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Hey Falcoholics! It’s now officially Day 3 of the 2020 NFL Draft. Hopefully you’ve all had a tremendous night’s rest and you’re ready for arguable the most important rounds in the draft, rounds 4-7. These rounds aren’t the most exciting the draft has to offer, but in recent years the Falcons have found talents players like Grady Jarrett, Damontae Kazee, Ricardo Allen, etc.
Before we start today off, it’s worth looking at who might be available and what the team’s biggest needs are. The Falcons have already drafted a cornerback, defensive lineman and center. Here’s my sense of the biggest needs and some players who might be fits for the Falcons in rounds 4-7.
#1: Linebacker
The Falcons lost De’Vondre Campbell to free agency, and it’s expected that Foye Oluokun will step up and hopefully run away with the opportunity. Aside from Deion Jones and Oluokun, the position group is pretty thin, with the only other linebackers being former XFL product Edmond Robinson, and special teamer LaRoy Reynolds.
#2: Defensive End
A lot of folks were hoping the Falcons would target an edge rusher in the draft, which obviously hasn’t happened yet. Currently, the team has Dante Fowler, Takk McKinley, Steven Means and Allen Bailey — which is a solid group, but it definitely wouldn’t hurt to add a young talent to the group.
#3: Running Back
Prior to the Falcons signing running back Todd Gurley, it was heavily speculated that the team would look at adding a running back in the draft. With Gurley, the plans have obviously changed, but I still think they could take a running back late if the value is there.
#4: Safety
This also isn’t an immediate need, but it’s one more people should look at. The current group of Ricardo Allen, Keanu Neal, Damontae Kazee, Chris Cooper, and Jamal Carter is good, but there are some questions. Neal has had two serious injuries and hopefully will be back at 100%. This would be more of a BPA, depth selection in my opinion.
#5: Quarterback
This is definitely not a position that we need to target, but there have been plenty of rumors this offseason that Thomas Dimitroff was heavily looking at quarterbacks in this years draft. Although Ryan is getting older, I do like the potential in his backups Kurt Benkert and Danny Etling, and of course the veteran Matt Schaub. If there’s great value late, go for it, but it’s not an immediate need.
We’ll see on Saturday what depth and potential starters the Falcons add in these late rounds. Stay tuned to The Falcoholic for all of your draft coverage needs.