 What's up everybody and welcome to a pre-draft edition of the Falcons final whistle podcast I'm Scott bear across from me Chris rim and Tori McElaney the usual suspects and How many mock drafts have we done a billion? Maybe I think 12 runs today. Well, yeah Yeah, today is Monday on Monday when we are recording this podcast too many. That's a lot Yeah, and we're so over them to and we and we've been talking about the draft forever Well, finally, it's time to make some frickin pics, right? Yeah So coming down Thursday night is the first round obviously a huge deal the Falcons have The number eight overall selection and heading into day two. They have a bunch of them They have two in the second round. They have two in the third round and while look we're gonna spend a lot of this time Talking about the number eight pick. That's what everybody wants to talk about, right? But I think the interesting thing is not just eight It's five within the top 82 and the possibilities that that creates which is good podcast fodder You know because that they can do almost anything that they want now They aren't the jets or the Giants with two top 10 picks, right? That's ideal, but the Falcons have have a lot of ammunition and that's because some of these trades They're finally going to see some benefit from it from the Julio Jones trade last year The the the main piece of that trade is the second round pick from Tennessee I believe it's number 58 and then The the pick for Matt Ryan from the Colts from last month is pick 82. That's the fifth pick in In this kind of top grouping over the first couple of days and while say what you will about the top of this draft Class especially for quarterbacks and some other positions this draft class is deep There's opportunities to get good players later on so I guess let's just open it up right there What kind of possibilities? What can the Falcons do with five picks in the top 82 over the course of Thursday and Friday? They can make some big moves. I think yeah, I mean I think the it leaves the door open for a lot of possibilities. You could keep all five right and just stockpile Positions of need aka wide receiver aka pass rush But you could also use them as capital to I don't know move back into the bottom picks of the first round or Move down move up. I mean there are with five picks in the top 83 overall picks in the draft you have Kind of what Terry Faulkner can kind of do what he wants to do in place The picks where he wants them placed and I think that's really really important at this point in time But I also at the exact same time think it's really really important that you use all five of those picks and use them well Yeah, I think I think with with that amount of capital you have an opportunity to get a lot of good guys Right as simple as that like you can get you know in the second round you have two picks in the second round You're not second round you're drafting for a player. You want to contribute You know more often not obviously in the first round it goes without saying with the exception I guess there's some quarterbacks. You might want to sit them for a year behind someone like with Tray lance or Something like that, but if you with two picks in the second round you're ideally hoping to get one starter out of that or two guys who Contribute this season and then third round as well You see guys contribute from the third round at least sometimes a year one sometimes and last season everyone was playing So it wouldn't be so I think you have an opportunity to get a lot of those guys like Tory said you could trade up You can trade back you could trade for the future But I think first first of all with before any of those moves you have an opportunity to get five players Who can contribute early just like you saw guys last year when they didn't have this much capital in the first three rounds Yeah, and we're gonna talk more in depth about that including the real possibility that that the Falcons could be involved in trades Everyone thinks about going down, but what about going back up you guys in the last mock draft version 12.0 amazingly enough talked about trading back in like into the first round. So we're gonna go over that We're gonna obviously take a close look at at that number eight pick and maybe what it could mean for the other picks And where there are some areas of drafts class depth where they can pick up good players in the second round So I vote in my handy-dandy notebook here So we can say thank you That was a blues That's because I watch children's programming all the time put it in a book not with his kids just by himself Yeah, I was gonna say you should clarify you you have two kids That's why he's watching blues. Yeah, that's definitely it It's definitely not like it is most of the time where my kids are playing in the yard And my wife is still watching the movie in Kanto for the 45th time great movie great movie We don't talk about Bruno here You got me. Oh, how do I don't know how I transition back to this. You know what we do talk about Windows 11 Product placement and a big thank you to our sponsor Microsoft Windows 11 the official operating system of the NFL and the Atlanta Falcons The