FALCONS’ HIGH PICKS
The Falcons will participate in their 50th NFL draft this year. Holding the No. 8 pick at the moment, this would be the 24th time that the franchise has had a pick in the top 10. Here’s a look at the previous top-10 picks.
Year (Pick); Player, Pos., School
2014 (6); Jake Matthews, OT, Texas A&M
2011 (6); Julio Jones, WR, Alabama
2008 (3); Matt Ryan, QB, Boston College
2007 (8); Jamaal Anderson, DE, Arkansas
2004 (8); DeAngelo Hall, CB, Virginia Tech
2001 (1); Michael Vick, QB, Virginia Tech
1993 (9); Lincoln Kennedy, OL, Washington
1992 (8); Bob Whitfield, OL, Stanford
1991 (3); Bruce Pickens, CB, Nebraska
1989 (5); Deion Sanders, CB, Florida State
1988 (1); Aundray Bruce, LB, Auburn
1986 (2); Tony Casillas, NT, Oklahoma
1985 (2); Bill Fralic, OT, Pittsburgh
1984 (9) Rick Bryan, DT, Oklahoma
1982 (9); Gerald Riggs, RB, Arizona State
1980 (7); Junior Miller, TE, Nebraska
1977 (6); Warren Bryant, OL, Kentucky
1976 (9); Bubba Bean, RB, Texas A&M
1975 (1); Steve Bartkowski, QB, California
1971 (7); Joe Profit, RB, Louisiana-Monroe
1969 (2); George Kunz, OL, Notre Dame
1968 (3); Claude Humphrey, DE, Tennessee State
1966 (1); Tommy Nobis, LB, Texas
For the fourth time in his eight NFL drafts, Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff will make a pick in the top 10.
Again, the Falcons will face the quandary of drafting for very obvious team needs — pass rush — or selecting the best player available when the draft starts Thursday and runs through Saturday in Chicago.
“The ideal of being there in the top 10 at eight gives us an opportunity to move up and back,” Dimitroff said. “There is a lot of discussion already about movement both ways with a lot of our peers in the league.”
What’s complicated for the Falcons is that some talented offensive players such as Georgia’s running back Todd Gurley, West Virginia wide receiver Kevin White and Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon III could all be available at the eighth slot.
The Falcons could receive a big break if both of the leading quarterbacks go first and second. Florida State’s Jameis Winston could be headed to Tampa Bay and Oregon’s Marcus Mariota to the Tennessee Titans.
“A lot of it I believe has to do with what goes down with the top three picks,” Dimitroff said. “That’s going to set the tone for how much movement there is into the top 10 and even the top five.”
A good defensive end or linebacker could get pushed down to the eight spot.
The three best defensive linemen — USC’s Leonard Williams, Florida’s Dante Fowler and Clemson’s Vic Beasley — will likely be off the board.
The Falcons could receive another break if Gurley is picked by the New York Jets at No. 6 or the Chicago Bears at No. 7.
The Falcons, who must improve their pass rush, could be left with picking between Kentucky’s Bud Dupree, of Wilkinson County, and Nebraska’s Randy Gregory, a top-five talent who failed a marijuana test at the scouting combine.
But after you crunch the workout and combine numbers — and we know the Falcons are heavy into analytics — Dupree is the bigger, stronger and faster athlete.
Dupree is 34 pounds heavier than Gregory, runs a faster 40-yard dash (4.56 to 4.64), has a higher vertical (42 to 36 1.2 inches) and broad jump (11 feet, 6 inches to 10 feet, 5 inches) and is one-tenth of a second faster in the all-important 10-yard shuttle, which tests an athlete’s lateral quickness and explosion in short areas.
Gregory is much faster (6.80 to 7.52 seconds) in the three-cone drill, which measures an athlete’s ability to change direction at a high speed.
Several draftniks have questioned if Dupree is worthy of a top-10 pick because of his inconsistent play at Kentucky. However, that same issue didn’t scare the Falcons from Ra’Shede Hagemen last season.
Hagemen’s numbers were similarly dazzling, but his tape from Minnesota showed that he was inconsistent in games.
If the Falcons put more stock in the analytics over the tape, Dupree’s name could come of the board with the eighth pick.
Gurley is widely considered the top running back in the draft, but a running back hasn’t been taking in the first round since 2012.
The Falcons believe that Gurley, who’s recovering from knee surgery, could be ready to play early next season.
“I’m not a physician, but I’ve been led to believe that he’ll be ready somewhere doing the early parts (of the season) and, again, he’s another guy that’s going to have a sort of interesting influence on this draft, given his talent along with the concerns on if he will be back early or not,” Dimitroff said.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn came from Seattle, which had running back Marshawn Lynch, and wants his offense to be more balanced.
“Man is he tough,” Quinn said of Gurley. “Just from watching him over the last three years, the attitude and style that he plays with, he’s one of those guys across the NFL that we would turn on (the television) on Saturdays to see him compete and battle. There are certain guys who jump off the tape at you, and he’s been one of those guys for me.”
Dimitroff likes his running style, too.
“He runs with all that passion and all that urgency that teams are looking for,” Dimitroff said.
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