 Welcome to a special NFL draft edition of the Falcons, all of them presented by AT&T. I'm back once again, this is Derek Rackley joined by my guys, just audio only this time, Dave Archer and DJ Shockley. We go through all things Atlanta Falcons and boy do we have some stuff to talk with you about today. Yes, that's right, the 2021 NFL draft, the first round has just wrapped up and with the fourth overall selection in the 2021 NFL draft, the Atlanta Falcons select tight end Kyle Pitts out of Florida. So let's get some instant reaction to this selection. I'm going to start with my man, Dave Archer, because he went ahead and had his own draft board set up for this year. And I heard him right before we got started talking about where he felt like Kyle Pitts fell on his draft board. Dave, what is your reaction to the pick? Yeah, I'm ecstatic, Rack, and good to be with you in shock here. This is a, first of all, the feeling that I had going into the draft was anything I've felt in quite some time. I mean, the air was standing up on the back of my neck, the excitement of what potentially could happen, where were we going to go, what was going to be standing there for when we had a chance to pick? Well, when it came down to it, Kyle Pitts still sitting there at the number four spot. You kind of had a feeling he would be there, was quarterback in the mix. I'm certainly think that there was some conversation about Justin Fields and maybe some of the quarterback issues or talk there, but Kyle Pitts was rated number two on my board of the best players available right behind Trevor Lawrence. So you got the best positional player in the draft and you just got better in the red zone, guys. We were 27th in the league in the red zone last season. You just guaranteed yourself stepping into that top 15, top 10 in the national football league in the red zone because of the acquisition of Kyle Pitts. And DJ, you've got a chance to call some games in the E and I'm sure you probably had a chance to see Kyle Pitts in action with your own two eyes. Sometimes as an analyst, guys, you can watch a guy on tape and it's just a little different when you can see him on the field with your own eyes. DJ, I want to get your impressions on number one, what you think of Kyle Pitts of a player, what you saw when you watched him on tape, when you watched him in person and how you feel he fits into this Atlanta offense. Rec, I think the first thing that comes to mind and you think about a guy of his stature of his ability, you say, this guy has the ability to win anywhere on the field and ours just talked about his ability winning the red zone and that's a plus, that's a bonus, but this guy also has a chance to win it every spot on the field. You can line up in the slot, you can line them up on outside and you watch this guy run the same route tree as receivers run every single day and this guy can make those plays and the guy just matches up. You know, just, he's a matchup problem versus anybody. And I went back and I saw something where the last time a tight end was drafted this high, you got to go all the way back to 1961 with Mike Dicka and he went fifth overall. And here's Kyle Pitts going fourth. This is an unbelievable pick for the Falcons and I think Archie Spylon, this is a game changer, a guy who was going to come in here from day one and demand the football and he is going to have many opportunities in this offense where Arthur Smith loves the tight end and he's gonna be a guy who catches tons of footballs from Matt Ryan. 2021 obviously a big year following the pandemic season in the NFL, but it's also gonna be a year that's known not only for Kyle Pitts setting NFL history, going down in NFL history as the highest drafted tight end but also the fact that you got a first year head coach and Arthur Smith and a first year general manager and Terry Fontenau that are not afraid to go out there and make that history by drafting a tight end. And Dave, what I think is so interesting here is because when you get into the draft, everybody has opinions and it seems like with every selection, every player, there's some type of criticism. Well, this guy's got great upside but dot dot dot, right? There's always something that this guy can do better. Maybe we didn't hear that with Trevor Lawrence a whole lot, but one thing I don't think I've seen all night is one person criticize Kyle Pitts as a player or him being drafted number four. I think that's everybody in Atlanta what they need to know about this player. Well, it's a generational player. This guy has a chance and again, he's got to go prove it on the field but what you like, what you've seen in college shock has talked about his ability in the college ranks as he steps into the national football league, his inability or his ability to create matchup problems all over the field for you. But this could be one of those generational players. You got to forget about thinking about him as a tight end. This is not just a tight end. This is a six foot six, 240 pound wide receiver that runs four four. Go look at him in individual matchups and routes that he runs. He screws corners in the ground. He runs by corners and catches and high points the ball over the top some of the best corners in college football. I mean, there's two guys at Georgia are going to go in the top two rounds of draft. We saw one go in the draft tonight and Eric Stokes, Tyson Campbell is going to go in the draft too. He beat both those guys one on one. Those guys are top picks in the draft at the corner spot. This is a guy that is going to transcend the tight end position. I think we got to forget about tight end. This