Offseason Mailbag: Likelihood of drafting a QB & debating top Falcon superheroes

You asked. We answered.

A trio of moves has the Falcons back in the news, but none of the signings are likely to tilt the franchise’s fortunes in a meaningful way. They do, perhaps, remove some of the cloudiness surrounding Atlanta’s draft options. With a pair of interesting cornerbacks now in the fold—although neither should be banked upon—it seems a bit more likely the Falcons go with their choice of edge rusher at No. 8 or take a serious look at moving back.

The moving back option makes even more sense when considering how the acquisition of Kirk Cousins put their financial timeline on the fast track. Atlanta has been reticent to wrap up a lot of money in only a handful of players, but in 2025 the Falcons are set to have the following five members count for roughly 45% of the cap: Cousins, Jake Matthews, Grady Jarrett, Chris Lindstrom and Jessie Bates.

That number could change by this time next year, but it still speaks to the need for Atlanta to get as many good players on cheap contracts as possible. There’s no better way to do that than through the draft. So, if a good deal is on the table for the Falcons to move back, I’d expect them to take a very serious look at it.

Alright, let’s get to today’s mailbag. As always, this is driven by y’all; the more questions we have the better this piece will be.

Will the Falcons add a quarterback in this draft? If so, who do you think are the top candidates for the Falcons? – Jeremy Hulsey (@FALCfan84)

I don’t think it’s out of the question that Atlanta adds another quarterback in this year’s draft, but at this point, I’m not sure I’d put money on that. The Falcons need as many early contributors as possible since they are firmly in win-now mode, and it’s tough to justify using a Day 2 pick on a quarterback, even if it’s a player like Michael Penix or Bo Nix.

With those two, specifically, as Kevin Knight wisely pointed out on last night’s Dirty Birds & Brews, age is a big factor in their developmental timeline. We expect Cousins to be here for a minimum of two years, and both Nix and Penix will be 24 when training camp starts. I’m never one to write a player off solely because of age, but that is a factor teams do seriously take into account.

As for some of the other guys who could be available later, I’m a fan of Tulane’s Michael Pratt. He reminds me a little bit of Falcons’ QB coach T.J. Yates as a prospect, so the pairing of those two could make a lot of sense. Pratt has a limited ceiling, but I believe he has a good chance to attain his NFL floor with a couple of years in the system. Similar to the way Kurt Benkert developed over time.

On the other side of the spectrum for me would be Joe Milton III. He’s got a Home Depot-sized toolbox as the position, but I wonder if he’ll ever be able to put it all together. The arm strength is ridiculous, but so is his decision-making at times. He is the quintessential home-run swing as a developmental prospect. Fun fact: He is cousins with Anquan Boldin.

Sam Hartman out of Notre Dame is one other name that I’ll throw out there. Very experienced player with obvious limitations but capable of having a long career as a backup.

In your opinion, how many of the seven Falcons picks will be good ones and how many will be lousy jabronis? – Ed Helinski (@MrEd315)

Since I’m a man of science and research, I did a little cursory digging through the Falcons’ draft picks from 2013-2020, which gives us an eight-draft sample size to work with. Based on those eight drafts, it looks like the expectation should be that you’ll land two good contributors who have the potential to land a second contract with the team. That’s what I’d define as hitting on your draft pick. We can quibble about how you define a hit with a later-round player, but generally, the goal is to land a second contract with the team that drafts you.

A good year would land you three such players, which doesn’t seem like a lot but that’s what recent history tells us. Likewise, you can expect three to five of your picks not to pan out, depending on the size of a draft class. Obviously, we all know that you’re more likely to go wrong in the draft than right, and I think a 1:2 ratio is about what we should expect. For every pick you nail, you’ll probably miss on a couple.

There can be a lot of reasons things don’t work out, but I’m not here to solve all of scouting for the NFL. I’ll be a bit conservative in my prediction here and say that since the Falcons currently have eight picks in this year’s draft, I would expect three players to become significant contributors.

Better superhero, The Falcon or Blue Falcon? – Jason Carreira (@jasoncarreira)

I have a ton of respect for the importance of Falcon in the history of comics. Not only is he the first black American superhero in mainstream comics, debuting back in 1969, but his telepathic connection to Redwing, his actual falcon sidekick, is pretty dope. Point for Falcon. He’s been a long-time member of many different Avengers lineups and even assumed the mantle of Captain America. Point for Falcon. There’s no doubt that at this current point in time, Falcon has a much bigger cultural resonance because of Anthony Mackie’s portrayal of the character in the MCU. Point for Falcon.

However, as a child of the ‘90s, I grew up on the likes of Scooby-Doo and Dexter’s Laboratory, both of which featured Blue Falcon in various episodes. His sidekick Dynomutt is simply the goodest boy around, and the Blue Falcon’s aliases of Radley Crowne and Azul Falcone are two of the best I’ve ever heard. Way better than Sam Wilson. Also, Anthony Mackie is a massive Saints fan. 500 points for Blue Falcon.

Thanks to everyone who submitted questions for today’s mailbag! If you’d like to submit a question for the future, leave it in the comments below or send to @willmcfadden on Twitter.