B
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons answered their biggest question with McCarthy. Grade: B.
by ATLbrantley ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 3 steals
· 3 reaches
The Falcons bet big and early on Akheem Mesidor, 69 picks ahead of the board. Bold does not always mean right. It does the job without flash, and the B reflects it.
Everything downstream of J.J. McCarthy depends on J.J. McCarthy, and the building knows it. They banked enough surplus on Simpson to cover a lot of smaller sins.
For all the activity, interior defensive lineman went untouched, which is hard to explain.
Good work on the whole, with interior defensive lineman the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
J.J. McCarthy at pick 21 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A tidy little value on Ladd McConkey in the 43rd pick, a step better than break-even. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Caelen Carson at pick No. 74 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. A minor itch, scratched.
Tyler Batty in slot 109 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Sataoa Laumea at the Round 5 slot. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Akheem Mesidor well ahead of where he belonged. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Jaylin Simpson in pick 201 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Omar Speights in No. 244, plain and simple. A need, and now a little less of one.