is a big time player, an elite level player that is going to transcend the position he plays. You know, I got a chance to watch guys and listen and watch his opening press conference with the Atlanta media. I just wanted to highlight a couple of words that came out. And number one was one of his answers to our own Kelsey Conway asking him a question about when his name was called and when he got the phone call from the Atlanta Falcons. He said it was surreal. Even a kid that's so grounded and knows that he's so talented, it was surreal to him to hear his name called. And the other thing that I thought was interesting is everybody was asking him what makes him so good. Why is he such a great player? Why is he such a matchup nightmare? And he was talking about being versatile. He kept saying being versatile. And I feel like at the tight end position in the NFL, DJ, we're always talking about, oh, this guy has a matchup nightmare because the corners too small to cover him and a linebacker or safety is not fast enough to cover him. And I feel like if there's one tight end now, granted, we have to see it on an NFL field this next season, that you would put in that category as a guy that's versatile and needs a matchup nightmare or what people are calling the unicorn. It's Kyle Pitts because you just don't have a way to slow him down with everything that he brings to the table. Yeah, and you look at the new age of the tight ends these days, the kiddles of the world, the guys who are asking for the football like receivers, he is in that mode. And when you think about some of the things that he can do on a field and you think about some of the things that he has already done, as quarterbacks, I know for me and Dave, it makes you smile because you know, this guy's gonna be able to win. You know, this guy understands coverages. You understand how to use his body. You understand how to use that big six, five, six, six frame when he's going against a linebacker, going against the safety, going against the corner or knows how to set up certain routes. Those are certain things that you just don't see. And I think we're going away from the days of, yeah, you're still gonna have those tight ends with their hand in the dirt and you're asking them to go and you know, block these defensive ends. But also we're going more to the stage of, we want a guy that can stand up in the slot. We want a guy who can be, it looks like the 11th personnel, but this guy, it might as well call it 10 cause you got four receivers out there with him. It's gonna be fun to have this guy line up all over the place and you not know where the football can go. Cause in this Arthur Smith style of offense, he's gonna give you an indication if it man or zone, and Kyle Piz is gonna be that guy. But at the end of the day, we're looking for the matchup and he's going to be the matchup problem that a lot of teams are looking for from a tight end position. And that's what makes this league so special. These guys coming into the league for a long time, it's always been about the defense events, how fast they are. Can it get to the pass rusher? Now it's about, you got receivers and tight ends who looked exactly the same. And now the Falcons have one in Cal Piz. It's gonna be so fun to watch. Yeah, DJ, you're talking about the style of offense from Arthur Smith and he's a very tight end heavy. He loves the tight ends and there's been a lot of talk obviously about Kyle Piz joining this offense with the compliment of other skill position players the Calvin release the Julio Jones is at the world. But I think you also have to throw into that category now Hayden Hearst because maybe the one criticism you could have on Kyle Piz is what type of an inline blocker is he right now? And my answer would be he doesn't really have to be. Okay, you've got a guy like Hayden Hearst that can be that guy on the end of the line of scrimmage that can help out in the run game, provide some chips and pass protection. And yes, is it an area that Kyle Piz can improve on but think about the combinations now of a guy like Hayden Hearst who can catch the ball at the tight end position. He showed us his career, former first round pick having both of those guys on the field arch think about that type of a setup with those two wide receivers on the outside that Matt Ryan got in the 21. Well, it certainly puts you in a situation a rack and shock where you are in a run set with two tight ends on the field but then as shock is said and Hearst adds to this mix Hearst runs as well as a lot of receivers do as well. So you've got two guys that can get vertical in that tight end position as well as really in Jones on the outside or Gage in the game, whoever might be at the game at the receiver spot. All of a sudden you like the fact that I can shift immediately shift gears and be a pass threat even though I've got two tight ends on the field and I want to run it with Mike Davis or Cornell Patterson or whoever we've got in the backfield at the time. I thought that was really cool to hear Pete say when he was interviewed right after being taken by the Falcons he talked about surreal and you mentioned that I thought it was very humbling for him. He said, well, I just hope to be a good outlet for Matt Ryan and outlet. I thought that humble comment kind of really said miles of information about what kind of team oriented guy is he just wanted to be able to come in and contribute. He's going to do more than that. Now I will say, Rack, neither one of these guys are great blockers and I think that's going to be an area they're going to have to improve on. Pitts has improved dramatically. His first two