{"id":850231,"date":"2026-04-02T23:12:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T23:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/850231\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T23:12:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T23:12:22","slug":"espn-selects-pair-of-high-upside-defenders-for-falcons-in-top-100-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/850231\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN Selects Pair of High-Upside Defenders for Falcons in Top-100 Mock Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Atlanta Falcons<\/a> are three weeks away from the pinnacle event of the NFL offseason, and the anticipation is ramping. Even though the Falcons will carry just five picks into this month\u2019s NFL Draft, the franchise still has the opportunity to continue its overhaul of the 2026 roster and infuse it with talent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Falcons will carry five draft selections, but none in the first or fifth round. The regime will need to make the most out of picks 2-48, 3-79, 4-122, 6-215, and 7-231.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As we creep ever so closer to the draft, the mock draft season is hitting full throttle. We have now seen several opinions (including our own<\/a>) on how the Falcons should address their needs in the draft, and ESPN is the most recent outlet<\/a> to put out their predictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In this version, the Worldwide Leader rotated selections between their key draft experts, Mel Kiper Jr., Matt Miller, Jordan Reid, and Field Yates. This quartet hit on the first 100 picks of the draft, with each analyst leaning on what they would \u201cpersonally do at each slot\u201d with their personal player rankings.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

With these draft experts playing general manager and not allowing trades, let\u2019s take a look at what they would do for the Falcons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

2-48: Caleb Banks, DT, Florida\"The<\/p>\n

The Falcons could go with size at pick 48 in the NFL Draft | Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Field Yates was the expert on the board for the Falcons\u2019 first pick of the draft, and he settled on the big-bodied defensive lineman out of Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAtlanta’s first pick is a big swing on Banks, who has top-20 talent but was limited to just 90 snaps in 2025. He recently underwent foot surgery and is expected to be shelved from full football activity until June,\u201d Yates wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This pick makes a lot of sense for a Falcons team looking to bolster their trenches this offseason. Caleb Banks is one of the most physically imposing players in this draft class \u2013 the defender stands 6-foot-6 and 327 pounds, with arms that stretch 35 inches. The size is impressive, but his athletic traits jump out. At the NFL Combine, Banks ran a 5.04 forty and had a 32″ vertical on a broken foot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Banks underwent surgery this month, but will be ready for football activities this summer. When he returns healthy, Banks will provide a significant boost to the Falcons\u2019 interior.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The defender is on the Falcons\u2019 radar, and he is scheduled to meet with the team<\/a> for a top-30 visit this spring.<\/p>\n

3-79: Davison Igbinosun, CB, Ohio State\"The<\/p>\n

The Falcons could use a long cornerback like Davison Igbinosun | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Reid was in charge of the Falcons\u2019 second selection, and he settled on the cornerback out of Ohio State.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIgbinosun is a big, physical presence who will need to limit his handsy nature, but he has the potential to be an eventual starting CB2 at the next level,\u201d Reid wrote.<\/p>\n

At 6-foot-2, Igbinosun has the ideal size and arm length for a boundary cornerback in the NFL. He proved to be an outstanding college player for the Buckeyes, starting 53 games (56 games played) over four seasons. He accounted for four interceptions and 17 passes defended over the last two seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For a Falcons team looking to upgrade their cornerback depth, Igbinosun (who has the chance to evolve into a solid second cornerback) would be an ideal selection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sign up for our free Atlanta Falcons newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X, and Instagram for the latest news!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Atlanta Falcons are three weeks away from the pinnacle event of the NFL offseason, and the anticipation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":850232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2074],"tags":[223,254,2554,224,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-850231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-falcons","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-falcons","10":"tag-atlantafalcons","11":"tag-falcons","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116337652006553687","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/850232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}