1. The no-spin zone: In our mock draft there are no trades, so the Falcons are stuck in the eighth position.
They will be tempted to over-draft one of the second-tier quarterbacks, but general manager Terry Fontenot will turn in the card with the name of the best player available, former Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner.
They’ll have some options at the eighth spot. They’ll have to pick Turner over edge rusher UCLA’s Laiatu Latu, who we have going to the Saints at 14th, and Florida State’s Jared Verse, who we have going to Seattle at No. 16.
Turner, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida , played three seasons for the Crimson Tide. He finished his career with 22.5 sacks and had 15 tackles for losses last season. Turner, who’s 6-foot-3 and 247 pounds, would fit into one of the Falcons’ outside linebackers spot in the 3-4 alignment.
Turner has a overall 6.71 grade by NFL.com, which projected him as a year-one starter. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.47 seconds and 4.46 seconds at the NFL scouting combine, which was faster than former Alabama running back Derrick Henry, who ran a 4.54 at the 2016 scouting combine.
Turner also had a 40.5-inch vertical jump.
“It would be an honor,” Turner said about possibly being the first edge rusher selected in the draft. “I talked to a lot of teams. I talked to the Jets, the Panthers, the Falcons and the Seahawks. I had 12 meetings on my first day.”
He enjoyed his meeting with the Falcons.
“The meeting with the Falcons was great,” Turner said. “I had a good conversation with coaches and stuff like that, so it would be a good experience.”
We’re projecting a run on the second-tier quarterbacks with Minnesota taking Michael Penix Jr. 11th, followed by Denver taking Oregon’s Bo Nix and the Raiders selecting Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.
We have former Georgia tight end Brock Bowers going to the Jets with the 10th overall pick and offensive tackle Amarius Mims going to the Steelers with the 20th overall pick.
Here’s a look at the first round of Mock Draft 1.0:
1. Chicago Bears (via Carolina Panthers): Caleb Williams, QB, USC
2. Washington Commanders: Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina
3. New England Patriots: Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU
4. Arizona Cardinals: Malik Nabers, WR, LSU
5. Los Angeles Chargers: Taliese Fuaga, OT, Oregon State
6. New York Giants: Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State
7. Tennessee Titans: Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame
8. Falcons: Dallas Turner, DE, Alabama
9. Chicago Bears: Rome Odunze, WR, Washington
10. New York Jets: Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
11. Minnesota Vikings: Michael Penix Jr., QB, Washington
12. Denver Broncos: Bo Nix, QB, Oregon
13. Las Vegas Raiders: J.J. McCarthy, QB, Michigan
14. New Orleans Saints: Laiatu Latu, DE, UCLA
15. Indianapolis Colts: Nate Wiggins, CB, Clemson
16. Seattle Seahawks: Jared Verse, DE, Florida State
17. Jacksonville Jaguars: Olumuyiwa Fashanu, OT, Penn State
18. Cincinnati Bengals: Adonai Mitchell, WR, Texas
19. Los Angeles Rams: Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama
20. Pittsburgh Steelers: Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia
21. Miami Dolphins: Jer’Zhan Newton, DT, Illinois
22. Philadelphia Eagles: Jackson Powers-Johnson, G, Oregon
23. Houston Texans (via Cleveland Browns): Brian Thomas Jr., WR, LSU
24. Dallas Cowboys: Troy Fautanu, OT, Washington
25. Green Bay Packers: Tyler Guyton, OT, Oklahoma
26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Bralen Trice, DE, Washington
27. Arizona Cardinals (via Houston Texans): Byron Murphy II, DT, Texas
28. Buffalo Bills: Keon Coleman, WR, Florida State
29. Detroit Lions: Chop Robinson, Edge, Penn State
30. Baltimore Ravens: Jordan Morgan, OT, Arizona
31. San Francisco 49ers: Darius Robinson, DE, Missouri
32. Kansas City Chiefs: Xavier Worthy, WR, Texas
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter/AJC
2. Burner alert: Much is being made of Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy running the 40-yard dash in a combine-record 4.21 seconds.
