Atlanta Falcon Draft Pick Capsules, Rounds Three Through Five
by Dave Choate on Apr 26, 2009 3:44 PM EDT
in Falcons News
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PrintWe'll be exploring each player's future role in the coming weeks, but I thought I'd get up brief capsules on each of the players the Falcons have picked so far. Enjoy, and leave your own thoughts on the finest of the second day of the NFL Draft.
3rd Round: Chris Owens, CB, San Jose State: The very definition of a solid coverage corner. Owens has very good instincts and wheels around well, allowing him to keep up with even the most elusive wide receivers. Tackles surprisingly well for his size and has the ability to pick off a few passes. Due to his size (just a hair below 5'10"), he's not a great matchup against tall receivers. There are some concerns about the competition level he faced in college. I think Owens is virtually a lock to play nickel in his first season and may become the team's #2 corner with time. I don't have any concerns about his upside.
4th Round: Lawrence Sidbury, DE/OLB, Richmond: Those who know me know that I'm prone to exaggerate, so feel free to take this with a grain of salt. I'm just going to say it anyway. Sidbury may well have the most upside out of any player we've drafted so far. He's a force off the edge, tackles well, never stops running and does well in pass rushing situations. His frame is big enough for him to survive at defensive end, but he could well become a potent linebacker if given the chance. He's not terribly strong against the run and could use some strength training, but kicking him to linebacker somewhat negates both of those issues and gives him a chance to make an impact right away. Love this pick.
5th Round: William Middleton, CB, Furman: A small college corner who also doesn't have fearsome height. Middleton is stronger than hell for a corner and hits like a train made of cement, which will give receivers matching up against him second thoughts as they go over the middle. His athleticism isn't in question, but he'll need a little work on his coverage instincts. Probably will be a solid special teamer immediately and could very easily become a fixture in nickel and dime packages before too much time passes.
5th Round: Garrett Reynolds, OT, North Carolina: Strong as an ox and three times as big, Reynolds has enormous upside as a right tackle. His mobility and pass protection are going to need some help, so he should probably sit at first, but there's no doubt that Michael Turner would love to run behind a guy who mauls as well as he does when it comes time to put the ball on the ground. He's still got some room to grow and could be defined as a project, but it's not like we'll be building him from the ground up. Another pick I really love.
Your thoughts?
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I like it
our DT went from 0 depth to one of our deepest if we make that pick
SuperStar Fred McGriff gives this post his "full endorsahment"!
by Molly Flogger on Apr 26, 2009 3:49 PM EDT up reply actions
Anderson on the move/
Does drafting Sidbury means Anderson to move inside? would be interesting.
roll the chains
Thought about that
Not the worst idea in the world. Trey and JA could handle run-stopping, Babineaux and Jerry could take the pass rush.
I don't know
I think JA is a good run-stopper from the DE position, but he’s a little small for a run-stopping DT.
Now, our own version of the “4 Aces” package the Giants made for 3rd and long would be nice. JA inside with either Babineaux or Jerry, Predator and Sidbury outside.
solid players all around
Can’t really complain about the picks as they were all in positions of need.
Personally, I’d love to see us go out and sign Leroy Hill now that he is a FA and have Peterson and Nicholas compete for the other starting spot.
To me, it depends on what they want to do with Sidbury
Although I can’t say I wouldn’t like to see Hill in a Falcons jersey.
Sidbury's primary strength seems to be as a pass rusher
We might be trying to groom an eventual replacement for Abraham. Even if we move him to LB, it wouldn’t hurt for the kid to sit a year or two until he earned a starting spot.
Draftess Round 3-5
Was a little disappointed that Asher Allen went a few spots before the Falcons #3 spot, but Owens has about the same skillset….don’t worry about the ‘strength of competition" knock, they throw the ball a lot in the WAC and anybody who started 38 straight games there can play…..Sidbury and Reynolds seem to be “coach ’em up” prospects, it will be interesting to see what Hamilton and Boudreau can do with them….Middleton ? I’ll defer to someone who follows the Paladins….
sorry i missed the whole draft
Real life had me by the balls. Looks like from what i read from you all and from various reports around the talking heads we did pretty decent considering where our draft numbers were this year. I think this season will prove to be tough with our schedule and we may have helped solidify our already strengthening team. Question….Are there websites that will give us information other than the TEAM website about the daily reports of our training camps. Here in the northwest i read the daily reports from the seahawk training camps from 3 or 4 different sources but i have never found such for the falcons. Maybe they aren’t open to the local press? I Don’t know and was wondering. The Field Gulls, another SBNation gives daily reports as though they have someone sitting in the training camp watching. Didnt know if any site gives that kind of info for the Falcons. I know Dave is not in the region to even hope to see the camps to report on them but maybe someone has found a site we can “borrow” the info from to post here?
