final Whistle Podcast. I'm Scott bar across
from Chris rim and Tory mclanny. The usual suspects and
how many mock drafts have we done? A billion? Maybe?
I think twelve ronts today? Twelve? Yeah, today is Monday.
On Monday when we are recording this podcast. That's a lot,
(00:23):
and we go over them too, and we've been talking
about the draft forever. Well, finally it's time to make
some freaking picks, right yeah. So coming down Thursday night
is the first round. Obviously a huge deal. The Falcons
have the number eight overall selection and heading into day
two they have a bunch of them. They have two
in the second round, they have two in the third round.
(00:45):
And while look, we're going to spend a lot of
this time talking about the number eight pick, that's what
everybody wants to talk about, right, But I think the
interesting thing is not just eight, it's five within the
top eighty two. And the possibility is that that creates
which is good podcast fodder, you know, because they can
(01:05):
do almost anything that they want now. They aren't the
Jets or the Giants with two top ten picks. Right,
that's ideal. But the Falcons have a lot of ammunition,
and that's because some of these trades they're finally going
to see some benefit from it. From the Julio Jones
trade last year, the main piece of that trade is
the second round pick from Tennessee. I believe it's number
(01:26):
fifty eight. And then the pick from Matt Ryan from
the Colts from last month is pick eighty two. That's
the fifth pick in in this kind of top grouping
over the first couple of days. And while say what
you will about the top of this draft class, especially
for quarterbacks and some other positions, this draft class is deep.
(01:47):
There's opportunities to get good players later on. So I
guess let's just open it up right there. What kind
of possibilities? What can the Falcons do with five picks
in the top eighty two over the course Thursday and Friday.
They can make some big moves. I think, yeah, I mean,
I think the it leaves the door open for a
lot of possibilities. You could keep all five and just
(02:10):
stockpile positions of need aka wide receiver aka pass rush,
but you could also use them as capital to I
don't know, move back into the bottom picks of the
first round or move down, move up. I mean there
are with five picks in the top eighty three overall
picks in the draft, you have kind of Terry font
(02:34):
who can kind of do what he wants to do
in place the picks where he wants someplaced. And I
think that's really really important at this point in time.
But I also at the exact same time, I think
it's really really important that you use all five of
those picks and use them well, yeah, I think I
think with that amount of capital, you have an opportunity
to get a lot of good guys as simple as that,
Like you can get you know, in the second round,
(02:55):
you have two picks in the second round, you're not
second round. You're drafting for a player you want to contribute,
you know, more often not obviously in the first round.
It goes without saying, with the exception I guess to
some quarterbacks you might want to sit them for a
year behind someone like with Trey Lance or something like that.
But if with two picks in the second round, you're
ideally hoping to get one starter out of that or
(03:15):
two guys who contribute this season, and then third round
as well. You see guys contribute from the third round
at least sometimes a year one sometimes and last season
everyone was playing, right, I mean, so it wouldn't be
so I think you have an opportunity to get a
lot of those guys. Like Tori said, you could trade up,
you could trade back, you could trade for the future.
(03:35):
But I think, first of all, with before any of
those moves, you have an opportunity to get five players
who can contribute early, just like you saw guys last
year when they didn't have this much capital in the
first three rounds. Yeah, and we're gonna talk more in
depth about that, including the real possibility that the Falcons
could be involved in trades. Everyone thinks about going down,
(03:58):
but what about going back up. You guys in in
the last mock Draft version twelve point zero, amazingly enough,
talked about trading back in like into the first round.
So we're gonna go over that. We're gonna obviously take
a close look at that number eight pick and maybe
what it could mean for the other picks and where
there are some areas of draft class depth where they
(04:18):
can pick up good players in the second round. So
I voted my handy dandy notebook here. Um, so we
can say thank you. That was Alference. That's because I
watched children's programming all the time, his kids just by himself.
