Atlanta Falcons: Grading All of Thomas Dimitroff’s Draft Class

Dec 16, 2012; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Falcons guard Peter Konz (66) takes the field before the game at The Georgia Dome. The Falcons defeated the Giants 34-0. Mandatory Credit: Josh D. Weiss-USA TODAY Sports

2012:

Round 2 (pick 55): OG/C Peter Konz

Round 3 (pick 91): OT Lamar Holmes

Round 5 (pick 157): FB Bradie Ewing

Round 5 (pick 164): DE Jonathan Massaquoi

Round 6 (pick 192): S Charles Mitchell

Round 7 (pick 249): DT Travian Robinson

The Good: It’s really hard to find anything particularly good from this draft class. Jonathan Massaquoi has been a nice rotational piece in the defense line who has earned some more playing time. He was a nice find in the 5th round and has shown flashes of some effective pass rushing techniques. Lamar Holmes was solid starting at right tackle this season in place of the injured Sam Baker, unfortunately he’s now also been lost for the season.

The Bad: Dimitroff didn’t have a first round pick to work with, courtesy of the Julio Jones draft day trade a year earlier, and that certainly didn’t help what would end up being an awful class. Peter Konz was an absolute waste of a second round pick; he was given the starting role right from the get go, and then proceeded to completely flop in both his first season as a guard, and then in his second season as a center in an attempt to replace the great Todd McClure. He ended up getting demoted to the bench behind Joe Hawley near the end of last season, but will now reclaim the starting spot thanks to Hawley’s season ending knee injury. Lamar Holmes was even worse in his role as a starting offensive lineman last year: he gave up the second most quarterback disruptions of any tackle, and was rated the worst player on an awful Atlanta offensive line by Pro Football Focus, earning an abysmal rating of -32.3.  He’s gone down to a season ending foot injury and will be replaced by Gabe Carimi. Bradie Ewing, meanwhile, ended up suffering two season ending injuries before finally getting cut, meaning that he just cashed a pay check for a couple years without doing much of anything.

Grade: F+ This was Dimitroff’s worst draft, it produced no big time contributors. The 2009 draft was also awful, but at least that one produced William Moore, there was no such luck here. Holmes and Konz have been massive disappointments who helped Falcons fans get into the habit of holding their breath hoping Matt Ryan wouldn’t get killed whenever he dropped back in the pocket, last season. The only reason TD got the plus, and not a straight F, is because of Jonathan Massquoi’s nice work coming in as a fifth rounder, and because Holmes seemed to have been holding his own this season before his injury. Nonentheless, this draft was appalling.