If the Falcons stay in place with the 17th pick in the NFL Draft, which is set for Thursday through Saturday in Chicago, they will face several interesting scenarios.
They are practically guaranteed to be confronted by the age-old draft conundrum: Do they take the best player available or draft to fill their needs, which are at linebacker, defensive end or safety.
“We thought we did some good things in free agency,” Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. “We think we can continue to be creative given what we did do in free agency with how we are going to approach the draft.”
The Falcons hold only five picks in the draft after losing their fifth-round pick for pumping fake noise into the Georgia Dome during the 2013 and 2014 seasons and trading their sixth-round pick to Tennessee as part of the trade for left guard Andy Levitre. The Falcons and the Rams have the fewest picks in the draft.
The best player at 17 might be Michigan State offensive tackle Jack Conklin. The Falcons are set at tackle and may go with a need. However, they haven’t ruled out taking a player on offense.
Dimitroff contends that the Falcons remain a “needs-based” and “system-specific” team when it comes to the draft.
However, he has learned his lessons along the way. He regrets taking defensive tackle Peria Jerry over linebacker Clay Matthews III in 2008. They went too heavily on their need for a defensive interior presence and passed on Matthews because he did fit the scheme.
In retrospect, they should have found a way to play Matthews, who was drafted two picks later by Green Bay.
Packers general manager Ted Thompson, a disciple of Hall of Fame general manager Ron Wolf, makes it clear that his team takes the best player available.
“We are not just going to go for the need and take a position that talent is exponentially less than another need that we might have and not be as strong as that position,” Dimitroff said. “We try to narrow that gap and make sure that we are very aware of what we are putting on our team. If it happens to be an offensive player and we think it can help us, and upgrade, then, we’ll definitely consider it.”
The Falcons have an expanded analytics department whose information gathering is vital to the process.
“We continue to grow as far as our approach and become more and more intellectual as far as how we are looking at things and presenting things to (coach Dan Quinn),” Dimitroff said.
It is likely that when the Falcons select a player with a serious medical condition (UCLA’s Myles Jack), a player with a bizarre drug-possession arrest (Ole Miss’ Robert Nkemdiche) and a player who was kicked out of a conference for using Ecstasy (Noah Spence) will be on the board.
The ancillary issues complicate the evaluation as to whether a best player available can even fulfill a need.
“It’s really fun to put it all together,” Quinn said. “The analytics are a really good piece. The tape is a huge piece. That’s the most important piece. Then the off-the-field (background checks) and the reports that go along with that. It’s one of the most exciting times to put the whole thing together and then you make the decision.”
Jack is a speedy linebacker who has the ability to cover running backs and blitz the quarterback.
Nkemdiche dominated at times at Ole Miss from his tackle position.
Some believe Spence, who was suspended by the Big Ten and transferred from Ohio State to Eastern Kentucky, is the best pure rusher in the draft.
Jack, who played for Falcons linebackers coach Jeff Ulbrich at UCLA, is considered a top-five talent, but may fall in the draft because of concerns about his right knee. The Falcons have completed their medical research on him.
“(Assistant general manager) Scott Pioli and his staff do a great job helping weed through all of that with the medical staff and the athletic-performance people to make sure that we have all of the information that we need,” Dimitroff said. “It’s an important thing.”
Dimitroff cited the technological advancements that help greatly with the medical assessments.
“A lot of these players, they’ve been playing football a long time and they’ve been playing hard a long time,” Dimitroff said. “They’ve put themselves on the line. There is going to be wear and tear on their bodies.
“That’s why we have to be open enough to understand and differentiate between what’s a legitimate concern and what’s just the regular wear-and-tear on someone’s body.”
Whether the Falcons take the best player available or attempt to fill a need, there are no guarantees in the draft.
“There is a little bit of the roll the dice at times when you really start looking at these players,” Dimitroff said.
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