How the Atlanta Falcons nailed the 2025 NFL draft: full draft class review | Atlanta Falcons Podcast

How the Atlanta Falcons nailed the 2025 NFL draft: full draft class review | Atlanta Falcons Podcast

falcons fans what’s up we are here to introduce you to the Atlanta Falcons 2025 rookie draft class tory Mlaney here with me and Tori the Falcons have wrapped up day three of the NFL draft they made two selections today uh it’s it’s been a long weekend it’s been an exciting weekend the defense feels like it’s in a very different place um but let’s start before we kind of get into the entirety of the class and also maybe take a quick look around the division in kind of our our wrap up to draft weekend what did you think of day three i was very interested in day three um I think that it’s act it was actually a very productive day for Atlanta specifically because of pick 118 Billy Bowen Jr yeah um I truly was not I mean I’m in the same camp as I think what area scouts were saying what Jeff Albrich was saying i don’t think anyone truly thought that he was going I I don’t think anyone thought that Bowman was going to be there at 118 um that was the prevailing theme of that pick was that they were shocked that he was going to be there i mean I I the video which I think people can see this on our social channels the video of Jeff Olrich not in the war room but the room next door banging on the wall when this pick came through because he was so excited about it i I just I I think that he’s again he is so We’ve said this I think on every podcast but like the energy from Bri has been so palpable this weekend well if you’re a defensive coordinator and you just got four potential starters uh that have kind of the ceiling of being full-time starters for your defense very early on in their careers you do feel pretty good about it uh I think that we said it on day one we said it again last night when we were talking about Xavier Watts this is a team an organization that just took a major step forward defensively because of the picks made and then of course there’s Jack Nelson kind of to round out the group i think that was a very safe solid pick you go out and you get an offensive lineman you build depth along the the offensive line you can always always always always use offensive lineman there’s never a time when you don’t need one so I I think collectively day three was a little bit surprising because of Billy Bowman Jr and then the Jack Nelson pick makes a lot of sense i I I just I think when I look at this draft class in totality this is I think has the potential to be one of Terry Font knows best i agree um and it is his smallest it’s it ties for the fewest number of picks in Falcons history with that 2006 draft class which our guy DJ Shockley was part of but shout out DJ it will be I think an impactful one and that was kind of the theme leading into it was Terry Fono you know sitting there on Wednesday saying “Yeah we only have five picks and who knows if we’ll add more or not but like regardless of how many picks you have you have to hit on the players that you take and you need to get impact players.” And that was their goal and time will tell ultimately like we’re in reactive mode but like we got to wait a couple of years to really evaluate a draft class and I I think though we will look back on it feeling the same way that we do now which is okay you went and got some really proven highlevel SEC pass rushers to come in here and you know together kind of take on as uh James Pierce called it a mission yeah uh and then you added two guys on the back end one of whom will truly be in kind of the back end with the safety in in Billy Bow or uh sorry not Billy Bowman Xavier Watts and then Billy Bowman will be the kind of nickel like inside competing with De Alford Clark Phillips like that type of role so and Billy Bowman is interesting because I agree like I didn’t expect him to be there either in the fourth round he’s actually a player when we were doing our our day two like best available prospects that I put down and I put him down i did you put him down i put him down okay well I thought about putting him down i may have then put him down again for day three or I wrote about but but yeah he was somebody I seriously considered as well jaylen I think both of those guys were smart enough to go with the So when I saw him one I was like did do I even dare like what’s going on here so him being available it at first blush is like they doubled up on edge and then they doubled up on safety but that’s not again yeah it’s how you’re using it exactly also like okay doubling up on edge when you’re talking about doubling up on edge with Jaylen Walker and James Pierce Jr it’s like okay kind of yeah sort of but it’s not the same as like Ezrau and and James Pierce right exactly they’re different mechanics different type of uh players and different builds different ways that they’re going to play uh even though Jeff Brich did say today we had media availability with Jeff Olrich and he kind of reiterated what he told me earlier in the week where he’s like you know I really want Jaylen Walker to be able to focus on like one thing really finding him a home specifically as an edge rusher and I think like that was very evident in his press conference today to kind of be like look yes he can do all these things but they do feel like they’re in a good spot with Kaden Ellis they do feel like they’re in a good spot with Divine Diablo Troy Anderson so that that inside linebacker group is is an okay spot being able to bring Jaylen Walker up from here to here and I know if you’re listening you’re like where is she going uh but to to take