The Atlanta Falcons blew the Super Bowl, and it's tough for Super Bowl losers to return to the big game -- hasn't happened in more than 20 years, in fact. But Atlanta certainly seems to be set up for a few more years of excellence, and mostly it's because of how they've killed it the NFL Draft.
Sure, their high picks of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, and later picks of Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, have worked out. But just as remarkable is their work on the defensive side of the ball. Nine of their 11 starters this season will be players they've selected in the last four drafts, and three of those -- three of the best ones -- were taken last April.
One of the later-round picks, Grady Jarrett, is is drawing praise thus far this offseason. He had a strong performance in the Super Bowl, and Dan Quinn says Jarrett has "totally jumped out" this offseason.
Last year's picks -- first-round safety Keanu Neal, second-round linebacker Deion Jones and fourth-round linebacker DeVondre Campbell -- all impressed as rookies. Neal and Jones were selected to the 2016 All-Rookie Team. Altanta's first-round pick the previous season, Vic Beasley, led the league with 15.5 sacks. And 2013 first-rounder Desmond Trufant was having a strong season until getting hurt.
Just two projected defensive starters who aren't homegrown in 2017, and they're both former first-rounders, too. And who knows: 2017 first-round defensive end Takkarist McKinley should also be a factor in this defense; maybe he pushes to start right away.
Not that there isn't room for improvement. Atlanta had a bottom-10 defense in NFL terms, yards and points allowed. But it snuck into the top half of the league in sacks and takeaways and scored 5 defensive touchdowns, enabling it to finish as a top-10 fantasy defense. With the playmakers they've assembled in recent drafts, decent chance they finish up there again.
In the table below, non-homegrown players are in italics.
ATLANTA PROJECTED DEFENSIVE STARTERS | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Player | Draft | Rd | |
LDE | Adrian Clayborn | 2011 | 1st | |
DT | Dontari Poe | 2012 | 1st | |
DT | Grady Jarrett | 2015 | 5th | |
RDE | RaShede Hageman | 2014 | 2nd | |
SLB | Vic Beasley | 2015 | 1st | |
MLB | Deion Jones | 2016 | 2nd | |
WLB | DeVondre Campbell | 2016 | 4th | |
LCB | Robert Alford | 2013 | 2nd | |
FS | Ricardo Allen | 2014 | 5th | |
SS | Keanu Neal | 2016 | 1st | |
RCB | Desmond Trufant | 2013 | 1st |
--Andy Richardson