Atlanta Falcons’ Conservative Approach Hurts Their 2010 NFL Draft Grade
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010I recently posted an article that evaluates the 2010 Atlanta Falcons’ draft (www.profootballdraftnetwork.com/post-draft-analysis/nfc-south-post-draft-analysis/atlanta-falcons ).
Falcons’ GM, Thomas Dimitroff, has done a fine job of turning the team into a playoff contender. The Atlanta GM likes to draft high character players with a solid work ethic. This is a sound approach, but sometimes you have to also take a calculated gamble on a player. Atlanta passed on a talented pass rusher (Everson Griffen) who likes to party for a safer player (G Mike Johnson) at the bottom of the 3rd round. They also avoided the more explosive cornerback, Perrish Cox, for a corner (Dominique Franks) with less personal baggage in the 5th.
The vast majority of prospects in the draft are 21 or 22 years old. These are young men and a lot of them need time to mature. There are numerous new responsibilities for NFL rookies and some will take a couple of seasons to adjust (and some never will). Atlanta may find that to go from playoff contender to Super Bowl contender that they have to roll the dice occasionally on a talented player with some baggage.