him up a level in terms of his pass rush is only going to pay dividends moving forward when you potentially could get him moving around and doing more things in the versatile style of which we’ve known him to be the last year at Georgia and so he’s a completely different player than what James Pierce Jr is james Pierce Jr is a guy who’s going to come off the edge and literally go do one thing go get the quarterback beat your guy yep beat your guy then get the quarterback whatever comes first honestly it’s probably beat your guy and then get the quarterback but that’s the deal and then with Xavier Watts and with Billy Bowman Jr Xavier Watts is somebody who is going to be kind of this like almost like mirror to Jesse Bates in a way and obviously his player comp is Jesse Bates he says he’s marveling or he’s he’s taking his game and and mimicking it with Jesse Bates and that’s something he said all the time throughout the pre-draft process so he that’s his role that’s his niche and then Billy Bowman Jr i was talking to Jerry Gray today you were talking to or Taran was talking to Jeff Albrech this morning and both of them confirmed they’re like we’re moving him to nickel they’re like we’re going to see what he’s most comfortable in we’re going to kind of see and he’s done a little bit of everything for Oklahoma he’s been a four-year starter there in the box in the slot nickel safety like field safety he’s done just about everything at the position but they really really valued him at Nickel for one his speed his toughness and I I think that is where he could really hone in find a niche and I think that’s something that was a a theme for these picks especially these four defensive guys is there is a very specific role that this coaching staff wants to carve out for each of them to go and be successful yeah and and that’s important and I think honestly if anybody hasn’t yet go listen to Jeff Hullberg’s press conference today like yeah go listen to everything go check out all the great video content that when you were saying from here to here and even though again this is an audio medium unless you’re watching on our YouTube channel I was like if anybody’s seen Terry Fontnau over the last three days they know exactly what you were doing because this is where he lives right in this range um but Olrich is very I think intent and mindful of exactly how he wants to use these guys and when you have a player and I wrote about this a little bit um today on Saturday as we record uh about Jaylen Walker and kind of a player who he has watched closely who he has a relationship with in Micah Parsons and I know that is a weighted comparison to make and I’m not even necessarily making the comparison because they are different players but in kind of talking about that Olrich said “Yeah versatility can be a superpower but it can also be your kryptonite a little bit.” And one of my favorite players as a prospect in like draft history is Isaiah Simmons coming out of Clemson unfortunately his career just didn’t turn out the way that I thought it was going to and when you have somebody who can do a little bit of everything you do kind of get that like jack of all trades master of none that can be a version of your story so I think it’s exactly the right approach for the Falcons to say “Yeah you you can do all of that and that’s great that we know one day we can build you out in some of these other skill trees but to start we got to kind of focus you in on year one here’s what we’re really going to have you work on.” and the benefit and the luxury of having a guy like Devon Diablo and Kaden Ellis and Troy Anderson and even honestly like Leonard Floyd Trice Arnold Eat the guys that they do have all over the place will allow them to maybe more specifically narrow in Jaylen’s role so I I think that even though there is some redundancy on paper when you look at the positions these guys play no they’ve added four true kind of like pieces to this defense that should have a role day one yeah I agree and I think it’s really interesting if we’re just talking about like drafting strategy the and I’ll probably write this in a column as we’re recapping uh the this specific draft class but something that I was just thinking off the top of my head is the the surprise of what this draft was and I think the Falcons are a really interesting case study in how the draft ultimately fell and being pleasantly surprised by what you had and not so obviously it’s no secret they did not think that Jaylen Walker was going to be there at number 15 right yeah they didn’t think he was going to be there i think James Pierce Jr was their guy through and through they wanted him they liked him he’s a Jeff Olrich type of player and they fell in love with him and the way his play style but when you’re sitting there at 15 and you’re looking dead in the eyes of Jaylen Walker and they’ve been listening to you just all draft season being like “He’s not getting past Carolina guys i I don’t know what you’re thinking just go ahead and take Jayen Walker.” It does make me feel better that they also were as shocked as I was that he fell to 15 and so he he falls to 15 and they’re staring at him and they’re like “We can’t you can’t you can’t pass this up you got to go get him.” And they go get him and they make do and then they move up and get James Jr then fast forward and it’s like Xavier Watts you’re like no way this guy’s getting out of he’s the third best safety on the beast like he’s not he’s literally not falling out of the second round there’s no way and then there they are and it’s like we can move up and we can grab him and you give up you know a few picks here