all-new Windows 11 is here to bring you closer to what you love like the Falcons final whistle podcast or on Their awesome surface or laptops you can watch in Kanto there, too And learn more about all the new awesome features of Windows 11 at windows.com Awesome awesome, so as we were talking before right before in Kanto before in Kanto We were talking about having all these picks available and the trade possibilities that are created I was out for the weekend. I let the inmates run the asylum We did and then I come back and Desmond Ritter in the mock draft is a falcon and I was like, okay You guys just want to watch the world burn and they're like Scott. It's not at eight. Okay chill No, yeah, I got immediately messaged us when he saw we put it in like the headline in our CMS system And he was like y'all literally he's like I haven't been gone 24 hours And you trade up into the bottom of the first round. I was like, well, no He said and Desmond Ritter's gone. I think he said gone Oh yeah, yeah, I just thought he was just gonna watch the world burn Which I saw the cover photo. He saw the cover photo. It was Desmond Ritter. I did He's like, how dare you and I was like look. Yeah, let me we had some fun Uh-huh. The the the draft trade simulators and stuff and hey, what if we trade it up, Tori? So why not why not? I actually told Chris. I was like, I'm going to do it I was like watch me. I don't care what it is when we get to like pick 30 31 I was like, I'm getting back in there. Okay. Well, then take me through The logic of why you would want to trade back into the first round pick Maybe why a quarterback or another prize player is there and maybe kind of why what white Terry and the Falcons may Want to consider that route as well, right? I think it's something we've been talking about this whole offseason the Falcons having a succession plan for Matt Ryan Yeah, and it's like, okay. What if you're in love with one of these quarterbacks? I'm not personally, but we're not asking my opinion here We're at we're thinking about what Terry font. No, thanks is the move for the overall help of the and longevity of the Organization, so what if they like Matt Corral? What if they like Desmond Ritter and what if those or Malik Willis? Atlanta guy that I know fans really like What if the Falcons gave away one of their second round picks one of their third round picks and traded with I don't know Detroit at the bottom of the first round and what say one of those quarterbacks are there I think the only reason you would trade back into the first round is if you were going after one of those quarterbacks because you do get the fifth year option and It only makes sense really for a quarterback I don't know if it makes sense to go Edge at number eight and then trade up to get a wide receiver. I mean, I guess if you're absolutely in love with the guy You could do that, but I just think there's gonna be wide receivers available to you With that forty third pick, right? Yeah, I think you're gonna get a good wide receiver there, too If that's what you want So for me, I think if you're if the Falcons are trading up into the first round That means that they would be going after a quarterback the way that I see it Yeah, and if we're talking about trades down, let's say from number eight We've talked a lot about trades and about how you can amass more picks. They've got five in the top You know 82 that's a lot Do you want six or seven or at some point? Do you think and this isn't necessarily for for Falcons fans who are thinking only about the 2022 product? Something that we don't do a lot around here. We're that we try to think big picture But if you trade down, is there some attraction Chris in getting? 23 capital that you can have maybe that you can build up next year's class as well Or are you are you not thinking about that? I think I think you have to think think about it, but I think it's all about how the Scouts and how personnel the coaches of you this class versus next year's class Right, so if you think that there are guys next year If you think next year's class is deeper and you feel like if we had five in the top 82 next year I like that like I feel a lot better about that than I feel about having that this year Then you do that you saw the Eagles for example traded They had three first-round picks right essentially traded to get one next year that kind of says Maybe they're looking at something next year Maybe they like something next year But I think people have gotten kind of super focused on the quarterback to the top of the draft next year And it's kind of like everyone wants those guys You have to be really really bad to probably get one of those guys or trade a lot to get up So I don't think it's a safe bet or smart bet to say. Oh, we're just gonna put all our eggs in that basket for Stroud or or young or another guy who's you know, undoubtedly will become great next year and we'll be at the top of the class So I think ultimately it's just how they view the class Not how the outside views the class now the media views a class if they like this class And they think it's a deep class wherever as you know, many think is deep edge and wide receiver If they