I was gonna say, you should clarify you you have
two kids children. Yeah, and that's why he's watching Blues Clues. Yeah,
(04:42):
that's definitely it. It's definitely not like it is most
of the time where my kids are playing in the
yard and my wife is still watching the movie, uh
Incanto for the forty fifth time. Great movie. Great movie.
We don't talk about Bruno here, No, you got me?
Oh how I don't know how I transition back to this,
(05:04):
You know, we do talk about Windows eleven product place
and a big thank you to our sponsor Microsoft. Windows eleven,
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The all new Windows eleven is here to bring you
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(05:26):
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Awesome awesome. So as we were talking before, right before,
in conto. We were talking about having all these picks
available and the trade possibilities that are created. Um. I
(05:48):
was out for the weekend. I let the inmates run
the asylum and then I come back in. Desmond Ritter
in the mock draft is a falcon and I was like, Okay,
you guys just want to watch the world burn and
they're like, Scott, it's not at eight okay, chills. Yeah.
Scott immediately message us when he saw we put it
in like the headline in our CMS system, and he
(06:09):
was like, y'all. Literally, He's like, I haven't been gone
twenty four hours and you trade up into the bottom
of the first round now, he said, And Desmond riders gone.
I think he's had gone yeah, and he was just
gonna watch the world burns the cover photo. He saw
the cover photos. Desmond, He's like, how dare you? And
I was like, look, yeah, let me have some fun
(06:33):
the draft trade simulators and stuff, and hey, what if
we trade it up? Theresa h why not? Why not?
I actually told Chris. I was like, I'm going to
do it. I was like, watch me, I don't care
what it is. When we get to like third pick
thirty thirty one. I was like, I'm getting back in there. Okay, well,
then take me through the logic of why you would
want to trade back into the first round pick, maybe
(06:54):
why a quarterback or another prize player is there, and
maybe kind of why what why Terry and the Falcons
may want to consider that route as well, right. I
think it's something we've been talking about this whole offseason,
the Falcons having a secession plan for Matt Ryan. Yeah,
and it's like, Okay, what if you're in love with
one of these quarterbacks. I'm not personally, but we're not
(07:15):
asking my opinion here. We're thinking about what Terry Fontino
thinks is the move for the overall help of the
end longevity of the organization. So what if they like
Matt Correll, what if they like Desmond Ritter, And what
if those or maliqu willis Atlanta guy that I know
fans really like. What if the Falcons gave away one
(07:36):
of their second round picks, one of their third round
picks and traded with I don't know, Detroit at the
bottom of the first round, and what say one of
those quarterbacks are there. I think the only reason you
would trade back into the first round is if you
were going after one of those quarterbacks, because you do
get the fifth year option, and it only makes sense
really for a quarterback. I don't know if it makes
(07:58):
sense to go edge a number eight and then trade
up to get a wide receiver. I mean, I guess
if you're absolutely in love with the guy, you could
do that. But I just think there's gonna be wide
receivers available to you with that forty third pick, right, Yeah.
I think you're you're going to get a good wide
receiver there too, if that's what you want. So for me,
I think if you're if the Falcons are trading up
(08:20):
into the first round, that means that they would be
going after a quarterback the way that I see it. Yeah,
And if we're talking about trades down, let's say from
number eight, we've talked a lot about trades and about
how you can amass more picks. They've got five in
the top, you know, eighty two. That's a lot. Do
you want six or seven? Or at some point do
(08:41):
you think and this isn't necessarily for Falcons fans who
are thinking only about the twenty twenty two product, something
that we don't do a lot around here, that we
try to think big picture. But if you trade down,
is there some attraction Chris in getting twenty three capital
that you can have maybe that you can build up
next year's class as well, or are you Are you
(09:02):
not thinking about that? I think I think you have
to think think about it. But I think it's all
about how the scouts and how personnel the coach's view
this class versus next year's class. Right, So if you
think that there are guys next year, if you think
next year's class is deeper, and you feel like if
we had five of the top eighty two next year,
(09:22):
I like that, Like I feel a lot better about
that than I feel about having that this year, then
you do that. You saw the Eagles, for example, traded
they had three first round picks and essentially traded to
get one next year. That kind of says maybe they're
looking at something next year, maybe they like something next year.
