NFL Draft rumors: Are the Falcons mulling a trade up for DT Javon Kinlaw?

At this point, you should take a little table salt with every draft rumor. We’re a week away from the first round, so it’s absolutely silly season and everything you hear has just as good a chance of being something Rich McKay whispered in the ear of a reporter for kicks as it does being a legitimate report.

That’s especially true with the Falcons, who have thrown us major curveballs each of the last two years. Calvin Ridley was a surprise pick in the first round in 2018, Chris Lindstrom was shocking in 2019, and the trade up for Kaleb McGary was also a surprise. The Falcons occasionally zig exactly where you think they’ll zig—Sean Weatherspoon and Vic Beasley are two examples—but more often they zag.

Trading up wouldn’t be a huge surprise, however, and interest in South Carolina’s Javon Kinlaw also feels logical. Benjamin Allbright has a mixed history with scoops, but this is still a good one to add to the ever-growing list of draft rumors because of how sensible it is on its face.

Remember, the Falcons were heavily rumored to be interested in Ed Oliver and Christian Wilkins last year, likely to give Grady Jarrett a hyper-effective partner and to help create the kind of consistent interior pressure the team could badly use. If Kinlaw is real high on their board, a jump up a few spots to secure him would be a very Dimitroff-like move, especially after striking out a year ago. It would leave this team needing to address cornerback in a creative way, given the likelihood that they’d have to surrender a Day 2 pick or two to get it done, but nothing would surprise me at this point.

Again, though, this is just another rumor at the moment. We’ll know the truth soon enough.