think is deeper than next year, then I think it makes sense And you should be confident in having those picks, but Tori just raised your hand I also think to go off of that It's almost you have to look at next year's class quarter if we're talking about quarterbacks You have to look at next year's class, too But I am also team trade for a quarterback Who's already established trade for a veteran veteran quarterback in the overall league Yeah, for sure And I think because of you look at the scope of the the league in the last five years and we have seen so many big-time quarterback trades in five years time And it is not out of the realm of possibility in my mind that the Falcons have a veteran in mind more than building it up through the drafter They're wanting to be competitive immediately That's kind of the way that I think you go about doing that is you and the Falcons will have a lot of Caps pace like over a hundred million Supposedly so if you look at that you have the money to go out and get a guy that you want You probably will have the draft capital to go out and get the guy you want if there's someone that you love Go get him in whatever capacity You have to do it go. Okay We're gonna debate now. This is gonna be fun When you draft a quarterback in the first round and you're paying him even if it's the first pick and you're paying Him on a rookie deal. That's like hitting the lottery, right? Then you can use that money on building everything up if you trade for Maybe somebody who's not in love with their situation. I don't know details about it I'm just gonna say Kyler Murray out loud, okay But you know if it's something like that and then you gotta go pay that dude market rate Which is a lot of guaranteed money as we've seen we're talking about heavy nine figures then then you're having to You have less freedom to build up the roster around you that is the counter argument to what you're saying now We've seen it work a lot Tennessee is the most obvious one at the Arthur Smith connection You look at Ryan Tannehill come in make some pretty legit pretty fast him and Derek Henry have a good thing going But that's what I worry about now. You could come right back at me I'm gonna argue with myself now right just keep going back and forth where basically you could say if you screw up the quarterback pick early Then you've made it worse for yourself because now you're two or three years invested in a guy who may not be Getting paid very much, but is also not helping you win, right? But also if you if you if you do mess the quarterback pick up I think the the part about these disgruntled quarterbacks They're not your team has to be attractive for the quarterback to not be just also disgruntled here or to even Approve the trade to come here, right? You know me and I right now. I Think next year Do we think the Falcons are going to be in a position where a QB looks and says oh I can go there because that's what's happening now QBs are kind of picking places and saying yeah We can I can go there. They're a quarterback away from contending So even if you miss on a quarterback as long as you're building around that position You have you know what oh line is solid wide receivers The defense is coming together if you miss you could still bounce back and get one of those guys who will Undoubtedly become available because that's just like what's happening across the league right now, right? Okay, so let's just stay on the quarterback theme here, right so and I'm looking right at Tori because she's been the She's been the resident don't draft a quarterback. Okay, so I assume that's at eight. Does that mean? Through 82 also kind of what's your stance on that with does that change as we go through the draft? Yeah, I'm anti taking a quarterback at eight. I'm not anti taking a quarterback at all. Yeah, okay I think it's okay. If you use one of the seconds or one of the thirds I say one of the seconds more than one of the thirds But if you use any of the one of those four picks that you have in on day two for a quarterback I'm okay with that. I don't know if I'm happy about it. I don't think I am I don't think I'm happy about it But like I could understand the reasoning of that And again, I just keep going back. I just I think the Falcons if they're drafting a quarterback They have to absolutely believe in him 110% and I just feel like and this is I I feel bad saying this because I want this I want to see the success of players at any level that care a lot about the game But I am not sold on this quarterback class. I'm just not I haven't been from the beginning and I hope they proved me wrong I hope they go out and I hope to have fantastic careers in the league But I don't know if that's it the Falcons in Atlanta right now and it would worry me and it would feel like This would be a reach if you're going quarterback It feels more of a reach than it would be to go edge wide receiver tackle these Positions that you know, you have to fix and you have to build depth right now Yeah, I mean, I think for I think for me it would depend on who's there in the second round like if Who would you be willing to take in the second round if they were there? Malik yeah, I Think