But I think people have gotten kind of super focused
on the quarterbacks at the top of the draft next year,
(09:44):
and it's kind of like everyone wants those guys. You
have to be really really bad to probably get one
of those guys or trade a lot to get up.
So I don't think it's a safe bet or a
smart bet to say, oh, we're just gonna put all
our eggs in that basket for Stroud or Young or
another guy who's you know, undoubtedly will become great next
(10:05):
year and we'll be at the top of the class.
So I think ultimately it's just how they view the
class now, how the outside of us the class. Now
the media use a class. If they liked this class
and they think it's a deep class, wherever, as you
know many think is deep edge and wide receiver, if
they think is deeper than next year, then I think
it makes sense and you should be confident in having
those picks. But Tory just raised your hand. I also
(10:27):
think to go off of that, it's almost you have
to look at next year's class. Quarter If we're talking
about quarterbacks, you have to look at next year's class too.
But I am also team trade for a quarterback who's
already established for a veteran qu veteran quarterback in the
overall league, yeah, for sure. And I think because of
you look at the scope of the league in the
last five years, and we have seen so many big
(10:51):
time quarterback trades in five years time, and It is
not out of the realm of possibility in my mind
that the Falcons have a veteran in mind more than
building it up through the draft, if they're wanting to
be competitive immediately. That's kind of the way that I
think you go about doing that is you and the
Falcons will have a lot of cap space, like over
(11:13):
one hundred million supposedly, So if you look at that,
you have the money to go out and get a
guy that you want. You probably will have the draft
capital or to go out and get the guy you want.
If there's someone that you love, go get him in
whatever capacity you have to do it. Go. Okay, we're
gonna debate now, Oh, this is gonna be fun. When
(11:35):
you draft a quarterback in the first round and you're
paying him, even if it's the first pick, and you're
paying him on a rookie deal, that's like hitting the lottery. Right.
Then you can use that money on building everything up.
If you trade for maybe somebody who's not in love
with their situation. I don't know details about it. I'm
just gonna say Kyler Murray out loud, okay, but you know,
(11:57):
if it's something like that, and then you gotta go
pay that dude market rate, which is a lot of
guaranteed money. As we've seen, we're talking about heavy nine figures.
Then you're having to you have less freedom to build
up the roster around you. That is the counter argument
to what you're saying. Now, we've seen it work a lot.
(12:18):
Tennessee is the most obvious one. The Arthur Smith connection.
You look at Ryan Tannehill, come in, make some pretty
legit pretty fast. Him and Derrick Henry have a good
thing going. But that's what I worry about. Now. You
could come right back at me. I'm gonna argue with
myself now, right, just keep going back and forth, where
basically you could say, if you screw up the quarterback
pick early, then you've made it worse for yourself because
(12:41):
now you're two or three years invested in a guy
who may not be getting paid very much, but is
also not helping you win. Right, But also if you
if you, if you do mess the quarterback pick up,
I think the part about these disgruntled quarterbacks, they're not
your team has to be attractive for the quarterback to
not be also disgruntled here or to even approve the
(13:04):
trade to come here. Right, you know what I mean
right now? I think next year, do we think the
Falcons are going to be in a position where a
QB looks and says, oh, I can go there, Because
that's what's happening now. Qbs are kind of picking places
and saying I can go there. They're a quarterback away
from contending. So even if you miss on a quarterback,
as long as you're building around that position, you have
(13:26):
you know what O line is, solid wide receivers, the
defense is coming together. If you miss, you could still
bounce back and get one of those guys who will
undoubtedly become available. Because that's just like what's happening across
the league right now. Right, Okay, So let's just stay
on the quarterback theme here, right. So, and I'm looking
right at Tory because she's been she's been the resident.
