:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62395689/usa_today_11715633.0.jpg)
The Atlanta Falcons are not going to tank. Miserable effort against Cleveland aside, which one still suspects was not truly teamwide, this is not a football team that lacks for effort or resolve. If they’re going to lose, they’ll do so the old-fashioned way: By not being good.
Some fans are going to wish for exactly that outcome once they see where the Falcons could potentially fall in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Updated 2019 Draft order after 12 weeks:
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) November 26, 2018
1) #49ers
2) #Cardinals
3) #Raiders
4) #Jets
5) #Giants
6) #Jaguars
7) #Falcons
8) #Lions
9) #Bills
10) #Bucs
Yes, that’s seventh overall. That top ten pick would give the Falcons a chance to land a potentially elite talent like, I dunno, Houston’s Ed Oliver. The Falcons are not a team that has any business picking in the top ten after their 2016 and 2017 performances, but the addition of an elite player (plus some top-shelf talent from the second day, if the play their cards right) would help a healthy 2019 Falcons team return to contention in short order. Couple that with the Falcons actually having the cap space to spend some money this coming March and you’ve got a recipe for a swift return to relevance.
Of course, to stay here, the Falcons will have to keep losing. That’s bound to happen if they don’t start playing better, but now that the pressure’s off it’s entirely possible they’ll play themselves out of a top ten selection. We’ll have to see how this plays out, but I did think you’d all want to know that it was at least a legitimate possibility.