I agree with that. Yeah. I think if Malik was there in the second round. I Be fine with that and I think I mean I think there's a I think there's a lot to like about a Lot of these guys like specifically like, you know Desmond there's a lot to like about the guy who's 6-4 who's won a lot who runs a 4-4 Who can make all the throws, you know, there's also, you know accuracy and consistency concerns But there's a lot to like about him, too You know, I think I wouldn't be I wouldn't hate that so and you think about you know Who he compares themselves to all the time Ryan Tana? Oh, and you know some other quarterbacks to like with the dynamic ability But yeah, I think my number one would be like if Malik's there at 43 You take a guy who has a super high ceiling So but other than that I'm not sure. I mean, I also think Matt Corral has had some high highs. I really like him I think he's been team Matt Crowe for a little bit. Yeah, I think not to go on a tangent But think about I watched him throw six picks against LSU I think it was like two years ago and he threw like he had I don't know how many picks he had in the season He had 11 picks in two games last year only had five interceptions But it's just like that just stays in my mind Like it's the same thing with Kenny pick it like was last year you or was that flashing the pan? Or are you what's your decision-making? Are you are you gonna throw 13 picks in the right? Game or something. Yeah, so I just go back and I think about it And I feel like if you're gonna invest in a quarterback that you believe could be a franchise guy that's certainly a first-round pick and As you go through it. I think okay. Do I want a draft and develop? quarterback at I Don't know 58 or do I want Isaiah Spiller, right? You know, I start comparing dude. Do I want a quarterback that may or may not be the guy? or do I want Pickins or right Dylan Parnham like a solid offensive guard or or and and an offensive tackle or Another one my draft crushes Cameron Thomas from San Diego State. Yes, and I think that goes if we're talking about that It goes against if the Falcons in my opinion were to go quarterback It goes against kind of what Terry Fontenot has said since he's gotten here where he's like we are I think Draft best player available. Are we for sure certain to feel confident in saying that one of these quarterbacks is the best player Available at the time the Falcons pick wherever it is they pick, right? I don't know if I could say that especially considering that you also in the back of your mind have to think about the needs that you Do have I know no one wants to say draft for need But the Falcons have so many needs that you it's like whoever you take is gonna feel a need on this roster, right over time especially because we've always kind of looked at this as this isn't I think I brought it up and I Stood corrected as I said that this is their last chance to their last major chance to improve the 2022 product like obviously they can still sign guys But like this is a big moment to help this product and you guys are kind of like okay sure like that's true But how can they help this roster grow and evolve right through 22 and 23 and create the roster depth? That is required, you know, and I I cover the Raiders for a long time I have a lot of stories about them But I always go back to 2014 when they were 0 and 10 finish 3 and 13 fire to coach as bad of a season as you can have but Every week they had Khalil Mack and Derek Carr on the top of their Like of that draft class and you could tell something was there And if you can come out of now, there's a quarterback involved a second round quarterback And nonetheless, but but you can find those players for the fan base to get excited about and you could see something being built And that's what I think that we want to see right is is something positive being built this foundation being expanded and being fortified Of course, all that starts right all these things that we're talking about trade up trade down make your five picks and Develop those guys and go to battle with them. It all starts at number eight, right? Did okay so much talk about team needs well after number eight that that team needs thing is gonna get adjusted a little bit Now we've talked a lot about who they're gonna take it a and I'm not asking necessarily for bold predictions But you look at what could be a very early run on edge rushers We talked about wide receivers sauce Gardner Can we just say he's not gonna be there at this point? I mean, I don't know if he's not gonna be there I I think if you go really really heavy edge rusher right off the bat and really heavy offense to tackle off the bat I think weird things can happen. Yeah, I think he could fall. Yeah, I think eight is a weird spot It is it is right. There's a possibility that like seven Seven guys, I mean there still be like maybe there's Charles Charles, but he could be going to like there's a chance that the four edge Well, in that scenario also be there But there's a chance that the top three or you have four edge got top four edge guys ago Right top two tackles go and sauce goes, right? So I mean Charles people consider Charles cross to be you