In Terry Fontenot\u2019s final pre-draft presser, he selected his buzzword for this year\u2019s draft: \u201cImpact.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Atlanta Falcons<\/a> general manager delivered that impact.<\/p>\n Is this a premature statement? Undoubtedly, but this class projects to be Fontenont\u2019s most instantly gratifying yet. The team brass took a different approach than in years past; they did not reach for prospects they fell in love with and picked the best players from schools with brand recognition.<\/p>\n In years past, Fontenot seemingly couldn\u2019t help himself when the team got outside of the first round. Project after project, reach after reach, and Atlanta still hopes that most of these come to fruition multiple years into their rookie deals. The team made a legitimate effort to curb this trend, and the results can be seen by comparing this class against the all-mighty consensus board<\/a> (curated by the illustrious Arif Hassan<\/a>).<\/p>\n Per the board, Atlanta did not reach for a single prospect and walked away with multiple \u201csteals.\u201d Jalon Walker, Xavier Watts, Billy Bowman, and Jack Nelson were all ranked higher as prospects than their eventual selections. James Pearce Jr. was 26th on the board, meaning Atlanta\u2019s timing to trade up couldn\u2019t have been better, and that applies to Watts in a greater capacity. This is the first time in Fontenot\u2019s career that he did not reach on a single player based on consensus board value.<\/p>\n the Falcons had the NFL’s best draft based on value<\/p>\n just one year after ranking dead last in this metric they rank #1 in the NFL in 2025<\/p>\n Atlanta entered this draft without a lot of draft capital (4th lowest)<\/p>\n but they made it count, not reaching for ANY of their 5 picks<\/p>\n they\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/EyuTzZVBAV<\/a><\/p>\n