 What's up, everybody and welcome to a late night after hours. This isn't just the after party. This is the after after party It is 12 47 a.m. Definitely Friday morning the latest we've ever recorded a Falcons final whistle podcast I feel like it is and if it's not it's close Yeah, but we had to stay up late for this one to discuss the fact that the land of Falcons just drafted One of the best players regardless of position in this entire NFL draft Texas running back Bijan Robinson. Wow. Yeah, and number eight overall all of a sudden the Falcons skill positions Are Bijan Robinson, Tyler Algier, Kyle Pitts, Drake London, Johnny Smith, Oh, yeah, that guy Arthur Smith has a lot of weapons. Yeah What was your initial reaction to the pick because we've been kind of sniffing around this one for a while And then now that you've you've you've spoken to Terry font. No, you've spoken to Arthur Smith You see we we've heard from Bijan Robinson. What's your takeaway at the end of a very long night? I think this was a situation where the Falcons from all the conversations that I feel like we've had with all the decision-makers that They liked Bijan from the jump. Yeah, and they knew what they had what they did in free agency I think set them up for what they were able to do today I know we were talking to Terry and Arthur the other day and Arthur made the comment about, you know We don't feel desperate it to go into this draft and feel like we have to have X wires that we don't feel that way and I think because of the moves and the money that they were able to pump into the defense Especially you go out and get Jesse Bates, Kalyze Campbell, Bud Dupree, David Onyamana, Caden Ellis I mean literally I'm just naming off people that they just Put so much money towards to make this defense better that you get into the first round of The 2023 NFL draft and you have a guy like Bijan Robinson, which I know people are like Oh, you don't take a running back in the first round. Look, we understand the the connotation behind that But at the exact same time, I think the Falcons felt like more than anybody else Bijan Robinson fit what they wanted To do offensively in 2023. Yeah, it even came up in the post round one press conference The positionless football term. Yeah, I think Terry dropped it. Yeah, this time and he's another one of those Positionless guys like Kyle Smith like Cordero Patterson. How pits Smith is the VP of player personnel. Yeah But yeah, all these guys that you can take one formation out there and line up a thousand different ways Right. I think the fit between you talk about culture fits. You wrote a great series. Thank you About the Falcons finding culture fits, right? You talk about the fit in terms of his talent level, right? What about the yeah the fit between Bijan Robinson and Arthur Smith, right? Yeah, and that's what I I wrote about I definitely think that I recommend going back and reading What I wrote because I talked to Michael Petrie who is Falcons running backs coach and Something that he said that I thought was really Before Arthur Smith said it Michael Petrie said it and he made the comment. He was like Yes, he'll go on the roster and on the website as a running back, but he's not just a running back He's more than a running back and then you heard that echoed by Arthur Smith in his press conference that we just got done with where you're talking about the way the ways that you can use him as a pass catcher as a To pound the ball on the ground as well and how this doesn't really take away I think from Tyler Algier. I think that's an that's an important point Yeah, and we're probably wondering about after they made the right and I don't think that this takes away from Tyler Algier because You know and I wrote this I Guarantee you the amount of 22 personnel that Arthur Smith is gonna throw out there in week one Come September is going to be I mean he's gonna I can so see Bijan Robinson and Tyler Algier out there on the field at the exact same time And I think that it's a situation to where they can compliment each other I wrote in our initial Newser about Bijan Robinson being taken number eight overall. I said Bijan is the lightning to Tyler Algiers thunder To me that's exactly how I view them and I'm so glad that Arthur Smith got into the differences between Yes, they're both running backs, but the differences between them is It almost excites Arthur Smith about what he can do At this position having these two guys. Yeah, because they're both good at the same Quote-unquote elusiveness and tackle breaking metric But he said Tyler Algier is a sledgehammer and Bijan Robinson is about contact balance And the thing is is that's something that I said I think and when I was writing too It was like you look at Tyler Algier. He led the fbs in Mistack tackles broken tackles in 2022 or 2020 and then 2021 that season before he got drafted, right Guess who led the fbs in missed and broken tackles in 2022 Bijan Robinson they did it though in very different ways Tyler Algiers is gonna run into you and run through you Bijan Robinson is going to make you miss and that's the difference And I think Arthur Smith like laid it out there where he's where he said the exact same thing Like he's like Tyler Algiers is a sledgehammer Whereas Bijan Robinson has this elusiveness that I think everyone talks about when they talk about this guy I think you asked a good question in the press conference about when did you When did the Falcons fall in love with Bijan Robinson as a prospect and Terry Fontenot said everything That every part in the step every access point Was an important step as you kind of build an overall evaluation, but they're a trip to Austin. Yeah In late March early April ish ballpark seemed to be pretty important Arthur and Terry kind of talked about that a lot And I also talked to like as I've talked to Michael Petrie about it And that was when he said that he knew was was at that on that trip And he was like, you know, we send we send guys to Austin and we get to know Bijan on another level and we get to work out with him and have that You know have dinner with them dinner with him where to quangram apparently orders a dinosaur sized rib According to Arthur Smith. It's barbecue. It's Austin, Texas But that was a very I think important moment for the coaching staff to actually be able to see Okay, how does this kid work? How does he move? How does how can we best utilize him? How can we best teach him? I think all of those things probably happened In that moment something that I was even talking to but I honestly think it happened before then too Like I know they're not gonna say like, oh we fell in love with him in day one That's not something that they're gonna say but I do think that they were very high on Bijan Robinson from from go Um just because just from talking to people and and I talked to the area scout that Scouted Bijan before he was even draft eligible and something