(13:49):
Don't draft a quarterback? Okay, So I assume that's at eight.
Does that mean through eighty two? Also, kind of what's
your your stance on that? Does that change as we
go through the draft. Yeah, I'm anti taking a quarterback
at eight. I'm not anti taking a quarterback down at
a road. Yeah, Okay, I think it's okay if you
use one of the seconds or one of the thirds.
(14:09):
I say one of the seconds more than one of
the thirds. But if you use any of the one
of those four picks that you have in on Day
two for a quarterback, I'm okay with that. I don't
know if I'm happy about it. I don't think I am.
I don't think I'm happy about it, but like I
could understand the reasoning of that, and again, I just
keep going back. I just I think the Falcons, if
(14:32):
they're drafting a quarterback, they have to absolutely believe in
him one hundred and ten percent. And I just feel like,
and this is I feel bad saying this because I
want I want to see the success of players at
any level that care a lot about the game. But
I am not sold on this quarterback class. I'm just not.
I haven't been from the beginning. And I hope they
(14:54):
prove me wrong. I hope they go out and I
hope they have fantastic careers in the league. But I
don't know if that's the Falcons in Atlanta right now,
and it would worry me, and it would feel like
this would be a reach. If you're going quarterback, it
feels more of a reach than it would be to
go edge wide receiver. Tackle these positions that you know
(15:17):
you have to fix and you have to build depth
right now. Yeah, I mean I think I think for me,
it would depend on who's there in the second round,
Like if who would you be willing to take in
the second round if they were there? Malik? Yeah, I
think I agree with that. Yeah, I think if Malik
was there in the second round, I'd be fine with that.
(15:40):
And I think, I mean, I think there's a I
think there's a lot to like about a lot of
these guys, like specifically, like you know, Desmond, there's a
lot to like about the guy who's six four, who's
won a lot, who runs a four four, who can
make all the throws. You know, there's also you know,
accuracy and consistency concerns, but there's a lot to like
about him too. You know, I think I wouldn't be
(16:01):
I wouldn't hate that. So and you think about you
know who he compares himselves to all the time, Ryan
Tannehill and you know, some other quarterbacks to like with
the dynamic ability. But yeah, I think my number one
would be, like if Malik's there at forty three, you
take a guy who has a super high ceiling and so.
But other than that, I'm not sure. I mean, I
(16:22):
also think Matt Carroll has has some high highs. I
really liked him. I think he has been team Matt
Crow for a little bit. Yeah, I think I think that.
Not to go on Tangier, but thinking about I watched
him throw six picks against LSU I think it was
like two years ago, and then he threw like he
had I don't know how any picks he had in
the season. He had eleven picks in two games. Last
(16:42):
year only had five interceptions. But it's just like that
just stays in my mind, like it's the same thing
McKenny pickett, Like, was last year you or was that
flashing the pan? Or are you what's your decision making?
Are you? Are you gonna throw thirteen picks in the
right NFL hitting a game or something? Yeah. So I
just go back and I think about it, and I
(17:02):
feel like, if you're going to invest in a quarterback
that you believe could be a franchise guy, that's generally
a first round pick, And as you go through it,
I think, Okay, do I want a draft and develop
quarterback at I don't know fifty eight, or do I
want Isaiah Spiller? Right? You know, I start comparing, do
(17:23):
do I want a quarterback that may or may not
be the guy? Or do I want Pickens or Dylan Parnham,
like a solid offensive guard or an an offensive tackle
or another one of my draft crush is Cameron Thomas
from San Diego Stage. Yeah, and I think that goes
if we're talking about that, it goes against if the Falcons,
(17:45):
in my opinion, we're to go quarterback. It goes against
kind of what Terry Fontineau has said since he's gotten
here where he's like, we are I think draft best
player available? Are we for sure certain to feel confident
in saying that one of these quarterback is the best
player available at the time the Falcons pick wherever it
is they pick, right. I don't know if I could
(18:05):
say that, especially considering that you also, in the back
of your mind have to think about the needs that
you do have. I know no one wants to say
draft for need, but the Falcons have so many needs
that you it's like, whoever you take is going to
fill a need on this roster right over time, especially
because we've always kind of looked at this as this
isn't I think. I brought it up and I stood
(18:28):
corrected as I said that this is their last chance,
to their last major chance to improve the twenty twenty
two product, Like obviously they can still sign guys, but
like this is a big moment to help this product.
