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The Falcons have a pretty complete roster stacked with talent and very few positions of glaring need. That’s a big part of the reason that NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal ranked Thomas Dimitroff as the fifth-best executive in the league.
Atlanta has experienced exactly two losing seasons during Dimitroff’s 10-year tenure with the Falcons. The team has consistently been a playoff contender under his leadership.
Here’s what Rosenthal had to say about it:
Dimitroff gets extra credit because he’s made the Falcons into a consistent threat with two different coaches (Mike Smith and Dan Quinn), a rare feat. The Falcons’ roster is built primarily around his draft picks, with some key veteran acquisitions, like center Alex Mack and wideout Mohamed Sanu. The Falcons stick to their core philosophies (SPEED! URGENCY! MORE SPEED!) and regularly field a roster without glaring weaknesses. Using a deep bench of experienced evaluators behind him, Dimitroff has only suffered through two losing seasons in the 10 years since he arrived, and he has the Falcons positioned to contend throughout Matt Ryan’s prime. It’s not Dimitroff’s fault that Devonta Freeman missed that third-down block in Super Bowl LI.
For what it’s worth, it’s also not Dimitroff’s fault that the Falcons didn’t just run the dang ball to stay in field goal range, either.
The ranking places Dimitroff behind the Ravens’ Ozzie Newsome, Howie Roseman of the Eagles, Kevin Colbert of the Steelers, and Bill Belichick of the Evil Empire ... I mean, the Patriots.
Newsome and Colbert are objectively two of the league’s best. The Eagles’ Super Bowl win last year was a result of smart drafting and free agency moves. Not many teams can win a championship with a backup quarterback, but Roseman put the Eagles in a position to do it. And Belichick, well, you can’t argue with five Super Bowl wins in eight appearances.
Dimitroff is the top-ranked executive in the NFC South. The Saints’ Mickey Loomis comes in at No. 11, Jason Licht of the Bucs is ranked No. 20, and Marty Hurney of the Panthers ranks at No. 24.
He hasn’t been perfect, but Dimitroff has been pretty consistently good over his decade with the Falcons. And the partnership between Dan Quinn and Dimitroff is a productive one. The team should theoretically stay in playoff contention for years to come thanks to their approach.