he said what he was like We were watching, you know Texas Oklahoma game or something like that and he he made the comment He was like, you know, I wasn't even there to scout Bijan Robinson But I had so many notes by the end of it about Bijan Robinson And he was without question the best player on the field and then Terry Fontenot says that exact same thing in the press conference When people say the same things over and over again, like you have to pay attention to that and that's why I truly believe it's like, okay They're saying that this is the guy who's the best player on the field When did you find out about that? Probably the first time that you watched him play against other people, you know Like that to me like the timeline of this I I know it's not like I'm beating a dead horse probably but like I really do think that they had Bijan Robinson marked on top of their draft boards for a very long time And I think the moment that they saw that they were at number eight and he's there And they're like, you know what like let's go get him. Yeah, and uh Terry Fontenot after the press conference I had a chance to catch up with him a bit about the time when he's on the clock when the falcons are on the clock And he's available calls are still coming in and they're still taking those calls. They're excited This is the guy he's right there. They're still taking the calls They're doing the due diligence and he said you're trying to ray trying to weigh the risk Of going down and maybe losing him versus the possibility of picking up an extra asset And do you roll the dice or do you not and how much would it hurt if you roll the dice And you pick up the extra asset But you don't get the guy that you woke up in the morning wanting to make a falcon Yeah, and I and ultimately he was saying that the offers that were coming in the the calls that he was Hearing from and the homework in terms of trade parameters that they did before the draft started That they were weighing all those things in the moment and as you get on the clock And you're moving towards it and you're about ready to make that pick the risk Wasn't worth it to them to try to pick up the extra asset Now we don't know what they were offered and how that all breaks down But I think that that's powerful that look The guy is right there. You still pick up the phone. You still talk to people. You still do your due diligence And then you say we don't want to lose this guy Or even the the possibility of it and I think ultimately That's why they stuck there at eight and I think the biggest issue that If you're a detractor of this pick is the the running back value thing, right? You don't get to a second contract that maybe you don't get to your second contract or maybe you can I think of top 10 picks and I think of a ladenian tomlinson and sequoam barkley and You know, there's very few of them. I mean lts What 2001 I'm old, but nonetheless you you think about like what you can get from guys like that And if you truly believe if you have conviction that this guy can be really special his carry counts at texas weren't astronomical right right so and as you pointed out in the press conference as well He's been pretty healthy knock on what yeah, that arthur made you do they did not like that question I asked about durability and they're like, how dare you Bring that up But nonetheless that that you're getting one of these complete packages and obviously these top two running backs that were taken in the first round or We're valued by teams across the league because falcons take Bijan Robinson at eight and at 12. Detroit takes jamir gibbs jamir gibbs who georgia tech fans know So I think ultimately you can talk about I don't know Like all this value talk sometimes It kind of drives me nuts Did you get the player that you wanted the falcons did the falcons did? Will they be proven right for making that move or wrong? You never know until the guy actually starts to play but They accomplish what they set out to do they weighed the risks and the rewards we talked about This player the way he fits with arthur smith. There's so much fit Right. Also, this dude is like brimming with positivity He told our taylor vismore that he smiles 90 of his life That's the way which is very possible. Um, so I think for all those reasons Culture fit scheme fit talent, you know fit with what they have And the fact that they're building a young core with pits and london and Ritter where these guys can build chemistry and play together for a long time. I'll say this too before we wrap A young quarterback's best friend Is a solid run game. Yeah And You go out and you have a guy who in his rookie year broke a thousand yards Then you go out and get a guy who is arguably One of the best running backs to go through the draft in a in a minute You know, I think that a lot of people would say that you don't have a guy go number eight Overall as a running back in it not be that way And what do you what do you think arthur smith's doing? He's setting up for this young quarterback to be able to go out and be like, all right here I gave you cow pits. I gave you drake london. I gave you bijan robinson Uh, I also resigned chryslyn strum. Caleb migari Go right that you almost that it's possible that you could have the same offensive line if matt hennessey plays left guard And then you've brought in all these Young players, so they are setting up desmond ridder for to have a great chance to succeed. That's why look We're not going to give a grade here. It's not a abc df But I will say that I like the thought of getting bijan before the draft you and I talked a lot about that I think it was a good pick for this team at this time with the core that they have Well, I think back to and we really need to wrap up. I really I think back to The drake london pick last year There are a lot of people who didn't think that drake london what should have been the first receiver off the board Right and we said over and over we said I said on this podcast It was like drake london may not have been at the top of everybody's wide receiver position But he was at the top of the falcons because he was the prototype of what the falcons needed what arthur smith needed in this offense And that's what they went out and got right And I think that's a great point and the same thing can probably be said for kyle pitts as they continue to build up and try to stack This draft class guys. Thank you so much for listening to this I don't know in the middle of the night or when you first wake up whenever you have an opportunity Thanks to our producer sam larson. Yeah does a lot of work without getting a lot of credit Also sam don't cut this And we definitely appreciate him and zack and everybody who works behind the scenes on this podcast It's never more important than at 101 am when you're recording it. Thank you guys so much. We will talk to you very soon Probably shortly after the draft concludes See you