know a good talent to so he's a guy there But yeah, I think I always envision the Jets taking sauce at four Yeah, if he I mean maybe get past four then then he'll be there at eight But yeah, I think it's like a tough spot because it's like we've talked about on our last podcast they did Difference between the fourth edge guy Versa's fourth wide receiver, right? Yeah, it's a lot different. Sure So yeah, yeah, no what I was gonna say is like there are seven picks math Which I'm not particularly good at but I just did some right here. I can't rock There are three top offensive tackles there are four top ed rushers that is seven picks You go all four all seven. Yeah off the board sauces there at eight Yeah, I don't know if that happens, but the math checks out right it does and it is a awkward spot because if you're Let's say the Giants at five You feel pretty good that if you really want an edge rusher You're gonna get one of these top three you you at least feel that that way or but at eight It's like, okay You're getting maybe you're right all four edge rushers are gone All three tackles are gone kind of that things get weird You're kind of subject to what's happening above above you with that spot I look a lot at it and I tweeted it the other day and you know, of course you get lots of positives and negatives When you tweet anything but that them I didn't watch Florida State during the season I'll admit, but I've watched a lot of Jermaine Johnson since yeah I like him and I like the way he plays and I think he's one of those guys that could be there for you and If we're talking about ticking off a number of different things, right? scheme fit and positional need and How that sets you up down the road, right that that may be a spot where you can go get something like that I mean, we've talked a lot about not drafting for position, right? But it seems like if they if you can go get one of those top four edge rushers You do it. You probably do it. Yeah, I would I look at it like with Jermaine Johnson Yeah, I know he's not Trayvon Walker and he's not in Hutchinson and he's not cave on Tibido But he's right there. He's not like I like, you know, I was gonna say I mean he was I Think the whole thing with Trayvon is as everyone's banking on what he can be like right versus Jermaine Already is already is that One of them like out of the guts cut you up out of the group He was like the most productive. Yeah, I didn't or right right there. He was the best in the ACC So it's like this this guy's kind of more polished than then it like a Trayvon Yeah, I think that people kind of look at Trayvon. It's like ooh the like the the flash of ooh, this is interesting He's different but but like you're saying like Jermaine is Good in his own right and I think that he look you talking about scheme fit I think and I think that's something we've talked about where he looks like a Dean peas guy Right, like he looks like a guy that Dean peas would like a lot And if that's if it comes down to it and you're looking I think it's between in my personal opinion Okay, Jermaine Johnson. Yeah, Charles Cross sauce. I think those are the three I don't put Kyle Hamilton in there because I I And I feel like you're gonna be like how dare you know But I don't put a Cal Hamilton in there I think those three are going to be there and I think those three are the ones that they make key in on I Think sauce is there sauces coming to Atlanta. Yeah, I think so. Oh, yeah question Yeah, I'm saying like if like those three like if any of those three are there they would be have an interest in yeah for sure Yeah, I mean Sauce gardener is why six three didn't allow a touch down. I don't know. He he looks like he was created in a lab Yeah, right, which I don't think is my quote I think maybe Desmond Ritter said that right. Yeah, that that he looks like he was created anything for four, right? But yeah, you think about what you can get at eight, right and I don't know I So many mocks bring Garrett Wilson or a wide receiver to that spot because of the obvious need there But Chris says as as you pointed out that you if we're moving down from eight, right? Because obviously if we we're all thinking ideally you take a Player like Gardner you you go get an edge rusher. All right. Well, then what do you do at 43? It seems like that there are there's some receiver depth where you could maybe come away with At number 43 a pretty darn good impact player at that at that wide receiver spot Kind of uncertain how everybody's gonna pick him who's gonna be left on day two Yeah, I guess the challenge with banking on that too is like what if you aren't and this just goes wide receiver frenzy in That's possible to exactly but I still think there are there've been like 10 guys who in in their ranking like in the in the bottom half of that group I would say like after pickings when you talk about like Calvin Austin, right from that group There's like four guys who are ranked around the same level you get one of those guys later in the second Who you still would be comfortable with but again like I was saying like a guy like George pickings who's been projected to go like Second round. I think he's a guy who if he played