Draft Needs

So we're now less than two months away from the greatest event in televised sports, the NFL Draft. With Free Agency in full swing the Falcons landed four players this weekend (Michael Turner, TE Ben Hartsock, CB Von Hutchens and S Erik Coleman) There might be a few more moves made (OG Maurice Williams appears to be in the mix), but it's time to start shifting focus towards the draft. Obviously after such a dreadful season and relative roster purge, this draft is huge for the Falcons. Unfortunately for the Falcons, there are so many areas of need that there's not one quick fix player to put them in playoff contention. Fortunately for the Falcons, there are so many areas of need that they can't really go wrong in any direction...unless they want to cripple their franchise by drafting Matt Ryan. Before we get into all the debates over who to pick where, today I wanted to focus on the biggest positions of need for the Atlanta Falcons.

1. Defensive Tackle
You will hear a lot of hub-bub about taking Jake Long at #3 and it's hard to argue with the logic. That being said, the Falcons have Johnathan Babineaux, Montavious Stanley and Trey Lewis signed at defensive tackle right now. I'm a big Lewis fan, I thought he showed flashes before his knee injury last season and can be a productive player if he's healthy. If not, it just amplifies the need for that position even more. Our run defense was atrocious last year (just as bad as our run offense) and we're thin at that position.

2. Offensive Tackle
So you knew we weren't going very far without addressing this concern. In case you were wondering why this is an issue, I can answer that with a question. When was the last time the Falcons drafted and developed a franchise tackle?

anyone? Bueller?

That's what I thought.

3. Quarterback
Allow me to brag on Chris Redman and Joey Harrington a bit here. Were they great last year? Nah, but you know what? In the grand scheme of things, they weren't THAT bad. In fact, Aside from the Tampa debacle following Quitrino's abandonment, Redman played pretty well in fact. The Falcons ranked in the middle of the league in most passing statistics. Redman's QB rating was over 90 in his short stint as starter. I think Redman has earned a shot to keep the starting job this season. Is he a long term answer? Probably not, and thus the need to draft a young QB they can develop.

4. Middle Linebacker
The one long standing Falcons veteran that survived the roster purge was Keith Brooking. Honestly, in terms of production that was surprising to me. Brooking might still have some value at his natural position, Outside Linebacker, but he's simply way out of his league in the middle where he played last year. If you can add a good, young MLB to the mix, with Boley and Brooking on the outside and Stephen Nicholas rotating in, well then you have something to work with.

5. Receiver
I'm sort of lumping here. Roddy White had a breakout season, hopefully he'll continue to improve in 2008. If you listen to the show, you know my disdain for Michael "butterfingers" Jenkins. Ben Hartsock was a solid addition, but he's a blocker and not a pass catcher, so adding another tight end who can help replace some of Crumpler's production is necessary.