ESPN: Falcons Looking Hard At Torrey Smith, Jon Baldwin In Draft

I really do hate predraft reporting. The conventional wisdom is that teams who like a player will actively try to sabotage the prospect in any way possible in hopes he falls to them, while they talk up players they dislike in an attempt to get another team to “waste” a pick by taking him.

So everything we hear from reporters with “team sources” is likely GM-spun bullshit.

For some reason all this trickeration seems strangely familiar to me.

In 2008 the Falcons fan world had hashed out the information and we the fans settled on Matt Ryan as our mock pick (I hadn’t mind you but I was wrong) and as it turns out that’s whom the team actually selected. In 2009, we were all pretty up in the air as I recall. I think the choices we all hashed out were Jerry and even Moore in the 2nd (between Moore and Chung). And that’s what the team picked. Last year when the dust settled here we had mostly gotten on board the Spoontrain, and again that’s what we got!

To the point… We don’t talk about these guys anymore and I’m sure there are vast and comprehensive reasons for that. Thus, I do not believe these are the guys we’re actually going to draft.

I like Smith and Baldwin, but only if we trade down, maybe into the 2nd round. Maybe if a team like the Pats want to trade up, we drop down into the 2nd round and pick up Smith or Baldwin.

I’d rather have a D-Lineman first, and if all the DEs with 1st round grades have dropped, then I’d go Torrey Smith, though I’d prefer it being a strong DE (Clayborn, Kerrigan, Watt, etc.) in the 1st and Jernigan in the 2nd.

I still am. I really don’t think he’s a reach in the first, especially if the DE we want is gone by the 27th pick. Besides I think we could still get an Acho or Sheard in the second and be just fine. No matter who we get, this year, it seems they are going to be a backup for a season or two.

There’s been nothing to this other than Yasinkas. DOL picked it up from him, and now, all of a sudden, it’s everywhere. According to most lists, the Falcons haven’t even interviewed Baldwin. If that’s true, it’s even harder to see him getting picked at #27.

It will be interesting to see where these WRs go. It seems that there’s no consensus whether these two are better than ‘the next tier’ of WRs like Jernigan and the rest (I’m blanking). If St. Louis doesn’t get a WR in the 1st, you know they’re taking one of these guys, and maybe this talk is out there in case a team likes St. Louis wants to jump up to the Falcons’ spot to grab a guy.

Anyone else see the PFT report that Randall Cobb is going to the draft? I found this interesting considering it’s unclear what round he’ll be taken.

I’m sure they’ll be solid players, but we already have those. What we need are playmakers.

1. L. Hankerson – Good speed for his size and very agile. I think Hankerson should be rated the 3rd best receiver in the draft. This is the guy the Falcons should target.

2. Titus Young – Has the speed to take the top off of defenses, great hands, in my opinion the craftiest receiver in open space in the draft. Only issue I see is he’s small, durability might be an issue otherwise excellent football player.

3. Randall Cobb – Most versatile receiver I see in this draft, has all the skills, can do kick returns, run the wild cat, has even played QB and halfback. Will probably be there in 2nd round when Falcons pick.

I would be happy with any of these guys but I just think Hankerson has the biggest upside for the pro game.

" Just my thoughts "

in Meier, Weems or Douglas? I’d rather get a FA WR who can step in right away than a drafted kid who’ll take 3 years to learn the position. I’d like to hope that Weems or Douglas would mature into that deep threat we need. Meier is more of a clutch receiver than burner, but he could take some of the weight off Gonzo’s shoulders.