We have him going to the Chiefs with the 32nd pick.
But John Ross, who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.22 seconds in 2017, did not have a long NFL career. The Bengals took Ross with the ninth overall pick in 2017.
Worthy is considered capable of running more than just go-routes.
Ross played in 37 games and made 21 starts. He finished with 11 career touchdowns after playing four seasons with the Bengals (2017-20) and one season with the Giants (2021).
3. Pitts encouraged the Bison: Before opening the 2022 season against Alabama State at Center Parc Stadium on Aug. 27, Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts spoke to the Howard football team.
“Kyle Pitts is great,” said Howard tackle Anim Dankwah at the NFL Scouting Combine. “My head coach (Larry Scott) coached him when he was at Florida. Kyle Pitts came and spoke with us. I remember having a conversation with him and taking a picture with him.”
The Bison lost 23-13 to the Hornets, but enjoyed their chat with Pitts.
“He really told us about taking care of our body and not giving up on yourself,” Dankwah said. “He told us about his journey and when he got to Florida, it wasn’t the best at first. He was struggling. It took him a while. Coach Scott was very hard on him and that helped him. That wasn’t a lie because coach Scott was hard on me as well. I can say that when Kyle Pitts came to talk with us, it definitely resonated. We all look up to him. He went top 10 in the NFL.”
4. Ivy League foes: In addition to playing their MEAC schedule, Howard has played against Ivy league schools in each of the past three seasons. They also ventured into the Big Ten and nearly upset Northwestern last season.
“I’ve been playing against Ivy League since I was a freshman,” Dankwah said. “My first start was against Harvard. That was the first team that I played against. I never got to beat Harvard, which I’m not happy about, but I’m sure we’ll get them very soon. The Ivy League is always a good game.”
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
5. Falcons’ free agency: Backup guard/center Ryan Neuzil, who played in all 17 games and made four starts last season, was re-signed Monday.
He started three games at center and one at right guard, also playing on special teams. Neuzil, 26, was signed as an undrafted free agent after the 2021 NFL draft out of Appalachian State.
Long snapper Liam McCullough, linebacker Nate Landman and Neuzil are the Falcons’ only exclusive-rights free agents. McCullough and Neuzil have re-signed. Defensive tackle Albert Huggins, tight end Feleipe Franks and offensive lineman Ethan Greenidge are listed by Spotrac.com as the only restricted free agents.
The Falcons have 15 other players who can become unrestricted free agents if they are not re-signed by March 13. The Falcons met with several agents over the course of the NFL combine last week. Their top potential free agents include cornerback Jeff Okudah, defensive end Calais Campbell, outside linebacker Bud Dupree, running back Cordarrelle Patterson and fullback Keith Smith.
6. NFL calendar: The NFL’s legal tampering period – when teams can meet with agents – will start at noon Monday. The league’s new business year is set to start at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
7. Falcons’ 2024 opponents: The Falcons, who finished at 7-10 and in third place in the NFC South, are set to play the NFC East and AFC West during the 2024 season.
The home games include: Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Carolina, Dallas, New York Giants, Los Angles Chargers, Kansas City, Seattle and Pittsburgh.
The away games include: Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Carolina, Philadelphia, Washington, Las Vegas, Denver and Minnesota.
Credit: Courtesy of the Toronto Argonau
Credit: Courtesy of the Toronto Argonau
8. Quan’tez Stiggers’ Pro Day set: Former Canadian Football League rookie of the year Qwan’tez Stiggers will have his Pro Day at B.E.S.T Academy in Atlanta at 3:30 p.m. March 15.
A lot has happened since we did a feature on Stiggers in December. He was invited to the East-West Shrine game and clearly is on the radar for several NFL teams.
9. Falcons’ position-by-position analysis: Check out the stories in the Falcons’ 2023 season-review series:
Part 3: Wide receivers/tight ends
The Bow Tie Chronicles
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