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The Falcoholic Thursday Mailbag, April 17th Edition

We tackle your draft and Falcons questions here.

By Dave Choate
Al Messerschmidt

Welcome to The Falcoholic mailbag! You likely remember when we did a few of these several years ago, but this is our attempt at a triumphant return.

For this first edition, I turned to Twitter for questions Falcons-and-draft related. You'll find the questions and answers below, and going forward, I welcome you to submit your questions in the comments here. I'll attempt to do this once every week or so on Fridays.

Without further ado, the questions.

This is a difficult question to answer. Going by the old trade value chart commonly used by NFL teams, the answer is the #6 pic, #37 pick and next year's second at minimum to move up to #2 with the St. Louis Rams. Some teams no longer lean on that chart and the way teams value draft picks is changing, so you may be able to give up less than that. There have been rumors—with the consistency of a good cheese, so don't put too much stock in them—that the Falcons could get away with giving up #6, a 2015 2nd and their 2014 3rd to get it done, for example.

The obvious follow-up question is, what is too much to go up for Clowney? That answer will vary, but after a lot of thought I've decided I would not do A) two first round picks, B) a first and two seconds or C) anything that basically empties out the Falcons' first three rounds in 2014, given needs.

I'd guess you'll see an extension for Julio, at the very least, with Roddy potentially coming during the season depending on how he fares. Julio is and must be the priority, and I'd say by pre-season you'll likely see something. I definitely wouldn't sweat either contract until the season.

The only logical trade-up targets in the first round are Jadeveon Clowney, Khalil Mack and Greg Robinson. I'd only expect them to seriously entertain trading up for Clowney, however.

My guess is Renfree if he's healthy. The Falcons were high on his potential going into last year, and they won't be sinking anything more than a late round pick into the position this year.

I actually like Davis quite a bit, but the Falcons have signaled they're not sold on him staying as the long-term backup.

Another great but difficult question. At that point, I'd expect the Falcons to at least entertain offers to trade down and move back to, say, the Lions' pick. They'd have a legitimate shot at an Anthony Barr or a Ha Ha Clinton-Dix at that point, so it's a worthy consideration.

If they stand pat—and that's still likely in my mind—they'll consider "reaching" for HHCD, Taylor Lewan or possibly Barr at #6. I'm sure the fans will grouse, but if the Falcons like one of those players enough, they're not going to risk moving down and missing out.

I'd go 1A) Pass Rusher, 1B) Tackle and 2) Safety. If the Falcons somehow miss out on a pass rusher in the first three rounds, you will see apoplectic Dave in all his glory.

It's certainly okay to expect that, but you may be setting yourself up for disappointment.

The Falcons have sent strong signals that they intend to draft a running back. If they do so, Jackson, the rookie and Rodgers are likely to suck up all the oxygen in the room, with S-Jax serving as the feature back, Rodgers as the third-down back and the rookie as a part-timer with change-of-pace flavor. There's not room for more than a couple of touches a game for Antone Smith if it unfolds that way.

Share your answers to these questions in the comments, and ask away for the next edition.

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