and there you give up a future fifth and you move up to 96 and you get Xavier Watts and then fast forward again Billy Bowman Jr no jeff Oberglier said “No way he’s going to be there at 118 not a chance all of a sudden he’s there you got to get him.” And I think that that to me was indicative of this entire draft class and how it really was a very random class and how it fell and how teams were valuing certain position groups and it was very fascinating but also in that in the randomness of it in the like holy cow like Jaylen Walker’s there let’s get him like even in that there is this idea of aggression by Terry Fono in the front office they wanted James Pierce Jr they went up and got him they wanted Xavier Watts and even though they’re like “Oh he’s falling he’s falling we’re going to have a chance of getting him.” They didn’t think that they would he would fall to 101 so they move up to 96 to get him so like there is this uh almost like it’s like a game within a game almost aggressiveness in a in a random patient mental yeah it’s like choosing your spots it’s picking yeah picking your moments all right i don’t I don’t have the ability to go all in all the time so I got to pick my hands and fold here and then say “All right this is the card we’re going to play.” Right and they I think they did that really well this weekend i do too and I think that that’s why this was such a fun draft like for me personally I think last year I I think having to play this role of like explaining to people why the Michael Pennocks pick a number eight and that kind of was the dominant conversation of last year and then last year’s draft class not panning out I think the way people wanted to in their rookie years you’re not seeing a lot of them on the field when you were they were hurt and you don’t get to see Brayland Trice at all and Ruka Roro is kind of going through an ankle thing like there you don’t really see Brandon Dorless at all and Michael Penn you don’t see until the last three games of the season so last year’s draft class was a lot of just like you’re just trying to to get to the point of wanting to feed in optimism and hope about it as a team employee to kind of to the fan base if I’m just being completely honest but also like you and I like to put ourselves in their shoes like I think naturally we like to be like “Okay so so what is the like let me I’m I’ll work with you here i can get where you’re at but like let me I’m going to question it a little bit like and I’m going to ask some questions and I’m going to kind of be like well I don’t really understand this.” But it’s not like always blind optimism it is sometimes we are like “Okay well like let’s put ourselves in the in the shoes and like walk through it and game it out and okay the strategy there.” But my point in saying that is the feeling I have sitting down and talking about this draft class in comparison to last year it feels night and day in terms of I think the ability to get guys who can go and be playmakers day one and that is what you needed especially defensively i think it was a big thing that I even said on a podcast not too long ago it’s like you need starters like you need at you only have five picks you got to get a lot of stars and I said this at the top of the pod i really think that there’s a good opportunity that in either this year or next year four of the five are starting for this team i mean I think you’re mentioning last year’s class and kind of the the year one like developmental year we’ll we’ll call it for some players but with a player like Brilon Trice who whose year kind of ended before it even started there’s a big chance that we get out there in August September and this Falcons defense has a ton of new faces on it like yeah that’s the expectation right so it’s almost going to be like you have two draft classes in one you get a guy like Brilen Trice back boom he’s a new addition in there you get Rukaro and Brendan Doris like playing more snaps having a bigger role right out of the gate and really seeing the vision for what they will be and how they want to deploy them that’s going to be just adding into this draft class so yeah it’s going to be a very unique feel for this upcoming season just because of kind of like the combination of those two factors and then again just the real heavy approach on defense but an approach that is tailored specifically to what Raheem Morris what Jeff want to do and you and I have talked on the background kind of like about the pingpong nature of almost the Falcons defense under a bunch of different defensive coordinators who have different philosophies and things like that so I I really do like the fact that the Falcons over these last two years have been like let’s let’s not make this a longer process that it needs to be let’s go ahead and get a bunch of guys who fit exactly what we’re looking for and shorten this window of time to like turn this around and turn it over a little bit and so they should have a lot of the skills and qualities and traits that they need to have this defense function in the way they envision right and that excites me more than anything yeah because you need this defense if you believe that everything you’ve done for this offense all the money you’ve pumped into it all the first round picks that you’ve pumped into it those first round picks their rookie deals are running out and Kyle Pittz is on his fifth year option we literally were talking about Drake London and the Falcons potentially picking up his fifth year option today like Bjon Robinson couple years left on his like Michael Penn yes like you’re in year two with him don’t make me start thinking about