Flowery Branch (where the Falcons practice) is usually open to the public
I made a trip last summer. It is really cool/fan friendly if you ever get the chance to go in person.
The absence of day-to-day reports is due to AJC’s inept reporting. D Led is the “beat writer,” but he doesn’t seem to have great connections w/in the organization, as his reports are usually very broad/uninformative.
So … BLAME AJC!
Reporter: How will you address all of the dropped passes?
Mike Smith: I don’t think that we were as sharp as we have been catching the football. It’s something that is very fixable. It’s VERY fixable.
Watch Draftguys TV on Aaron Kelly….
http://www.draftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/wr/Aaron-Kelly.php
I like this guy
predicted to be a 4th or 5th round pick.
ranked 20th overall in available receivers in the draft.
give him 20 pounds and sitting back in the offense for a season and he is our Finneran replacement of the future.
by MentallyMIA on Apr 27, 2009 12:11 AM EDT up reply actions
the deal is done
he is a Falcon
and he is the QB that beat Georgia when they were ranked #3… I’m just saying.
I think he’ll eventually be a much more dependable backup than Redman, that’s why we signed him. Who knows, maybe one of these days Matt Ryan will break his pinky or something (GOD FORBID) and he will start for like 3 or 4 games and be like our Matt Cassel. TD does know what he’s doing. Just imagine if he turns out to be a superstar and later = a really high draft picks or at the least, stands as the savior of a season that looked dismal. I like this aquisition. Go TD
by MentallyMIA on Apr 27, 2009 12:16 AM EDT up reply actions
hey Tlozwarlock
what are you doing commenting over at RollBamaRoll (which I had never heard of before stumbling on it with google looking for news on JPW) when you have been so scarce over here.
I’m just saying. Where are your TIES?!?
I kid. I kid.
You should give us your opinion on JPW. I really don’t know much about the guy. Never really heard of him.
alright
fair enough, you haven’t been scarce, you did manage to put up that freaking awesome T-Shirt design and give us hope to being able to get it very very soon. Regardless though, you haven’t been participating in the draft talks as much as I would have expected you to.
by MentallyMIA on Apr 27, 2009 12:20 AM EDT up reply actions
I may get pounded for this
But this is the first acquisition since the draft began that I really don’t get. I just don’t see a clearly identifiable strength with Wilson, and I see an awful lot of weaknesses.
by Dave Choate on Apr 27, 2009 12:20 AM EDT up reply actions
my opinion... for what it's worth
is that this guy isn’t really worth making an opinion about.
Of course he is going to be cheap. He’ll have a chance to develop under our QB coaches and watching the future hall of fame QB that is Matt Ryan. Redman is a few years away from being more likely to throw his hip than a football. If the guy never amounts to be anything. Oh well. No big loss. If he eventually sees 3rd string on the roster, good for him, perhaps coaching is all it takes.
Also, he did beat the #1 overall draft pick last year….. I’m just saying.
His team beat them
I will say it until the day I die—and if cryogenics has advanced enough, long after that—teams win games. Sure, sometimes players lift everyone else on their backs, but unless JPW went out there by himself and karate kicked Stafford in the face, that alone isn’t enough for me.
Still, I would love to be wrong.
you are a snarky one
QBs definitely don’t win football games (with the exception of Matt Ryan of course) – but they can be the first to lose them (see Delhomme and Pennington in the playoffs)
Also, you have to admit, it is fun to say that our practice squad QB beat the Lions new franchise QB. I’m just saying.
oh, and to just humbly prove your point
Alabama vs. Georgia Post Game from Bleacher Report
I think they used the word “teamwork” like 15 times. They also held Moreno to less than 30 yards rushing. It was a painful game for me, I am a Georgia fan.
How about I put it like this?
While Wilson was their QB, they beat Georgia while Stafford was their QB. Is that more politically correct for you, Dave?
It works either way
I just think that sometimes certain players get over-inflated when someone says “oh, they won that game!” They probably didn’t.
Either way, Wilson didn’t lose that game, so a solid effort was a must, right?
exactly
and as far as I see it. The guy makes for a good practice squad QB. If nothing ever comes of him, I won’t be losing any sleep over it.
UGA's off line beat UGA vs Bama last year.
And in case you didn’t notice, what MS did against Bama w/o good pass protection AND having to play catch up was nothing short of amazing…
"We're not maxed out, ... The best is still ahead of us."
Bobby Bowden
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