2014 NFL Mock Draft: The Falcoholic Selects An Offensive Tackle

In the second round of the 2014 SB Nation Mock Draft, the Atlanta Falcons select tackle Morgan Moses out of Virginia.

I imagine this will be a slightly controversial pick. As Mocking The Draft guru Dan Kadar notes in the link above, there are other talks who some may have rated more highly, including Tenneessee's Antonio Richardson and Nevada's Joel Bitonio. While those arguments are more than fair, I'm a believer in Moses, for reasons I'll get to in a second.

You may recall that I chose Khalil Mack for the Falcons in the first round, attempting to resolve some of the team's ongoing pass rushing woes and bring genuine talent to a linebacking corps in need of more of it. With the pass rush at least partially addressed, I'm electing not to double dip, as I suspect the Falcons will elect not to this May.

So why Moses? Simply put, he's the best tackle remaining in these weary eyes. Moses has terrific size, he's a quality athlete for the position and his pass protection is well-developed for a potential second round pick. The most common comparison is Ryan Clady, and while it's doubtful Moses will be that good as a pro, he's got the potential to be quite good. Check out some of these highlights:

What you'll notice if you watch Moses for any length of time is that he's not a natural run blocker, and he doesn't use his clearly prodigious strength to the effect you would like him to. I talked about Moses last night on The Falcoholic's podcast and mentioned that he has the toolkit to be a quality starting left tackle in the NFL, and that it's not necessarily common to find that kind of player in the second round. He will need Mike Tice to work closely with him to iron out some of the issues with his technique, and he'll definitely need conditioning, but I firmly believe it's all there.

For all that, he's one of the better players available, he fills a major need for the Falcons and there's no safety or tight end I'd consider at this point. Give him a year as a right tackle or the swing option for Atlanta and I believe he'll be ready and able to step in and start at left tackle for these Falcons.

What do you think of the pick?