the end of Michael Penn’s feel it just got I know i’m sorry but that’s the reality of what we’re living in and I think like if you feel you know you have a good offensive line they’ve been working together a long time like you Darnell Mooney you have a really solid place where your offense is especially with the carryover of having Zack Robinson going into year two with Michael Pennson with all of these guys so I say all of that to say the time was more than nigh to look at the defense like it was it was time if you were being serious and that you feel really good and you feel really strongly about your offense you got to go get a defense to complement it because that was something that Jeff and I were talking about the other day is he’s like I do feel so confident in this offense being able to be a highpowered high functioning and scoring a lot of points y and that’s the thing is like if we’re having the same conversation last year there was a time with this defense that I was like if Atlanta is not scoring 35 yeah if they’re not in the upper 30s they are probably going to lose and you needed to get to the point where you didn’t rely so heavily on that and and them being able to do that and I think like it was very very obvious from go that they were going to get players that were exactly what to your point what Jeffrey Terry Fono Raheem Morris they kept saying over and over and over in every interview we want to go get impact players we want to go get impact players we want to go get impact and I it got to the point where that word was just like pingponging in my brain impact impact and I am sitting here now looking at this group i I said I was like I don’t think there was a safety in college football the last two years that was as impactful as Xavier Watts i I don’t know if last year there was a even Georgia defender that was as impactful in that defense as Jaylen Walker you went out and you got impactful players and now’s the time now moving forward it’s like how impactful can they be early on because you’re going to need them to be you absolutely will um again I I think that it’s it is a great class even though it’s a smaller class right now on paper i love kind of the names that Atlanta added i’m excited to see what they look like on the field and how it all comes together but I want to ask you two more questions about this class in particular and then we’ll wrap up by kind of taking a look around the division and see how the NFC South has has changed over the course of this weekend um but first do you have kind of a favorite just pick not necessarily like we love all of our children right so like not I I I like this guy more than this guy but just was there either hey just when it happened it was a surprise in the best way for me or I I really attached to this guy in the pre-draft process what stands out to you from this class it’s it’s Xavier Watts um I feel kind of silly by not saying either Jaylen Walker or James Pierce Jr because you love Jaylen Walker too i know i do you can love both of them i can Yeah but I think everybody can talk about those first round guys and everybody has talked about those first round guys i think that Xavier Watts is going to be exceptionally impactful if he becomes the player that I think he has the capabilities to be and who’s on an upward trajectory after only playing this position for two years like I I have big expectations for someone like Xavier Watts and I think the value of him at as a number 96 overall pick is I mean value is high i think ceiling is high and I I’m if you listen to our podcast breaking down that pick I was as excited as I have been in this podcast studio they used me for the thumbnail they should have used like you must have been just floating in the air it was just like my ponytail was just like straight up i was so I hope they don’t clip that and make that the thumbnail there you go Derek let’s do it don’t do that um but I I truly he he was just every he was the type of player that I fell in love with in the pre-draft process not that I didn’t with Jaylen Walker i you knew like I kept saying I’m not even going to entertain the thought of Jaylen Walker because I don’t think he’s going to be there like and then he was and it’s like oh wow that’s fun like that’s great and then to meet Jaylen Walker and to meet James Fris Jr and to get into their heads and hear their stories it was fantastic but Xavier Watts the player is the one that I personally gravitated towards the most out of this group in what he could be if he’s partnering with Jesse Bates you love a ball hawk i do of course that would actually that would be a fun episode like what are the the types of players if we were going to power rank if you could have any archetype of a player like a gunslinger versus just like a a scatback i don’t know maybe that would be fun i would love that i’m a very traditional though i I do think I am way more traditional than I am not okay that’s fair um but I I’ll go with Jaylen Walker i kind of obvious feels like um and and I have high hopes for James Pierce i have high hopes for everybody i it’s more the kind of characteristics the leadership traits like being able to talk to him in that press conference when he was introduced to the Atlanta media it’s very clear how thoughtful he is how how smart of just kind of like composed all of those things and I was just thinking about you know in the same offseason that you part ways with Grady Jarrett who has forever been kind of like viewed as the leader the central figure the heart and soul of the defense yeah the statesman of this Atlanta Falcons defense you kind of have a a void there right and