Falcons to keep open mind with 31st pick

“The reality at 31 is that there are a handful of positions on both sides of the ball that would be really interesting,” Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. “It might not be necessarily a fan favorite, but we know for the long-term success of this football team, there might be something that we feel very strongly about.

“We are very open to both sides of the ball at this point.”

In addition to adding a pass rusher to play opposite of linebacker Vic Beasley, the Falcons have an vacancy at right guard with the retirement of Chris Chester.

“We feel we are in a good spot,” Dimitroff said.

Chester’s replacement could be on the roster.

“There are guys out there that we are looking at in the draft,” Quinn said. “We are excited about Ben (Garland) and Wes (Schweitzer) here. It’s always going to be about that competition. We are going to live that life.”

The Falcons won’t rule out adding secondary help. Quinn noted that most defenses spend half of their snaps playing five defensive backs to combat all of the three-wide-receiver formations.

“Having five defensive backs on the field is now the norm,” Quinn said. “Having your depth at this position (is vital). The value of the position has increased. I would say, this is a very good class of (defensive backs).”

The Falcons have six picks and don’t plan to focus solely on offense or defense, despite having No. 1 scoring offense and the No. 27 ranked defense last season.

“The main thing is getting guys that fit you best and you have a clear way on how to feature them,” Quinn said. “It’s really important to add to the competitiveness and toughness of the team.”

The Falcons are rooting for a run on quarterbacks and running backs in the draft. If those players start flying off the board, good players at positions of need for the Falcons will be pushed down in the draft.

The quarterback class is not highly rated or respected, but some teams, such as New Orleans, Houston, San Diego and Arizona, may want to stash the quarterbacks to develop.

“I’ve got Deshaun Watson ranked No. 1,” NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said. “I think he plays his best football when the lights are brightest. I love the kid’s attitude, his leadership and the way his teammates respond to him.”

Watson, who played at Clemson and Gainesville High, is not the consensus top quarterback prospect because he played in a spread offense and threw 17 interceptions last season.

North Carolina’s Mitchell Trubisky, Texas Tech’s Pat Mahomes and possibly Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer or California’s Davis Webb could be selected in the first round.

“Pat Mahomes is a pure gunslinger,” Mayock said. “Makes a lot of mistakes.”

The Falcons need Kizer to slip into the first round and push another good player down.

“I think he’s a late (first-round) to mid (second-round pick),” Mayock said. “I think he’s a year or two away from playing, but he’s the prototypical NFL starting quarterback — size, arm strength, athletic ability.”

Former LSU running back Leonard Fournette is a first-rounder. The Falcons would like to see Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey, Florida State’s Dalvin Cook, Tennessee’s Alvin Kamara and possibly even Oklahoma’s Joe Mixon become first-round picks.

The Falcons want to make sure they have the right fit.

“We put a premium on competitive toughness, which is a really important thing,” Dimitroff said. “If you were just looking at talent on the field, I think it would be a really easy life. But there are so many things that go into our decisions on putting a team together.

“Even more so now with Dan’s system in place, we have a really definitive way of how we want to approach the type of players we are looking for. There are very few ambiguities as far as what we are looking for.”