And you guys were kind of like, okay, sure, like
that's true, but how can they help this roster grow
and evolve right through twenty two and twenty three and
create the roster depth that is required? You know, And
(18:52):
I covered the Raiders for a long time. I have
a lot of stories about them, but I always go
back to twenty fourteen when they were zero and ten,
finished three and thirteen fired a coach. Is bad of
a season as you can have. But every week they
had Khalil Mack and Derek Carr on the top of
their of that draft class, and you could tell something
was there. And if you can come out of now
(19:13):
there's a quarterback involved, a second round quarterback, nonetheless, but
you can find those players for the fan base to
get excited about, and you could see something being built.
And that's what I think that we want to see,
right is something positive being built this foundation, being expanded
and being fortified. Of course, all that starts right, all
these things that we're talking about, trade up, trade down,
(19:36):
make your five picks, and develop those guys and go
to battle with them. It all starts at number eight, right.
So much talk about team needs, Well, after number eight,
that team needs thing is going to get adjusted a
little bit. Now. We've talked a lot about who they're
going to take at eight. I'm not asking necessarily for
bold predictions, but you look at what could be a
(19:57):
very early run on edge rushers. We talked about wide receivers,
Sauce Gardner. Can we just say he's not gonna be
there at this point? I mean, I don't know if
he's not gonna be there. I think if you go
really really heavy edge rusher right off the bat and
really heavy offensive tackle off the bat, I think things
can happen. Yeah, I think he could fall. Yeah. I
think eight is a weird spot. It is, right, there's
(20:18):
a possibility that like seven, like seven guys, I mean
there'll still be like maybe there's Charles Charles car but
he could be going to like there's a chance that
the four edge right, well, in that scenario, Sauce would
be there, but there's a chance that the top three
or you have four edge got top four edge guys ago,
the top two tackles go and Sauce goes. Right, So
(20:41):
I mean Charles people, Charles cross to be, you know,
a good talent too, so he's a guy there. But yeah,
I think I always envisioned the Jets taking Sauce at
four if he I mean may if he gets past four,
then then he will be there at eight. But yeah,
I think it's like a tough spot because it's like
we've talked about on our last podcast. They the difference
between the fourth edge guy verses fourge wide receiver, right, Yeah,
(21:06):
it's a lot different. Sure, so yeah, yeah, No, what
I was gonna say is like, there are seven picks math,
which I'm not particularly good at, but I just did some.
There are three top offensive tackles, there are four top
edge rushers. That is seven picks. You go off for
all seven off the board. Sauces there at eight. Yeah,
(21:29):
I don't know if that happens, but the math checks
out thing it does. And eight is an awkward spot
because if you're let's say the Giants at five, you
feel pretty good that if you really want an edge rusher,
you're gonna get one of these top three. You you
at least feel that that way, or but at eight,
it's like, okay, you're getting maybe right, all four ad
(21:51):
dressers are gone, all three tackles are gone. Kind of
the things get weird. You're kind of subject to what's
happening above you with that spot. I look a lot
at it, and I tweeted it the other day, and
you know, of course, you get lots of positives and
negatives when you tweet anything but them. I didn't watch
Florida State during season, I'll admit, but I've watched a
(22:12):
lot of Jermaine Johnson since. Yeah. I like him and
I like the way he plays, and I think he's
one of those guys that could be there for you.
