 Is it time for the Falcons to draft a quarterback in the first round? Everybody, I'm Dave Archer. Boy, it seems odd to be thinking about drafting a quarterback number one. Doesn't seem that long ago, 2008, Matt Ryan, the third overall pick, and came in here and really changed the face of this franchise, became the face of the franchise. Leadership, the play on the field, certainly was outstanding. You look at some of the accolades that this guy's got. He's right on the verge of probably Hall of Fame material. I think he's a Hall of Fame, a ninth all time in yards, 10th all time in touchdowns. He's got 10 consecutive 4,000 yard seasons. He's ninth all time in completion percentage, third all time, and passer rating in the postseason. I mean, Matt Ryan has been all you could possibly want. But he will be 36 when we tee it up the next time for the 2021 season. So that's getting a little bit on an age. Is it time to find his successor? Remember, if you draft the quarterback first round, he's not going to play next year unless something were to unfortunately happen to Matt Ryan. But what better way to tutor if you're a young quarterback than behind a guy like Matt Ryan? Let's talk about some of the guys that are going to be available. Now, we know Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson are probably going in the first two picks. Jacksonville and the Jets have positioned themselves to probably take those two players. Lawrence is probably the most polished quarterback we've seen coming out in a long time. Big arm, IQ off the charts. Tremendous athlete, 66-220 has all the intangibles you're looking for as a quarterback, national championship winners and freshmen. Zach Wilson, a little bit less of a work base to look at him in. 62-215 pounds. Has some of those Mahomes-esque type arm talents. He has good off-schedule throws. He's got a quick release. His pocket presence there, he's been injured. And he did not play a very good opponent base a year ago. Some would say some of his games are like seven on seven sessions. He had some of the longest time to throw behind a big offensive line at BYU that we've seen. Let's look at the three guys now that potentially could be there for the Falcons. Justin Fields is the first guy that comes to mind for me on Ohio State. Not because I think he's the best selection. He's the first guy. He's the local product. Let's get him in there first. He's out of Kennesaw, Georgia. Went to Harrison High School. Tremendous pro day. Ran 4-4 in the 46-3, 225-230 pounds. He showed excellent accuracy in his throws. And again, remember, a limited base of work. He played a full season of 2019 and eight games in 2020. So about a season and a half of football, outstanding runner. He has scheme versatility. He can run the RPO, the stretch running game, which applies to a Falcons now. When you start talking about what Arthur Smith wants to run, play action outside zone. Off of that is bootleg and what better guy to have than a 6-3, 225 pounder that can run 4-4 coming on the edge to threaten me in the run in the past. Now, he's had some issues with staying on reads too long. And each one of these guys is going to have some negatives against him. I think it's probably something he can work through. Pre-snap recognition will be part of that. Only 22 games, as we said, under his belt. So how much of that will be rectified with his ability to get on the field and play? But there's not a lot to dislike about this guy, outstanding player, local product Justin Fields. Trey Lance is the next guy. 6-4, 225 pounder out of North Dakota State, ran in the mid-4-5s in the 40. Big arm. Ball just jumps out of there. He watched the tape. Ball jumps out of his hand. But the problem is, not a lot of tape. He played 19 games in his career. 16 of those games came in the 2019 season when he guided the bison to the FCS National Championship. Now, you'll like what you see, but he only averaged about 18 throws per game. I think Trey Lance has a chance for a tremendous upside, but a bit of a project. The guy that has not been on the field very much. Remember, just a red shirt sophomore coming out to get to the National Football League. Highly regarded as all the intangibles. You want big arm, all those type of things, but a lack of experience and maybe the level of play at which he played against the FCS level, maybe a strike against him. How about Mac Jones out of Alabama? Mac Jones is that quarterback that everybody saw. He's on all the national games. He won a national championship. Tremendous intangibles, leadership, football IQ, accuracy, throws people open, anticipation throws. Not the great athlete does fit any kind of system, but a little bit less of a run threat, a lot less of a run threat. But remember who he played with, cast of characters. Four number one draft picks at the wide receiver position if Devontae Smith and Jalen Waddle go number one this year. Remember, Rugs and Judy went number one last year. So was he covered up some of the scars or some of the scabs covered up because of the guys he played with? We'll never know. We'll have to wait and see. But those are three guys to me that come into play for the Falcons at number four. If in fact, you decide to go quarterback in the first round. Wow, that sounds strange. 13 years of brilliance by Matt Ryan.