Fifth of five-part series on the Falcons draft needs. Today: Offensive guard.
The Falcons’ No. 1 priority is protecting quarterback Matt Ryan, who’s soon to become the NFL’s highest paid player and likely the first to break the $30 million per year barrier.
So, it wouldn’t be prudent to continue to protect the franchise’s greatest investment with lower-round draft picks and aging players. The Falcons can address their need at offensive guard in the draft, which runs Thursday through Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
“It’s cool to see that there is depth with the big guys on both sides of the line of scrimmage this year,” Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said.
The Falcons have a more pressing need for defensive tackle, but if their guy isn’t available, they will go in another direction, possibly guard.
“I feel like in other years we’ve been really honed in on potentially one or two, and we have a number of positions that we think can really benefit us at 26,” Dimitroff said. “And that’s actually really exciting. It gives us, in our minds, the opportunity to consider, of course, we’ll always consider moving up. But also the idea of moving back as well because we feel like there are a number of really good players at 26 and beyond.”
Notre Dame’s Quinton Nelson is the top guard in the draft and projects to go in the top 10. Texas-El Paso’s Will Hernandez, Georgia’s Isaiah Wynn and Auburn’s Braden Smith are the top four guards in the draft.
The interior of the line, on each side of center Alex Mack, are of long-range concerns for the Falcons.
Left guard Andy Levitre, who will turn 32 in May, is attempting to return from biceps surgery and is entering the last year of his contract.
Last season, Wes Schweitzer, a former college tackle and sixth-round pick out of San Jose State, started all 18 games. He struggled, especially in pass protection, and received a poor rating of 43.7 from profootballfocus.com.
The Falcons signed veteran guard Brandon Fusco to a modest three-year $12.75 million deal in free agency. Even if Fusco beats out Schweitzer, there is the matter of replacing Levitre if the team moves on from him next season.
The Falcons drafted Sean Harlow in the fourth round last season. He’s being converted to guard, but was inactive for all 16 games last season.
With Jake Matthews and Ryan Schraeder, the Falcons are comfortable at the tackle position. The Falcons even have experienced backups in Ty Sambrailo and Austin Pasztor at tackle.
“It’s really tough to say who’s going to be the second offensive lineman drafted after Nelson,” SiriusXM NFL radio analyst Gil Brandt said. “A guy by the name of (Will) Hernandez from Texas-El Paso is a player that before the season started, before the year started, probably wasn’t even a second-day pick. He’s come on.”
The group of offensive linemen is not highly regarded.
“I don’t think we have a great group of offensive linemen,” Brandt said. “I think we have a good group of offensive linemen. I think the Iowa offensive lineman (James Daniels) is really good. I think that Wynn, Isaiah Wynn is a real name to remember. He’s had a shoulder problem.”
Hernandez, who’s 6-foot-2 and 327 pounds, started his career as a defensive linemen. He played left guard last season and was named all-Conference USA.
“I would say about Will Hernandez, we always talk about two-gap defensive tackles,” said Phil Savage, director of the Senior Bowl and a former NFL general manager. “He’s a two-gap offensive lineman. He’s certainly a wide body on the interior of the line. He can set the bottom of the pocket, which is so important as the defensive coordinators try to scheme up and get into the laps of these quarterbacks. He can do that, and he’s a road grader as a run blocker.”
Hernandez’s weight has fluctuated.
“Will Hernandez is a great conversation, and teams are a little bit all over the board (on him),” NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said. “He was 340 at the Senior Bowl, 327 at the combine. Which guy are you getting? Either way, he performed outstanding.”
Hernandez is not a fit for the Falcons’ outside zone scheme, which requires a smaller and more athletic body-type.
“But really, I think the gap scheme, offensive schemes like him more than the zone scheme does, and that makes sense,” Mayock said. “He's a tough guy, better feet than you think. He's going to go somewhere between 24 and 40. So, he could slide into the first round. He's a nasty, tough guy.”
Smith is 6-foot-6 and 315 pounds. He bench-pressed 225 pounds, 35 times at the combine. The Falcons met with Smith at the combine and had a private workout with him.
“I like Braden Smith,” Mayock said. “He's a big, powerful dude, played a couple of different positions. I've got him at the bottom of my second-round stack. I think worst case for Braden, you're looking at the top of the third round.”
The NFL offensive line coaches are having a harder time developing linemen from the college ranks because of the proliferation of spread offenses where the linemen don’t have to sustain blocks very long and are rarely in a three-point stance.
Also, the NFL rules limiting contact in practice doesn’t allow for much padded work. So, linemen have been slower to develop.
“A lot of these offensive linemen, you've got to wait for them to get enough strength to play in the NFL,” Mayock said. “(Smith) is ready to go right now from a strength perspective.”
Offensive guard prospects
List of first-day (first round) picks: Nelson, Hernandez, Wynn and Daniels.
Second day (second-third rounds): Smith, Nevada's Austin Corbett.
Third day (fourth-seventh rounds): Washington State's Cole Madison, Idaho State's Skyler Phillips and Iowa's Sean Welsh.
Georgia: Wynn and Dyshon Sims.
Georgia Tech: Shamire Devine.
SEC: Mississippi's Rod Taylor, LSU's K.J. Malone, South Carolina's Cory Helms and Tennessee's Jashon Robertson.
ACC: Virginia Tech's Wyatt Teller, N.C. State's Tony Adams, Clemson's Taylor Hearn and Miami's K.C. McDermott.
THE SERIES
Part 5: Offensive line -- Today
About the Author
