The past two drafts and a few shrewd moves have the Falcons’ roster looking pretty good moving into the future.
No matter what happens in Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots, the Falcons are positioned to be a contender for years.
The Falcons have quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones, who are in the prime of their careers, at 31 and 28, to power the offense. With the play of the past two draft classes, the Falcons now have a solid foundation on defense that they can continue to build and enhance.
“When you look at our roster, there are no major gaps that we really have to address, but we’ll continue to build properly and continue to look at our depth,” general manager Thomas Dimitroff said in an exclusive interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We are really excited and encouraged by the talent on the field.”
Dimitroff credits owner Arthur Blank’s willingness to spend near the salary cap for the team’s second revival under his regime, which is in its ninth year.
“It’s amazing to have that, when you go in as a team builder and you’re not being pressured to believe that you have to do this on a shoestring budget,” Dimitroff said. “I have other contemporaries in the league who complain to me about having to do that.”
The Falcons have seven defensive players who are in their first or second years and free safety Ricardo Allen is in his second year at his new position.
The second-year players are linebacker Vic Beasley, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, cornerback Jalen Collins and Allen.
The first-year players are safety Keanu Neal, linebacker Deion Jones, weakside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell and cornerback Brian Poole.
Seven of the eight were drafted in 2015 or 2016, and Poole was signed as an undrafted college free agent.
“We can talk about all of the draft picks over the last two years that we are really, really happy with,” Dimitroff said. “Obviously, Vic Beasley was very important for us. He was one of those guys last year who was feeling his way around.
“He came back in this year and I remember him saying that he was going to triple his sacks. I remember thinking, ‘Well that’s admirable, but that’s a long journey,’ but he did it. We have a lot of confident players on this team. He’s one of those guys who has continued to take it to a different level.”
After posting four sacks as a rookie, Beasley led the NFL with 15.5 sacks in 2016.
The Falcons landed Campbell in the fourth round of the 2016 draft.
“He was a guy, that as an organization, we were really dialed in,” Dimitroff said. “(Linebackers coach) Jeff Ulbrich, to his credit, was really, really interested in the way De’Vondre was moving around. His size and his speed and his ability to chase and pursue was really, really big.
“We thought he was going to continue to grow as pass defender. Jeff spent a lot of time with him after we drafted him. Our personnel staff did a heck of a job to present this as legitimate second, third or fourth rounder. We were very fortunate to get him in the fourth round.”
Neal and Jones were named to the Pro Football Writers of America’s all-rookie first team.
“When you look at it, Deion Jones has been a really nice addition for us,” Dimitroff said. “He fits well in what we are doing. Keanu Neal. He’s everything that we expected and more.”
The young defenders played well down the stretch and in the playoffs.
“They’ve all come together well, Dimitroff said. “You take those young guys and you pair them with a number of guys like Dwight Freeney, who was a really important acquisition for us, not necessarily on the logging of a lot of sacks, but on his leadership ability and his ability to really collapse the pocket, because he’s a very strong man.”
The Falcons drafted tight end Austin Hooper in the third round.
“We are really impressed with how Hooper is coming along,” Dimitroff said. “He’s in a nice spot. He continues to look athletic on the field.”
5-Year Atlanta Falcons Draft Breakdown
The Falcons have found at least two starters in four of the past five drafts.
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
TOTAL PICKS 6 8 9 7 8
STARTERS 0 2 3 2 2
BACKUPS 0 2 2 4 6
OTHER TEAMS 2 2 1 1 0
OUT OF LEAGUE 4 2 3 0 0
About the Author