years in Florida was not a very good blocker at all. You go back and put the tape on this year he's improved dramatically on the edge as an inline blocker. So it's not his best thing nor is it the best thing that Aiden Hurst does but I think both of them are going to be efficient enough in it to where the run game is going to be a threat with them both on the field as pass receivers. Yeah, I think it's definitely some smiles going on in the Falcons building one being Arthur Smith kind of going to be putting his fingers together figuring out what he's going to devise to have this new weapon on offense and also Matt Ryan maybe a sigh of relief for him knowing that he's got another really, really talented skill position player and weapon out there offensively for them to move the football down the field. And as you mentioned Arch to start this thing out a big time target for him in the red zone. One of the things that Kyle Pitts talked about in his press conference and that kind of along that humbling thing Dave that you were talking about was learning from Julio Jones and picking his brain as far as how he attacked defenses gets open and become such a threat downfield. However guys I think we have to change gears a little bit and kind of address what we've been hearing going on. There's been a lot of rumors out there in the national media about Julio Jones and potentially being traded at some point throughout the draft and maybe this weekend. So we talked a lot about having those weapons Kyle Pitts, Julio Jones, Khaled Ridley all being on the field together. But DJ I want to start with you. What are you thinking are the chances or what would be your thoughts and opinions if they decide to work out some type of trade and Julio Jones is not on the outside in 2021? Well I think obviously we see what happened here at number four and bringing in a guy like Kyle Pitts. Now if it does not work for Julio Jones and he's no longer Atlanta Falcon nobody can replace the kind of production that Julio Jones brings. It's hard to have a guy on the field like him who demands that kind of double coverage and makes everybody else kind of single up and have that kind of effect on the field. And it helps having a guy like Kyle Pitts coming here who can kind of take some of that pressure off of the offense and bring that production in. Now that production is going to be kind of spread out between all the guys. But I think we also saw last year in the last seven or eight games when you didn't have Julio Jones, Kyle and really stepped up to the plate for over 40 some catches, 17 yards, three touchdowns. I mean he was a one-man wrecking crew in his own right. Not having Julio Jones would be something that I know a lot of Atlanta Fangs would probably be a little sour about, but you have to be honest, this is a business. And at the end of the day, when things don't work out and things don't work out salary cap-wise as we know, we can let Archie explain that. He's our regular staff guy. But obviously things in that part of the world absolutely have to be worked out. And if a guy, not because of what he's done on the field but because of that salary doesn't work out for you, then obviously you gotta find a way to move on and then you try to replace those guys. So this is a interesting situation that still has to play out and everybody's still waiting to see what happens. But one way or another, I know Arthur Smith and Terry Fauna's gonna do what's best for the Atlanta Falcons organization. You know, we've talked a little bit about a generational type player and Kyle Pitts. And I think if you rewind back when Julio Jones came out, the same could have been said about him, Dave. So I'm gonna turn the question over to you. A potential generational player and Julio Jones that the Falcons have had on their roster for a number of years, many would say he still would fall into the top five in the NFL when he is healthy. But when you factor in the things that you've seen over the last couple of years, do you feel like there's some legs to these trade rumors about Julio Jones no longer being a member of the Falcons? Yeah, I think there is, Rack. And I think that when you begin to look at what Terry Faun knows talked about, where nobody is above reproach, this is gonna be one of those scenarios where they're gonna evaluate every opportunity. The Falcons are over the cap right now. To be able to sign their rookie draft glass from what I understand, they need about $11 million. They don't have it. A post June one trade of Julio Jones would free up $15 million. I mean, that's a real fact. That's something that's gonna have to be considered. The thing about this thing and Shock mentioned it, business is business. It's one thing to get sentimental about players and Julio Jones will have some, I've called every game of his career. You talking about nobody's gonna be more sentimental about him than I will be. He's made some unbelievable plays here, but it is a business. And when you look at it, have you drafted a guy that can replace Julio? This guy can play on the outside. I feel better right now as a Falcon fan, not as a broadcaster or someone that works in the Falcons. I feel better as a Falcon fan. We've drafted a guy that potentially play in that spot. Yes, he looks like a tight end, but he plays like a wide receiver. I feel better about that situation. But I don't know if there's any question that Terry Faun knows gonna have to consider all the options and one of those options will be potentially moving on from Julio Jones or sending Julio Jones someplace else simply because the money and the way that works out. Yeah, and I think that's the