Falcons Draft Recap, Day One

Credit goes to CBS Sportsline.

Underwhelming is the perfect word for this draft so far.

Pretty much everyone on the site wanted Jake Long, Glenn Dorsey or Sedrick Ellis at the #3 spot. After all, the Falcons had to realize that building from the lines out was the perfect way to go for a team that had needs almost everywhere. Instead, the team grabbed Matt Ryan, traded two second round picks to grab Sam Baker at OT, and then picked up a linebacker prospect in Curtis Lofton.

What makes me angriest about this draft--and there's a lot of choices here--is that Brohm and Henne fell like stones in the second round. The Falcons could have grabbed Dorsey, traded up to get Baker and still have had Brohm. This would have saved us money and spending a #3 pick on a quarterback whose greatest feature still appears to be his intangibles. I have absolutely no reason to dislike Matt Ryan as a person, and obviously I hope he ends up being the greatest Falcon QB of all time by a wide margin. If he spends the next ten seasons shouting "suck it, Dave the Falconer!" after each of his 400 touchdown passes, I'll smile and nod. I just don't understand why a guy who spent years getting value and shunning the flashy pick suddenly did the exact opposite at the top of the draft. I smell some ownership pressure, frankly.

You do have to give the Falcons kudos for realizing they have to protect Ryan. The trade-up for Baker wasn't great, but I like him significantly more than Jeff Otah and Gosder Cherilus, both of whom went off the board right around the Falcons' pick. He can be an impact left tackle quickly, and if Blalock blossoms like expected we'll have a terrific, young left side of the line for years to come. If the Falcons snatch a right tackle and/or center later on in the draft, Ryan has a good chance of staying on his feet and actually being able to make the throws he'll ned to. That ought to bear out his true talent pretty quickly.

The selection of Lofton confused me again. We do need a replacement for Keith Brooking in the middle, but I feel like a later round pick or even a selection next year could've taken care of that issue. The Falcons could have picked up standout defensive tackle Trevor Laws here or Falcoholic-touted cornerback prospect Tracy Jordan for better value. For a regime that talked about drafting by need, Dimitroff and Smith certainly decided to forget the team's more immediate need. That said, I do like Lofton and think that a Boley, Lofton and Nicholas tandem sounds pretty damn sweet.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't agree with the way the Falcons carried out this draft, but all three players could end up carrying immense value for the Falcons. Ryan is an incredible risk with Glenn Dorsey on the board, though, and I'm still not convinced that Matty Ice (I do love the nickname!) will be the answer for us. If the team is willing to let him sit for a year and build an offensive line for him, Ryan might just be successful in the NFL. I just think the same thing could be said of Brian Brohm and Chad Henne.

What do you think of the draft, and who should the Falcons pick up tomorrow?