Falcons 2016 Draft Recap

[Burns]

Falcons Select 6 players in 2016 NFL Draft (1/2)​

The 2016 NFL Draft has come and gone. With only 5 picks heading into the draft, Atlanta manage to pick up one more, and ended up selecting 6 players (3 Defensive, 3 Offensive). The Falcons will be heading into the upcoming season with all of their draft picks in stock. Let's take a look at how they did on draft night.

Round 1, Pick 17: SS Keanu Neal, Florida

The Falcons went a different direction than most of the fan base wanted them to with this pick, but pick up a solid player in Neal. This guy can put a lick on somebody, and will hopefully be able to set the tone on defense as the Strong Safety of the future. Defensive Coordinator Richard Smith had this to say about Neal:

"I'll tell you what, I've been very impressed with (Neal). He's extremely focused, he's very mature, he's very, very talented. I love his demeanor and his work ethic. He's the first one in the building trying to get more coaching; he wants to be coached so much. I think he's going to be pretty special."

Let's see what NFL Network had to say about the pick.

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Round 2, Pick 52 (from HOU): MLB Deion Jones, LSU

Deion Jones is expected to be a project for the Atlanta Falcons. This guy has all the physical talent in the world, he just needs to translate that into success on the football field. He only started one season for the LSU Tigers, but was extremely impressive.

The 6-foot-1, 222-pound Jones followed up his splashy senior season by turning heads at the combine, checking in with a swift 4.59-second time in the 40-yard dash. He really left scouts wowed a few weeks later at LSU's Pro Day, wowing with an eye-popping 4.38 seconds in the pre-draft's most popular event, as well as registering a 35.5-inch vertical jump and an impressive 18 repetitions of 225 pounds in the bench press, quickly establishing himself as one of the hottest names in the class as the draft approached.

The Falcons are confident that Jones has the ability to get off blocks and continue to flow to the ball. General manager Thomas Dimitroff repeatedly discussed his ability to “scrape.” Jones will have to compete with the team's returning MLB Paul Worrilow.

Let's see what NFL network had to say about Jones.

Round 3, Pick 81: TE Austin Hooper, Stanford

The Atlanta Falcons look to add some much needed help in the Red Zone with the 6'4 Hooper.

The Falcons had their share of red zone woes last season, including a slew of turnovers. Though they possess arguably the most dangerous receiving threat in the league in Julio Jones, the Falcons didn’t take full advantage of their red zone opportunities. They could have been even better than their 54.7 percent red zone conversion rate, which ranked 17th in the league.

In steps Hooper, who caught six touchdown passes last season in a Stanford offense dominated by Heisman Trophy candidate Christian McCaffrey. Three of those touchdowns were in the red zone, and one them was a 42-yard, catch-and-run down the middle at Oregon State.

The Falcons hope Hooper can give Matt Ryan a much needed weapon in the passing game.

Let's hear what NFL Network had to say about Hooper.

Round 4, Pick 115: OLB De'Vondre Campbell, Minnesota

Much like Deion Jones, De'Vondre Campbell comes into Atlanta as a raw athletic talent looking to compete for a spot in the linebacking core. If they're serious about developing players, Campbell could be a steal, but his fit on the defense is still a question with Deion likely locking down the WILL spot at linebacker. Atlanta gets faster on defense despite the questions.

Let's hear what NFL Network thought about the pick.

 

[Burns]

Falcons Select 6 players in 2016 NFL Draft (2/2)​

Round 6, Pick 195 (from HOU): OL Wes Schweitzer, San Jose St.

Schweitzer was a bit of an unknown guy heading into the draft. If you do enough digging, you can find that he is an intelligent lineman who might just have the tools to compete for a spot on the roster.

Here's what GM Thomas Dimitroff thought about Wes:

"He’s another guy with the makeup. He’s an athletic guy. He has wrestling in his background. We’ve talked about that before as far as the importance of leverage and being able to move around with his wrestling background. We think he continues to have upside. He has the versatility to play tackle as well as inside. … we think he has got some serious development side to him.”

Let's see what NFL Network made of the pick.

Round 7, Pick 238: WR/KR Devin Fuller, UCLA

This guy can fly. The Falcons add someone who can legitimately outrun almost anyone on the football field. While he may not have a future as a big part of the passing game, Fuller will definitely be given the chance to return kicks, and possibly become the team's next Devin Hester.

Here's what GM Thomas Dimitroff had to say about Devin:

"He’s a guy that overriding theme, versatility, has the ability to catch the ball and run routes as a receiver. He also has in our minds some budding ability to be a return specialist, and we’re going to be working on that, as well. Again, to get him in the seventh round, though not overly productive this year, he had more production last year, we’re looking for him to continue to develop.”

Let's see what NFL Network thought of the Falcons final pick of the 2016 draft.

And with that, we wrap up our Falcons 2016 Draft Recap. Falcons football is on the horizon.

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