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FinalizeA prominent voice in the NFL, NBC Sports columnist and broadcast personality Peter King, has given one of the more concrete guesses as to what the Atlanta Falcons might do in the draft.
In his latest Football Morning in America column, King offers a tidbit that, while not an official report, could be one of the best educated guesses we’ll get about what the Falcons could do in the draft.
Desperate for some edge presence, Atlanta signed Dante Fowler (Rams, 2019: 11.5 sacks) in free agency. Dimitroff could double-dip with the second-best edge rusher in the draft: LSU’s K’Lavon Chaisson.
Chaisson is one of the commonly linked prospects for the Falcons, as he’s almost a checklist for what the team likes in a prospect. He’s from the SEC (LSU to be exact), plus he’s fast, athletic, potential-laden and was a team captain. He’s going to need some coaching up (something the team has been decidedly uneven with in terms of DL prospects, with a lot of turnover at the coaching spot).
The longtime columnist didn’t offer every team a draft tidbit, so he’s got to at least be a little bit in the know of something about the Falcons and Chaisson. There are rumors of a move up, but that seems to follow the Falcons into every draft process as it is.
King spent some virtual time with Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff for a visual podcast, where the latter showed King his draft day setup and spent some discussing how things may go for him on draft day. It’s worth the time to see where the decisions will ultimately be made for the team.
Chaisson will, most likely, be there for the taking at Pick 16, and if he’s the pick, it’s going to give the Falcons a completely rejuvenated presence in the pass rushing department. Whether it produces sacks and pressures is another story, but it’d show a commitment to the pass rush like we’ve not seen from the team in a long while.
There will be more draft news and player links in the days to come, so don’t get yourselves sold on any one player yet. Smoke is available freely this time of year, and rarely does anyone know exactly what Dimitroff has up his sleeve come draft night.