NFL Draft 2015: Falcons select Vic Beasley with the eighth pick

With the eighth pick of the 2015 NFL Draft, the Atlanta Falcons selected Vic Beasley, the 6-foot-3, 235-pound edge rusher out of Clemson. Beasley immediately upgrades the Falcons pass rush, which has ranked towards the bottom of the NFL in recent years.

Beasley recorded 12 sacks during his senior season and 13 sacks as a junior with the Tigers. His pass rushing skills have been highly coveted throughout college. He'll be a great fit to play the LEO in Dan Quinn's defensive scheme, and should step right into a major role.

A Georgia native, Beasley was No. 10 overall in SB Nation's Dan Kadar's top 300 player rankings. Most analysts ranked Beasley as one of the top pass rushers in the 2015 draft class. SB Nation's draft analyst Stephen White called Beasley his "top edge rusher in the draft."

One of the best quotes from White's breakdown: "Vic Beasley is John Abraham with a little better pass rush technique coming out. Yeah, I said it." That has to make Falcons fans feel good.

The biggest knock on Beasley is his run defense. He can get eaten up by blocks at times. He doesn't convert speed to power consistently. Some have even gone as far as to question his "competitive nature."

No draft pick is perfect, though, and Beasley is about as good as the Falcons could've hoped for. His job will be to get around the edge and attack the quarterback, which is exactly what he knows how to do. He should easily trump last year's best pass rusher, which was Kroy Biermann with just 4.5 sacks.

This is a home run for Atlanta. What are your thoughts on Beasley?

2015 NFL Draft Coverage

Falcons draft picks

Round 1, #8: EDGE Vic Beasley
Round 2, #42
Round 3, #73
Round 4, #107
Round 5, #146
Round 6, #185
Round 7, #225
Round 7, #249

NFL Draft schedule

The draft will be televised live on both ESPN and the NFL Network.

Friday, May 1, 6 p.m.: Rounds 2-3

ESPN

1:30 PM to 2:30 - NFL Insiders
2:30 to 3:30 -  NFL Live

NOTE: Friday's draft coverage will be televised on ESPN2.

NFL Network

9:00 AM to 12 noon - Path to the Draft
12 noon to 6:00 PM - NFL Draft Kickoff

Saturday, May 2, 11 a.m.: Rounds 4-7

NFL Network

9:00 AM to 12 noon - Path to the Draft

The 7th round will feature 4 minutes for each selection instead of the customary 5 this year.

Complete NFL Draft order

Full Falcons draft stream