Falcons lock up 4th pick in 2021 NFL Draft with Texans loss

The Falcons did not have a good day. They got crushed by the Buccaneers despite a couple of valiant rallies, and their crummy season ended 4-12 after starting 0-5. There are bright spots in there, ones we’ve touched on and ones we’ve yet to really explore, but it was not a year any of us are going to look back on fondly.

It went better for those just hoping for the best possible draft selection, as a loss locked Atlanta into a top five pick. Unfortunately for them, the Houston Texans couldn’t quite finish off an impressive comeback, and the Tennessee Titans win over them in the final seconds just now means Houston will have the #3 overall pick and the Falcons will settle for #4 for the first time in franchise history.

The Jaguars and Jets are almost certainly locked in on quarterbacks with their #1 and #2 picks, respectively, which makes the Dolphins (who have Houston’s pick thanks to the Laremy Tunsil selection) somewhat of a wild card in front of the Falcons. They might elect to trade down, snag the draft’s top tackle in Oregon’s Penei Sewell, or snag a top defender. No matter what they do, Atlanta will have a ton of appealing options at #4, ranging from selecting their own quarterback of the future to snagging their own potentially elite defender to actually trading down for once to pick up more selections. We won’t know until April what road they’ll choose, but hopefully once the new GM shows up in town we’ll at least get a few clues.

Let’s hope the Falcons make the most of their first-ever #4 overall pick, regardless of the road they select, because I don’t want to see this team back at 4-12 for a very, very long time.