And if we're talking about ticking off a number of
different things right, scheme, fit and positional need and how
that sets you up down the road, right, that that
may be a spot where you can go get something
(22:33):
like that. I mean, we've talked a lot about not
drafting for position right, but it seems like if they
if you can go get one of those top four
edge rushers, you probably do it. Yeah, I would. I
look at it like with Jermaine Johnson. Yeah, I know
he's not Trayvon Walker and he's not Ian Hutchinson and
he's not Cavon Thibadeaux. But he's right there, he's not
(22:54):
like I like, you know, I was gonna say, I
mean he was. I think the whole thing with Trayvon
Isy was banking on what he can be like right
versus Jermaine already is already is that he was one
of them, like out of the let's cut you up,
out of the group, he was like the most productive
behind Aiden or right right there, he was the best
in acc So it's like this, this guy's kind of
(23:14):
more polished than than like a Treyvon. Yeah. I think
that people kind of look at Treyvon and it's like ooh,
the like the flash of ooh, this is interesting. He's different.
But but like you're what you're saying, like, Jermaine is
good in his own right. And I think that he
looked you're talking about scheme fit, I think, and I
think that's something we've talked about where he looks like
a Dean Peace guy, right, Like he looks like a
(23:37):
guy that Dean Peace would like a lot and if
that's if it comes down to it and you're looking,
I think it's between in my personal opinion, Jermaine Johnson,
Charles Cross, Sauce, I think those are the three. I
don't put Kyle Hamilton in there because I and I
feel like you're gonna be like, how dare you? But
(23:59):
I don't put Hamilton in there. I think those three
are going to be there, and I think those three
are the ones that they make key in on. I
think Sauces there, Sauce is coming to Atlanta. Yeah, I
think so, oh yeah that question. Yeah, I'm saying like
if like those three, like if any of those three
or there, they would have an interest in Yeah for sure. Yeah.
(24:21):
I mean Sauce Gardner as well. Six three didn't allow
a touchdown. I don't know. He looks like he was
created in a lab, right, which I don't think is
my quote. I think maybe Desmond Ritter said that, right,
Yeah that that heah right? Um, but yeah, you think
about what you can get at eight, right, And I
(24:42):
don't know so many mocks bring Garrett Wilson or a
wide receiver to that spot because of the obvious need there.
But Chris is as as you pointed out that if
we're moving down from eight, right, because obviously, if if
we were all thinking ideally you take a a player
like Gardner, you go get an edge rusher, all right, Well,
(25:04):
then what do you do it at forty three? It
seems like that there are there's some receiver depth where
you can maybe come away with at number forty three,
a pretty darn good impact player at that at that
wide receiver spot. Kind of uncertain how everybody's gonna pick them.
Who's gonna be left on day two? Yeah, I guess
the challenge with banking on that too is like what
(25:24):
if you aren't and it just goes wide receiver frenzy
in that's possible too exactly. But I still think there
are there's been like ten guys who in their ranking,
like in the in the bottom half of that group obviously,
like after Pickens, when you talk about like Calvin Austin
from from that in that group, there's like four guys
(25:46):
who are ranked around the same level. You get one
of those guys later in the second who you still
would be comfortable with. But again, like I was saying,
like a guy like George Pickens, who's been projected to
go like second round. I think he's a guy who
if he played more, he would be a surefire first
round pick, but he only paid like twenty four games.
(26:07):
So you have guys like that, like Christian Watson and
Jamison Williams, who knows where he ends up. Like Scott said,
he's his stocks going up. His agent might be doing
a lot of work. Is that a hustling Yeah, there
were some videos this morning too of him doing was
kind of shocked to see that a little bit, which
is exactly what you want four days before the draft,
be like, hey man, he might go at ten. You
(26:28):
might have to trade up to get that guy. But
he's another intriguing prospect. I think there's a lot of
them in that cluster, in that first to second round
that you would think, unless there's an absolute frenzy, you'd
feel confident getting one of those um as. Like as
we moved through the draft, right, we talked so much
about about wide receiver and edge rusher. Right, I mentioned
(26:48):
running back offhand. If you look back at the top
of eighty two picks on Saturday, is there a position
I know we don't like to do. Position you know,
best player blah blah blah. But where if they don't
get it, let's say a running back, or they don't
get a tackle, they don't get a guard where you're like, oh,
if that was a missed opportunity, Like, are there any
must haves in the high group the trenches? Yeaheah, just
(27:12):
just keep building up there, any anybody on the line
of scrimmage, Yeah, that's what I yeah, yeah, and that's all. Yeah,
that's okay to add you know, to add another big body,
nose tackle or I think adding an offensive guard. Let's
add some competition there. You're gonna have to look long
term it a tackle. So it sounds like, go get
(27:33):
your wide receiver, Go get your edge rusher if you can. Yeah.