area where a lot of fans, as you mentioned DJ, that there's gonna be some people if this ends up coming to fruition that are gonna be very upset, they're gonna be against it. They're gonna say, why do you do something like this? And it's because mainly of what Dave is talking about. Every NFL player wants to get his huge payday in the NFL. And Julio Jones got his huge payday in the NFL from the Atlanta Falcons, but at some point it's gonna end up strapping the organization as far as getting better and making it more team friendly. That's part of the reason why the Patriots did so well for so many years. Tom Brady took a whole lot less money per year than he probably could have what he's worth, but he was able to spread that out and allow them to bring in more quality players. And they had so much success doing it. And maybe that's gonna have to be the new mold for Atlanta as it sits right now with the salary cap situation for them to add more players to make this team better. They may have to move on from one number 11 that's done so many great things for this organization. Obviously time will tell, but we'll see whether or not Julio Jones is going to be in the mix and be on the field next year along with Calvin Ridley and Kyle Pitts and the rest of those skilled position players. All right, guys, in closing, we just got finished with the first round. We added one really good player to the 2021 roster for the Atlanta Falcons. I want you guys to look ahead, DJ. What do you expect to see in the next couple of rounds going on? We're gonna get back with rounds two and three starting tomorrow or tonight, depending on when you listen to this one. DJ, what are you looking forward to seeing from the Falcons? Well, obviously there are a couple of needs that I think the Falcons must address. One, obviously in a system where obviously if once you've been able to run the football, finding another running back, I think it's another key spot to be looking for in the second and third round. And also, I think you got to go in and find your corner. Obviously a couple really good corners. Well, actually three corners went in this first round and J.C. Horn, Patrick Sartain, Caleb Furley, are all guys who are quality players who absolutely will look good in a Falcon uniform, but these are still needs that I think the Falcons have to go out and dress. And I think a guy like a Richie Grant from UCF for a Sunday Samuel Junior out of Florida State. I mean, guys who fit the mode of what they want to do on defensive side of the ball with D&Ps and be versatile and have guys who can play multiple spots is something to absolutely look for in the second and third round. So I think the Falcons probably be more defense heavy here in the second and third round here on Friday and see what happens. Dave, I was, there was a part of me that was thinking would Atlanta try to get back into this first round at the tail end of it and see if they could take a run at Najee Harris or Travis ETN, those guys ended up going back to back. Najee Harris, the Pittsburgh at 24, Jacksonville gets Travis ETN at number 25 to pair up with his quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Probably a little bit too much for Atlanta, but I was thinking the running back need in the backfield for Atlanta, those two guys would have fit the bill, but what are you looking for to see on Friday in the next couple of rounds or maybe even throughout the rest of the weekend for the Atlanta Falcons to help continue to bolster their roster? Well, guys, the guy I like at running back is Avanté Williams, the kid out of North Carolina. He is a battering ram tackle-blaking monster. So I think he's still out there and available. I'm looking at edge rushers, guys. I'm looking at guys that are gonna fit what Dean Pease wants to do from a versatility standpoint, morphing from three, four to four, three. The ability to have an edge guy that has the versatility to stand up, put his hand in the dirt, looking for guys like Joseph Osai, Azio Zallari from Georgia still out there. You also have Ronnie Perkins from Oklahoma. There's some very versatile edge guys that are still available, difference-making guys that can get after the pass are shocked talking about that corner, no question. I'm talking about edge rusher as well. I think that those guys that Shock mentioned and some of those three guys I just mentioned are certainly gonna be in the mix in the first part of the second round. Yeah, you guys nailed it on the head. I would have said the same thing. I've been looking, running back and defense of help pass rushing in corner would be the areas that I think needs to get addressed for Atlanta to kind of help shore up that roster a little bit still, a long ways to go in this draft, still a long ways to go in building this roster. And of course, long ways until we start 2021 season. But as we talked about, the Atlanta Falcons made a huge splash in selecting Kyle Pitts, number four, overall pick the talented tight end out of Florida to help out this offense and Matt Ryan and Arthur Smith next season. So that's gonna wrap it up here on this special first round NFL draft edition of the Falcons Audible presented by AT&T. Once again, I'm Derek Frackley with my guys Dave Archer and DJ Shockley. And maybe just maybe they'll let us come back and talk a little bit more about this draft. But hopefully the Atlanta Falcons in that front brass continue to build on this roster and make it an even better product on the field in 2021. Thanks so much for listening folks. We hope you enjoy the rest of the draft this weekend and we'll be here to talk to you about all things Atlanta Falcons.