FLOWERY BRANCH – In the early rounds of the NFL draft, the Falcons addressed the future of the quarterback position and added some help for the defensive front seven in the first four rounds.
The Falcons shocked most of the draft analysts, but not the scouting community, when they selected Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick in the draft.
“The scouting community loved the pick,” said Bill Polian on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Saturday. “It was a great pick.”
In the second round, the Falcons traded up to select versatile Clemson defensive lineman Ruke Orhorhoro with the 43rd overall pick. With their third-round pick, they selected Washington outside linebacker Bralen Trice. In the fourth round, the Falcons added Oregon defensive tackle Brandon Dorlus.
Penix was drafted to be the heir apparent to Kirk Cousins, while Orhorhoro, Trice and Dorlus will provide help to the defensive line and linebacking corps.
The plan is for Penix to serve as a backup quarterback and learn the NFL game.
“We know what we have in terms of the character with Kirk (Cousins) and putting them in that (group) with Kirk and Taylor (Heinicke) it’s really exciting,” Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said.
Coach Raheem Morris didn’t discuss Penix’s role with him when he visited the team Friday with his family.
“No, I did not start talking about that,” Morris said. “(The visit) was for him to enjoy his family, to introduce himself to the city of Atlanta, for him to get here and … really get in front of (owner) Mr. (Arthur) Blank as well. That was important, those introductory things and all the things he wanted to do.”
The work will start during the rookie minicamp, which is set for May.
“Obviously, he had to talked to Kirk the night before, which I thought was a pretty cool outing by both of those guys about the empathy and the humility to talk to each other about what was going to happen and how he talked about his support,” Morris said. “I thought his family being here was great, for them to meet Terry and myself. And do some of those different things that he didn’t do – obviously he didn’t come here on a top-30 visit.”
The Falcons traded a third-round pick to move up from No. 43 to No. 35 to select Orhorhoro. They also picked up a sixth-round pick (186th).
“We’re aggressive, and we’ve done that, this is the third year in a row doing that in the second round,” Fontenot said. “We did it last year with (left guard Matthew) Bergeron. Did it the year before with A.K. (Arnold Ebiketie).”
At Clemson, Orhorhoro played in different spots along the defensive line.
“That excites us when you have a guy that has that kind of position flex, that gives you so many movable parts along with (David Onyemata) inside, with Grady (Jarrett) inside, to play with those guys, along with some of our young guys,” Morris said. “I’m talking about Zach (Harrison) and (Taquon Graham) and be able to add that (Orhorhoro) to that mix and those things getting a bigger man, with strength and power.”
Orhorhoro has to learn to play better with his hands, and Morris said the coaches were excited to start teaching him the hand-to-hand combat techniques to help him win in the NFL trenches.
“Really fired up,” Morris said. “Position-flex players that provide some youth there that we need and be able to give us a nice versatile piece that we can use all across the board.”
Trice was menace in the backfield, but also dropped into coverage for the Huskies. The Falcons are moving to a 3-4 alignment and need outside linebackers who can rush off the edge and also drop into coverage in some blitz packages.
Trice started his career at Washington when Falcons defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake was the head coach.
“Coach Lake was obviously with him,” Morris said. “But like Terry will tell you … the boots-on-the-ground scouts is where it starts, and then it gets to us.”
After the scouts did their work, Lake was a good reference.
“We would ask Lake about the players he had in the building and some of those different things,” Morris said.
The Falcons liked the power that Trice played with later in his career.
“Usually you have to do with the last body of work, and that last body of work, Jimmy Lake was not there,” Morris said. “But you get a chance to see it last year and how it’s improved. Listen to your scouts and coaches, along with our own evaluation.”
Dorlus, like Orhorhoro, moved around a lot along the defensive line for the Ducks. He used to train in Atlanta with pass-rush specialist Chuck Smith, the former Falcons great who’s now an assistant coach with the Ravens.
“He helped me to be a mature pass rusher,” Dorlus said. “Not to have too many moves. Have your A and B move and have counters off of that. He just gave me the mindset to my approach, my get off, the combat zone and the finish. He helped a lot throughout that process.”
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