Jesse Bates incredible leader in his own right a defensive team captain like I would expect him to step in there right i Leonard Floyd probably as well as like with the connection of Raheem Morris things like that i think yeah they’ll all emerge too leadership naturally takes kind of like it falls as it does but I think it is important that you drafted a player who is universally like Kirby Smart all of his Georgia teammates a school of alphas honestly the University of Georgia is and as two alphas ourselves exactly and and Jaylen Walker is the alpha of alphas right at least according to everything I’ve read everything I’ve heard but sitting there in that first press conference I was like “All right I get it i get it.” So if he’s even you know threequarters of as good on the field as I expect him to be I’ll be thrilled but like the leadership qualities I just can’t wait to continue to talk to him to see how he grows and matures as a player because that’s one of the fun parts of this job is seeing a fresh face Grady Jarrett in year one and then kind of talking to him in year seven and you did the whole decade like piece on him and I’m sure that was a lot of reflecting for you as well and it’s just cool to see these guys grow and change and mature and like Yeah well you think about AJ Terrell coming out of college i remember I and I won’t say names but I remember one time being like uh I was talking to a friend of mine who covered AJ at Clemson and and they were like he doesn’t really talk all that much he’s not really a big talker he’s not and now seeing how AJ has blossomed into a he still is not a huge talker but he’s so confident in himself and you he you trust and he has such a like presence about him and he’s kind of become so comfortable in his own skin and so confident in his own skin that even when I did a podcast with him recently and thinking back because he was the very very first podcast guest that I did for Falcons in Focus like at the stadium it wasn’t it was just kind of the original idea idea that we had and he was the first one i remember even then thinking back on like he’s now been in the podcast chair with me three times and who he was like even this is even in like year two or year three that he was here but now going into like his contract extension and having him talk about his career i mean that that’s there’s something validating in that and it’s also not just validating but it’s I think the human experience not to get philosophical on this but the human experience of like people change and people grow and who people are in their first year in the league when they’re drinking water out of a fire hydrant and they’re rookies and they never stop and it’s just all the time nonstop is not who they’re going to be down the road and they’re going to grow and change and evolve and give them the chance to give them the chance to get better give them the chance to make their mistakes and grow from those and I I think like that’s something that if these players have the opportunity to be starters very early on they’re not going to be 100% all the time no player is but I feel really good about where they could be and honestly where they may even be seven or eight games in too you know you don’t know right now we’re in the very early stages of evaluating these players we haven’t even seen them in a Falcons uniform yet we haven’t even seen them on the p practice field yet even though I can look at James Pierce Jr and be like you’re a tall dude like you’re huge how how do you run a 447 but like we haven’t seen them yet we don’t know what the vision is we can hear Jeff talk about what he would like to do with these guys maybe that changes maybe that evolves very early on we don’t know i think ultimately there is optimism about this draft class and the impact they can make 100% yeah i I like your perspective there though because we we are viewing them like it’s so easy to forget that when when Jaylen Walker and James Pierce walked in this facility like bright wide eyes like oh my god I’ve just gone through the craziest period of my life this is my dream coming true and we’re all sitting here being like yeah but how versatile can you really be are you biting off too much before you can do one thing or should you do and like we’re nitpicking and doing all this and they’re just like you know mini camp’s a little while away i just got selected i got my new job my family’s here so it it’s like it’s a great kind of let’s keep perspective let’s let’s not put the cart before the horse they’ll get out there on the field we’ll see how they grow mature we’ll see the roles they’ll change and and and I’m excited about it yeah they’re not they’re not stuck in in cement right now and they’re not a finished product at all there’s so much exciting about their game and the possibility of what they could become so let me ask you um after the draft free agency you know the the waves have have come and gone there will be a small mini wave as there usually is after free agency but what what else is left for the Falcons to to do with their roster so I think that 1A is Kurt Cousins um he’s going to continue to be the elephant in the room until he’s not and whatever that means and I think that seeing how the quarterback market shook out from the draft is going to make some other dominoes across the league fall i think that% there is going to be some quarterback movement um some quarterback conversations probably in the next week or two especially when you get closer to that June 1 cutoff date uh so that’s 1a yeah kurt Cousins and we’ll be we’ll be keeping track of that monitoring it so yeah Kurt Cousins watch is it’s going