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Atlanta Falcons: updated first round options

By Colin Hubbard

Nov 7, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Jaylon Smith (9) puts on the hat of the Fighting Irish leprechaun mascot after defeating the Pittsburgh Panthers at Heinz Field. Notre Dame won 42-30. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 7, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Jaylon Smith (9) puts on the hat of the Fighting Irish leprechaun mascot after defeating the Pittsburgh Panthers at Heinz Field. Notre Dame won 42-30. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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3) Jaylon Smith, OLB

Nov 7, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Jaylon Smith (9) puts on the hat of the Fighting Irish leprechaun mascot after defeating the Pittsburgh Panthers at Heinz Field. Notre Dame won 42-30. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 7, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Jaylon Smith (9) puts on the hat of the Fighting Irish leprechaun mascot after defeating the Pittsburgh Panthers at Heinz Field. Notre Dame won 42-30. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

Jaylon Smith is a player that has endured a lot of heartache in recent months but his future is starting to look more and more bright as we get closer to draft day. Smith suffered a devastating knee injury at the tail end of the 2015 while playing for Notre Dame in which he tore both his ACL and LCL.

As a result of his injury, Smith dropped down draft boards and fell as far as the beginning of the second round after being a possible top-1o selection. However, Smith got some good news this past week that his repaired knee should be good enough for him to be ready for week 1 of the 2016 regular season which has his name coming back up the boards a little bit.

There’s a decent chance that Smith is available when the Falcons are on the clock and if he is, they would have a hard time passing up on him even with the recent injury. Players who suffer knee injuries these days come back better than ever. We got to witness this first hand in the 2015 season after rookie running back Todd Gurley took the league by storm after tearing his ACL in his last season at UGA.

It’s still unclear as to how high Smith will move back up the draft boards with his newly released recovery time, but he’s definitely going to be in the mix when it comes to who the Falcons will use their first round draft pick on.

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