In conversations with about 20 owners around the NFL about the team’s Super Bowl bid, Falcons owner Arthur Blank said the topic of the draft often came up.
He's seen some of the grades the Falcons have received.
“Every team should get a grade A,” Blank told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday. “Then when you look back two or three years, that’s when you judge whether or not if you had a good draft or not.”
He gave his football men an A.
“You think from our perspective, I would give our coach (Dan Quinn) and general manager Thomas (Dimitroff) a grade A because I know that every single position they drafted very specifically for exactly what the coach wanted and the coaching needs in terms of defense or in terms of the offense,” Blank said during a break from doing volunteer work on the West Side. “Hopefully, that will play out in a successful way over the next couple of years.”
Some of the team’s critics have knocked the Falcons for taking safety Keanu Neal too high with the 17th overall pick in the draft. Blank is fine with the pick and the entire draft.
“It wasn’t just the best player on the board,” Blank said. “It was the best player that had a specific skill-set that we feel fit that position and we are always drafting for character.”
Staff writer Doug Roberson contributed to this report.
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