to be again it’s going to be a thing until it’s not a thing um so that’s one a I do think just kind of looking at the scope of what the Falcons need I do want to see them bring in a little competition for Ryan Nel at center i know I’ve said this a couple times over the podcast the last couple of days uh I I didn’t think it was absolutely necessary that they drafted a center but let’s see kind of some guys that they get off the UDFA market that bring in and who can kind of push Ryan Nel a little bit it’s like you need you need someone in there you can’t just kind of give the guy No no player whether it’s Drake London Bjon Robinson Michael Penn like you got to have a little bit of that pushing every single coach wants to create competition right right that’s that’s what you do this for um so I I would really like to see them go and maybe that’s a veteran somewhere that may still be out and about roaming around or someone off of a practice squad so center is kind of a a little bit of a question mark a dot dot dot for me uh I also think that if there are some big-time DTackles out there you know if there are some big body DTackles that are coming off of the they’re that are still on the free agency market or their UDFA who could Who’s this year’s Eddie Goldman right yeah who’s who’s this big body defensive lineman that can come in and eat up space in the middle uh and be a a rotational player if and when needed those are the two areas again it’s funny the guys like right across from each other literally is right in the middle of that of the line of scrimmage is is where I’m looking in terms of this this roster you want a package deal i I I think makes a lot of sense and it’s kind of as day three was going along and everybody was like “All right who who should we still take?” Like “Who’s on the board?” I was kind of defaulting to some of those same things because when you’re looking at the roster you’re like “All right if if I was going to pick and choose and plug you know here here and here the one I will say in addition to those two would be wide receiver.” Right yeah it was kind of the other spot that I thought the Falcons could maybe target in the seventh round there there were some interesting players but they they chose not to of the positions though like center a big more run stuffing tackle and a third receiver those you can find those yes I I think the Falcons will be able to add those as the summer ticks along spring turns into summer whatever um so yeah if those are your kind of needs coming out of the draft I’m I’ll take it you’re you’re sitting pretty pretty I’ll take it especially considering how many defensive needs uh we have talked about it’s crazy how they’ve gotten here from where they were in the offseason right very beginning of the offse because remember I think I even said a podcast very early on and we we kind of you kind of gave me a look i remember this because I was like you know there maybe seven or eight starters that the Falcons are looking to get like defensively and I think I said maybe I said six or seven not seven or eight and here we are now at the end of the draft and it’s like there’s to your point there’s going to be a lot of new faces and a lot of of new rotations and a lot of new groupings and I’m very excited to see kind of what everything pans out to be cool well let’s go ahead and wrap up uh today’s podcast with a quick look around the division um the Panthers made seven picks I believe the first round pick T McMillan at wide receiver a bit of a surprise for everybody but then they did double up on the defensive side of the ball with a pair of edges Nick Scorson and a princely um Milan there you go i maybe I don’t know did you stick the landing judges okay it was silent they also got a uh you know our Georgia boy Trevor ETN Lean Ransom out of Ohio State Cam Jackson defensive tackle out of Florida Mitchell Evans out of Notre Dame tight end and then they wrapped it up in the sixth round with Jimmy Horn Jr of Colorado any of those picks like really stand out to you for what Carolina did i mean Carolina pumped so much into their uh defense during free a free agency so I I was even though I kept giving them Jaylen Walker I understand the T McMillan pick and I understand the tra the Trevor ETN pick and I or Travis sorry whichever one it is Trevor trevor sorry i’m like no it’s like you I literally went I was like that’s not right and then I was like no it is right it is right um I was second guessing myself but I I understood the strategy behind that and I understood after all of it was said and done why they valued T McMillan so highly because they had they they pumped their free agency resources into that defense a lot of free agency resources into that defense that defense I think has fundamentally changed yes so you needed someone who can move the needle for you offensively and I think they went out and got got the guy yeah it’s it’s interesting to me that he was comped so often to Drake London during the pre-draft process and it’s like the Panthers have just watched Drake London tear them up and like do great things for the last three years and they were like we we’ll take one of those please like what’s that table over there eating man that looks good can I get one of those uh yeah so and and also his size if your quarterback is smaller you know Drew Brees had a lot of tall wide receivers i’m sure that that helps you know just being able to lob it up there so that is what the Panthers did are you feeling better or worse about the Panthers at this point or the same i I feel hard to feel worse honestly I feel I I just feel like the Panthers have really are really