more Yeah, it would be a surefire first round pick but he only paid like 24 games So you have guys like that like Christian Watson and James and Williams who knows where he ends up like Scott said He's his stock's going up his agent might be doing a lot of work hustling yeah There were some videos this morning. Yeah of him doing don't do drills I was shocked to see that a little bit which is exactly what you want four days for the draft You're like, hey man, he might go at 10 You might have to trade up to get that guy and but he's another intriguing prospect I think there's a lot of them in that cluster in that first to second round that you would think unless there's an absolute frenzy You'd feel confident Getting one of those as like as we move through the draft, right? We talked so much about About wide receiver and edge rusher, right? I mentioned running back off hand If you look back at the top 82 picks on Saturday is is there a position? I know we don't like to do position, you know best player blah blah But where if they don't get it, let's say a running back or they don't get a tackle I don't get a guard where you're like, oh, that was a missed opportunity Like are there any must-haves in the high group the trenches? Yeah, just just keep building up there Yeah, anybody on the line of scrimmage. Yeah, yeah, and that's a bozads the wall. Yeah, 100% That's okay to add, you know to add another big-bodied nose tackle or I Think adding an offensive guard. Let's add some competition there You're gonna have to look long-term at a tackle So it sounds like go get your wide receiver go get your edge rusher if you can yeah And it's weird because I was breaking down all of the Cornerbacks I'm like, hey, like there's a lot of talent there but That's that's like positional strength at this point Yeah, I actually don't think quarterback a cornerback is a significant need because I do like Casey Hayward a lot And you have me two years, right? I think that the Casey Hayward AJ Terrell pairing is gonna be really good I'm looking forward to seeing that So I don't really put cornerback that high the only reason I say cornerback is because sauce is there I feel like we've been feeding sauce's name into the ground in this podcast But that would be the only reason it cuz I think he's like that best player available at that point right right Yeah, so I think that if you can come away with that and really Again, it's one of those opportunities that the Raiders in 2014 is the one that I always use I think the Eagles in 2018 had like they extended four guys in like in their draft class The Saints had one where you can get one of those foundational draft classes that even if it doesn't include a quarterback very clear We don't think it should that that that you can Get the fan base excited in those individuals and what they can produce for the team and going back to what We've all been saying right is that you and what Terry and Arthur have been saying since we all got here You know is that they need to build up this team to help whatever quarterback they have right now? That's Marcus Mariota and the thing is Mariota is you got to see what Mariota does Ryan Tannehill wasn't Guy, right, I mean I still right now still not you know, but he wasn't you know I mean he wasn't Tennessee's guy He became the guy because he stepped in for Marcus and yeah, he did more than was expected But I think again don't count out Marcus shocking everyone Becoming guys and started in two years. So the thing is is like I think for a quarterback It's always the situation that you come into. Yeah, if you have a good situation around you It's really easy for you to be good. Yeah, and I think that Marcus will have an opportunity He's supremely motivated everything I heard about his time with with Las Vegas was really positive And I think that he's still an athlete He was still drafted number two for a reason build up the team and the defense around him Give him a shot and then in six months. See where you're at. Yeah, so that's our great truth If Terry and Arthur if you could just go ahead and follow that blueprint I think that will be in it. Just give us credit in your source. Yeah. Yeah 100% So anyway, thank you guys so much for joining us for this episode of Falcons final whistle presented by windows 11 You know what to do right rate review subscribe and there's one more step this time Can you please go and download the episode of the Falcons audible podcast presented by AT&T? It's gonna be a good one heading into the draft. Those guys know what they're talking about and then Just subscribe and have your phone do its thing because right after the first round They're gonna give their initial thoughts about that first round draft pick So you want to know more about that first round draft pick those guys are gonna have it for you ready to go So again, thank you guys so much. We are going to have a Falcons final whistle draft review podcast With Steve Weiss on this television screen Right here joining us. So look forward to that guys. Thank you so much for the time Obviously tune in big week for the Falcons big week for the NFL who are they gonna take it eight? We're gonna find out really soon