Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff, with input from the personnel and coaching staffs, is putting the final touches on the team’s draft board.
Last week, the team had several players visit Flowery Branch for interviews, strategy sessions on the grease board and drills. The Falcons are allowed to have 30 players visit and they plan to use their full allotment. Also, they had about 35 players in for their “local day” Thursday.
While most of the pre-draft focus is on what the Falcons will do with the 27th pick in the first round of the NFL draft, which will be held April 28-30, Dimitroff is bracing for the full seven rounds and the ensuing period of signing undrafted free agents.
“That’s why we put so much time and effort into combing all ends of the country in order to make sure we’ve done our research and our evaluations at every level,” Dimitroff said.
The Falcons have had some success in the later draft rounds under Dimitroff. Kroy Biermann, a starter at left defensive end last season, was a fifth-round pick in 2008.
Defensive tackle Vance Walker, a rotational player, was a seventh-round pick from Georgia Tech in 2009.
In the 2010 draft, safety Shann Schillinger, who was a key contributor on special teams before fracturing his ankle in the 15th game of the regular season, was drafted in the sixth round.
In the later rounds, the Falcons are looking for potential late bloomers who can contribute early and possibly develop into starters.
While with New England from 2002-08, Dimitroff spent time around the classic late pick, quarterback Tom Brady, who was selected in the sixth round (199th overall) in 2000. His thoughts on emphasizing the entire draft and the post-draft period are rooted in New England.
“We have to enter every draft of every year assuming that we are going to find someone in the late rounds that is truly going to affect the direction of this team,” Dimitroff said.
Last season, tight end Michael Palmer, an undrafted player from Clemson and Parkview High, made the team.
The Falcons also value the mindset that some late picks and undrafted players bring to the locker room. Generally, they don’t have a sense of entitlement and know they must work hard in order to earn and sustain a roster spot.
“That doesn’t mean that you’re going to give up talent, but I think that it’s very important for the team chemistry to make sure you have all of the rounds covered,” Dimitroff said.
In his three drafts with the Falcons, Dimitroff also has been an active trader.
In 2008, he traded into the first round on draft day to get offensive tackle Sam Baker with the 21st overall pick.
In a predraft trade in 2009, the Falcons traded with St. Louis, which gave up its fifth- and sixth-round selections (138th and 176th overall, respectively) in exchange for wide receiver Laurent Robinson and the Falcons’ fifth- and sixth-round selections (160th and 196th overall, respectively).
In 2010, the Falcons acquired St. Louis’ fifth-round selection (135th overall) in exchange for selections in the fifth (149th overall) and sixth (189th overall). The Falcons also acquired Detroit’s sixth-round pick and a seventh-round pick for the 2011 draft in the Chris Houston trade.
Dimitroff plans to remain fluid for the draft. The Falcons have nine picks overall — one in each of the first six rounds and three picks in the seventh. “It’s about adaptability. You have to be flexible enough to compensate going up 10 spaces or going back 10 spaces,” Dimitroff said.
There has been some talk about several teams coveting the Falcons’ 27th slot in the first round to select one of the second-tier quarterbacks.
“There is no question that we would contemplate that, but there will be a lot of players, in my mind, in and around the 27 area that can still help us,” Dimitroff said. “That would have to be a strong proposition from a team behind us."