going to take a step in and be more competitive in in 2025 because I really liked the the um the Bobby Brown yeah pickup extending JC Horn like they went and got I think a pair of Edge Rush or another Oh Tan Wharton yep uh there are some guys that some dudes that I think they got for their defense that I again I think is gonna move the needle for them i I agree they were one of the fun kind of like stories late in the year right so it it would be all right if the Panthers kind of do well let’s let’s have them take a step forward and and the Bucks and the the Saints can just stay at the bottom new era uh speaking of the Saints though they made let’s see what was eight selections uh starting with Kelvin Banks Jr the offensive tackle in the first round of pick number nine what were your thoughts when they went offensive tackle there i I did give I drafted them i I mocked a couple of offensive tackles to them because I did know that was a need for them they were in need of a starting tackle um more often than not I went defense though i even like cornerback i went linebacker with them i went edge rusher with them so to see that they were valuing offensive tackle that need I think so highly was um very interesting what’s more interesting about the Saints though second round pick is their second round pick yep tyler uh Tyler Shuck out of Louisville quarterback everybody you know when the Derek Carr kind of reports started coming out the Saints were talked about as a shador team maybe they didn’t do it in the first round they waited until the second round what do you think about Tyler Shuck i I’m so interested to see what shakes out with the quarterback situation with the Saints that’s a weird one it’s that quarterback room is fascinating you can kind of joke about the how some quarterback rooms like you can talk about the Browns who did get Shador Sanders and they got Joe Flacco and they got uh Kenny Picket or like the Seahawks you know that tweet came out before they traded Sam Howell back to the Vikings yeah like there are some interesting like groupings of quarterbacks across the league and the Saints are one of the weirder ones and what happens if Derek Carr isn’t 100% in 2025 who are you going to run out there like do do you run out Taylor do you do you run out Spencer Rattler like I don’t know and I’m glad I don’t have to make any decisions on that because that that whole situation seems really uh kind of up the creek without a paddle it it like that’s that’s kind of how I feel about it that quarterback situation well they’ve uh they’ve gotten on out of the creek they’ve found their banks and now they can move forward with the offensive line you’re looking at me like I ready to just end this podcast it was going back and forth between like just booing on the spot or like throwing my computer it went back and forth i didn’t either i kept it together this is a very regular occurrence in the workplace so I am totally normal and cool with this and we’ll take it in shred um moving on vernon Broutton the defensive tackle out of Texas was their third round pick uh Jonah Sanker safety out of Virginia another third round pick for them danny Strutsman Oklahoma linebacker a lot of Oklahoma defenders kind of in the cycle notre Dame like good good solid like big school defensive players i always like to see that um Quincy Riley cornerback out of Louisville deon Neil running back Kansas uh Maliki Maveo yep pretty sure I nailed that one yep tight end UCLA and Fidil Diggs wrapping it up in the seventh round the edge out of Syracuse who was somebody like I I kind of kept looking at just going through the mock drafts in the seventh round for the Falcons so did the Saints move the needle in in any way for you with kind of their offensive tackle selection in the first round no no no cuz I think they have bigger issues than offensive tackle i I think they have bigger fish to fry and I don’t know what’s going to happen with them so the needle didn’t I mean I can’t say that it got like worse like you know like I can’t say that it dipped but I don’t think it moved for me at all yeah I got you i I feel the exact same way um so moving on to Tampa Bay who won the NFC South last year they went with Amika Igbuka in the first round again a kind of a surprise wide receiver pick for for the Bucks he’s somebody who’s constantly kind of comped to Chris Godwin right so now you got just a couple of them hey you know they’re kind of just trying to outscore people at this point you know like they’re just like we feel good about Baker Mike Evans Chris Godwin now you have a a third option which like at he’s a good third receiver the fact that your third receiver is a numbers a number 19 overall first round pick is kind of like bananas but like when you have Mike Green or Mike Green when you have uh Mike Evans and then you have Chris Godwin out there it’s kind of like well dang like Yeah but I’m I’m looking didn’t they draft last year uh McMillan out of Washington did they so don’t they have I’m trying to The internet here has has been spotty all all weekend and it’s that is one thing that is we’ve all been working so hard there’s so many people in Flower Branch that the the Wi-Fi is like um All right but I got their roster pulled up let’s see wide receiver uh yeah Jaylen McMillan they they drafted him right last year so they are just like draft picks draft picks draft picks at wide receiver you know you can’t blame them but it feels like there’s a log jam a little bit at that position well it’s like with the same conversation that you always have with the Falcons when you have Kyle Pittz Drake London Bjan Robinson Tyler Algier Darnell