I’m sure we were. I think that’s why we pretty much took our entire time to hand in the pick. They were set on JPJ, probably thinking, like most, that there was no chance of Walker dropping to them at 15. Then when he did, they had to debate which of the two they wanted, and simply couldn’t pass on Walker. But they really liked Pearce, which is why they traded back into the 1st to get him.
I feel like that’s been a pretty common assumption now. Even during the call with JPJ, Coach Rah says: “Took a little longer than expected…” They went to get dinner with him and his mom the night before the draft. They just never expected Jalon Walker to fall to them. Love them being able to pivot away from someone they were vetting so hard when a pick fell into their laps, and love the trade back up to still get their guy. I was watching a few mock drafts from a year ago (I like to look back at previous years’ drafts) and guess who was considered the top EDGE prospect this time last year? JPJ.
I think so too.
I doubt anyone really mocked their unicorn pick (Jalon) sliding all the way down to them. Gotta take him if he’s there.
Then they said “fugg it” and traded back up into the First to get the guy they originally intended to grab.
Love it or hate it. It’s a committed move.
We probably were until Jalon fell. That’s okay, too.
We get both and that’s great. I hope one or both work out.
I’ve been thinking this is what happened also. During the draft we took up nearly the entire clock. I don’t think they expected Jalon to be there. I think once we were on the clock, JPJ was our guy so we perhaps tried to trade back a little to get some extra picks so we could still get JPJ but also some draft capital. After that failed we went with Jalon but after JPJ slid about 10 more picks we knew we had to get him still.
Is it just me that thinks it’s really weird that the brain trust went to dinner with Pearce and his mom the night before the draft?
JPJ?
“I have not yet begun to fight!”
That JPJ?
Ah, James Pierce, Jr, not John Paul Jones, father of the US Navy
Terry pretty much confirmed this without directly saying it if you watch the draft press conference.
Ulbrich said he didn’t even have Walker on his report because they just assumed he wouldn’t be there
I’ll preface this by saying I’m never really a huge fan of trading away future first round picks, but that said I think the part of the narrative surrounding the trade that annoys me is the “well, that could be a high pick next year if the Falcons aren’t good!”
Well no shit, but that’s never a reason not to do something. This team should’ve made the playoffs last year and blew multiple chances to win the division. It’s a shit or get off the pot year for the GM and a lot of the players he’s brought in during his tenure. They made an aggressive move to draft a player that fills a big need for the team.
This is the Falcons and it very well could backfire on them, but they made a bold move and they need bold moves. JPJ isn’t the caliber of prospect Will Anderson is, but nobody gives a shit what Houston gave up to get him because it ended up being worth it. Here’s hoping the JPJ ends up going the same way for us.
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Doesn’t matter we got em both .
Bring on the training camp!
So pick #26 was another pick #15 in their eyes.
I’m sure we were. I think that’s why we pretty much took our entire time to hand in the pick. They were set on JPJ, probably thinking, like most, that there was no chance of Walker dropping to them at 15. Then when he did, they had to debate which of the two they wanted, and simply couldn’t pass on Walker. But they really liked Pearce, which is why they traded back into the 1st to get him.
I feel like that’s been a pretty common assumption now. Even during the call with JPJ, Coach Rah says: “Took a little longer than expected…” They went to get dinner with him and his mom the night before the draft. They just never expected Jalon Walker to fall to them. Love them being able to pivot away from someone they were vetting so hard when a pick fell into their laps, and love the trade back up to still get their guy. I was watching a few mock drafts from a year ago (I like to look back at previous years’ drafts) and guess who was considered the top EDGE prospect this time last year? JPJ.
I think so too.
I doubt anyone really mocked their unicorn pick (Jalon) sliding all the way down to them. Gotta take him if he’s there.
Then they said “fugg it” and traded back up into the First to get the guy they originally intended to grab.
Love it or hate it. It’s a committed move.
We probably were until Jalon fell. That’s okay, too.
We get both and that’s great. I hope one or both work out.
I’ve been thinking this is what happened also. During the draft we took up nearly the entire clock. I don’t think they expected Jalon to be there. I think once we were on the clock, JPJ was our guy so we perhaps tried to trade back a little to get some extra picks so we could still get JPJ but also some draft capital. After that failed we went with Jalon but after JPJ slid about 10 more picks we knew we had to get him still.
Is it just me that thinks it’s really weird that the brain trust went to dinner with Pearce and his mom the night before the draft?
JPJ?
“I have not yet begun to fight!”
That JPJ?
Ah, James Pierce, Jr, not John Paul Jones, father of the US Navy
Terry pretty much confirmed this without directly saying it if you watch the draft press conference.
Ulbrich said he didn’t even have Walker on his report because they just assumed he wouldn’t be there
I’ll preface this by saying I’m never really a huge fan of trading away future first round picks, but that said I think the part of the narrative surrounding the trade that annoys me is the “well, that could be a high pick next year if the Falcons aren’t good!”
Well no shit, but that’s never a reason not to do something. This team should’ve made the playoffs last year and blew multiple chances to win the division. It’s a shit or get off the pot year for the GM and a lot of the players he’s brought in during his tenure. They made an aggressive move to draft a player that fills a big need for the team.
This is the Falcons and it very well could backfire on them, but they made a bold move and they need bold moves. JPJ isn’t the caliber of prospect Will Anderson is, but nobody gives a shit what Houston gave up to get him because it ended up being worth it. Here’s hoping the JPJ ends up going the same way for us.
We were… I think a lot of people knew that.