And it's weird because I was breaking down all of
the cornerbacks. I'm like, hey, like there's a lot of
talent there, um, but that's that's like positional strength at
this point. Yeah. I actually don't think quarterback a cornerback
is a significant need because I do like Casey Hayward
a lot, and you have him to two years. So
(27:56):
I think that the Casey Hayward aj Terrell pairing is
going to be really good, good. I'm looking forward to
seeing that. So I don't really put cornerback that high.
The only reason I say cornerback is because Sauce is there.
I feel like we've been beating Sauce's name into the
ground in this podcast, but that would be the only reason,
because I think he's like that best player available at
that point if you wrote, right, yeah, So I think
(28:18):
that if you can come away with that and really,
um again, it's one of those opportunities that the Raiders
in twenty fourteen is the one that I always use.
I think the Eagles in twenty eighteen had, like they
extended four guys in like in their draft class. The
Saints had one where you can get one of those
foundational draft classes that even if it doesn't include a quarterback,
very clear, we don't think it should that that that
(28:41):
that you can get the fan base excited in those
individuals and what they can produce for the team. And
going back to what we've all been saying, right is
that you and what Terry and Arthur have been saying
since we all got here, you know, is that they
need to build up this team to help whatever quarterback
they have right now, that's Marcus Mariota. And the thing is,
(29:03):
Marioda is you gotta see what Mariota does. Y. Ryan
Tannehill wasn't guy, right, I mean still Ryan Tanhill is
still not you know, but he wasn't you know what
I mean, He wasn't Tennessee's guy. He became the guy
because he stepped in from Marcus and he did more
than was expected. But I think again, don't count out
Marcus shocking everyone and becoming guysn't started in two years.
(29:27):
So yeah. The thing is is, like I think, for
a quarterback, it's always the situation that you come into. Yeah,
if you have a good situation around you, it's really
easy for you to be good. Yeah, and I think
that Marcus will have an opportunity. He's supremely motivated. Everything
I heard about his time with Las Vegas was really positive,
and I think that he's still an athlete. He was
(29:49):
still drafted number two for a reason. Build up the
team and the defense around him, give him a shot,
and then in six months, see where you're at. So
that's our grea truth. Um If Terry and Arthur, if
you could just go ahead and follow that blueprint, I
think that we'll be in it. Just give us credit.
Yeah uh so, anyway, thank you guys so much for
(30:12):
joining us for this episode of Falcons Final Whistle presented
by Windows eleven. Uh you know what to do right,
rate review, subscribe, and there's one more step this time.
Can you please go and download the episode of the
Falcons Audible podcast presented by AT and T. It's going
to be a good one heading into the draft. Those
guys know what they're talking about. And then just subscribe
(30:34):
and have your phone do its thing because right after
the first round they're going to give their initial thoughts
about that first round draft pick. So you want to
know more about that first round draft pick, those guys
are going to have it for you ready to go.
So again, thank you guys so much. We are going
to have a Falcons Final Whistle draft review podcast with
Steve Weisch on this television screen right right here joining us.
(30:59):
So look forward to that, guys, Thank you so much
for the time. Obviously, tune in. Big week for the Falcons,
Big week for the NFL. Who are they going to
take at eight? We're gonna find out really soon.
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