Mooney like you have so many offensive weapons how can you possibly make all of them happy how can you possibly get the ball in all of their hands and the the truth is you can’t okay the the truth is it’s like you have to hope that like egos don’t stand in the way because then there’s like if you if they do then then you got guys being pissed that they’re not getting the ball and they’re not you know potentially going to get paid their next contract but I think like that’s not been a problem here in Atlanta it’ll be interesting to see kind of what happens with uh the Bucks moving forward they’re a lethal offense though they have been I think for a while ever since Baker Mayfield has really dug his heels down in that offense they’ve been really good and they’re hard to stop i think they just got harder to stop but I don’t know if they did anything to sh up like certain positions future like that was the big thing with me is why I kept going Jiad Campbell to them linebacker out of Alabama at 19 was because Levante David is not getting any younger he’s been not getting any younger for like seven years right and I think at a certain point you got to start thinking about okay like what is the the kind of second wave of your defense look like and and what does it look like when some of these guys who are aging are aging out and what do you do next so I think it’s it’s interesting it’s an interesting strategy and and we’ll kind of see where those holes are for for the Bucks yeah but it’s kind of like what was that space for improvement if you were already a minus like Yeah go to an A is like a small jump as opposed to a C plus to a B plus right when you already have Mike Evans when you already have Chris Gone when you already have like Yeah what’s the opportunity cost for another position to get better to make an incremental gain for a fourth receiver yeah that’s I’m with you on that it’s interesting but they Kate Kate too right and plus Baker Mayfield noted dual threat quarterback he’s got to get his touches got to design some bootlegs for him um they they went defense though uh the next four picks doubled up at corner benjamin Morrison out of Notre Dame a lot of people you know some mocked him to the Falcons tied him to the Falcons um Kansas State quarterback Jacob Parish was their third round pick and then they went edge with David Walker from Central Arkansas or uh no I’m not even going to try to say how the the like Irish lady did it a lot of international fans doing it but it was it was like an Kansas in there um and then Elijah Roberts out of SMU another edge defender before they wrapped it up with Oregon wide receiver Tez Johnson in the seventh round who was I know he’s tiny he was one of my favorite players at the Senior Bowl like he lit it up at the Senior Bowl so two wide receivers i like both of them uh they’re they’re corners i do like Benjamin Morrison um David Walker somebody I looked at but he makes sense for them not so much Atlanta because like he could be a fourth or fifth pass rusher and more of a designated like go get them yeah kind of guy uh but out of everybody aside from Atlanta the other NFC South teams I I kind of like the Bucks draft as much as I taste well it’s to me it’s the most interesting it’s the most intriguing it’s the one that I’m most curious about and and I think that I said the Saints didn’t really move the needle for me i I said the Panthers you know kind of maybe did a little bit the Bucks I do think according to how some of these second third round pick the day two picks kind of pan out for them I think will be very interesting to see something that I want to bring up though before we we hop off is Warren Sharp just tweeted uh the best value 2025 NFL draft classes atlanta Falcons came in at number one let’s go so I I think how about that and by a pretty significant margin of looking at most valuable uh based on that goes to your point though they let the draft come to them right right and we’re always saying that about teams like the Eagles and the Steelers and the Raven and it’s like hey look at us who would have thought yeah in terms of like values versus reaches atlanta is way on the the value side number one in fact top 250 picks Falcons had five of them that means they they nailed nailed all their their picks and it’s what they to your earlier point and what what you wrote about earlier this week it’s what they had to do yep so that’s a great place I think to wrap up this podcast wrapping up the 2025 NFL draft for the Atlanta Falcons so thank you so much for joining me for each of these Tori um thank you to Jared our producer for all of these he’s been pulling some late nighters early mornings to make sure that uh that we get that out there but I am Will McFaten for Tory Maney thank you guys for following along all draft weekend stay tuned for some more excellent coverage but until then take care and we’re going to go get some sleep

Will McFadden and Tori McElhaney put the final touches on an exciting 2025 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons. They share their thoughts and analysis on each move the Falcons made, each draft pick joining the team, and what more Atlanta needs to do moving forward to put together the best possible roster by fall. To finish, they take a look around the NFC South and how the Saints, Panthers, and Bucs stack up against the new look Atlanta Falcons.

0:00 – Intro
0:30 – Day 3 Recap
2:45 – Full draft class review
18:50 – Favorite draft picks
26:24 – Remaining roster moves
30:10 – Looking around the NFC South
41:25 – Falcons ranked 1st in draft value
42:10 – Outro

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