The Atlanta Falcons drafted solid players, but too early

The main goal for the Atlanta Falcons heading into the 2016 draft was to find as many starters as possible, and while they may have found a couple, this will be known as the draft that could have been so much better.

Let’s start right at the top with the Falcons’ first-round pick. Atlanta selected Keanu Neal out of Florida to be their new strong safety, but let’s be real, folks, drafting him in the first round was too early. At the very worst, the Falcons should have traded back to the tail end of the first round and then drafted Neal. Odds are he still would have been there and if he wasn’t, oh well.

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A trade back would have meant at least two more draft picks for the Falcons, and in a draft in which they only garnered six players, adding a couple of more picks would have been nice. Reports surfaced that the Denver Broncos called the Falcons about the 17th overall pick but decided not to trade with them. Bummer.

On a positive note, Neal is a great football player. He will be without question the Falcons’ opening day strong safety and that’s hard not to like. He’s an extremely physical player but is also extremely smart. Atlanta wasted little time in finding themselves a replacement for William Moore, so them drafting him a little bit too early gets a pass.

The Falcons traded down two spots in the second round and picked up a sixth round pick. They then used the 52nd overall pick on weak side linebacker Deion Jones out of LSU and again, this was a reach. Jones has a great shot to win the starting job and at the very worst will split reps with whomever is on the depth chart beside of him, but he wasn’t a second round talent. He was a third.

He’s going to play and at the end of the day that’s all that really matters, but in a draft in which we only had six picks, why didn’t they try to trade down again and take him 10 spots back? The odds of him still being on the board with Su’a Cravens still available were pretty darn high and the Falcons could have picked up another draft pick by doing so.

Atlanta then used their third-round pick on tight end Austin Hooper out of Stanford. At first this seemed like a dumb pick, but after looking into it further, it was pretty solid. The Falcons are going to be in the market for a new starter at tight end after the 2016 season and Hooper is hopefully going to be that guy. His NFL comparison is Coby Fleener and if he turns out to be as good as Fleener, that’s a big win for a third rounder.

This was probably the only non-reach pick the Falcons had in the entire draft. He was a projected to go in either the second or third round and was taken in the third so props to getting him there. It would have been nice to see the Falcons take a pass rusher in that situation, but you can’t draft everything I guess.

So, the Falcons were officially off of the reach picks right? Wrong.

Atlanta’s first selection in day 3 of the draft was inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell out of Minnesota. Campbell was a projected fifth or sixth round pick, so this might be the most frustrating pick of them all. Not that he won’t turn out to be a solid player, but that the Falcons could probably have traded down, picked up an extra seventh-round pick and then drafted him.

He might not have been on the board in the sixth round and with no fifth-round pick in this years’ draft, they got who they wanted but it was a reach whether you like it or not. Let’s hope Campbell can win a roster spot out of training camp and give Paul Worrilow a run for his money to make up for it.

After not picking in the fifth the Falcons used their previously acquired sixth-round pick on offensive guard Wes Schweitzer. According to CBS sports, Schweitzer was the 37th ranked offensive tackle and didn’t even have a scouting report on NFL.com. So was this a reach? I’ll let you guys determine that.

The Falcons needed some depth at guard and they got it with Schweitzer. But, will he make the 53-man roster? I’m going to say no. If any of the Falcons’ six picks do not make the final roster, my bet would be that it would be Schweitzer. It seems to happen every year that Atlanta drafts an offensive lineman that doesn’t make the roster.

Atlanta used their sixth and final draft pick on kick returner Devin Fuller out of UCLA and this is a pick that made a ton of sense. Atlanta will be in the market for a new return specialist after they cut Devin Hester in a few months (; and Fuller might be that guy.

Fuller wasn’t the best available receiver left when the Falcons took him in the seventh round but who cares. This is the one round that gets a free pass because players drafted this far back usually never make it anyways. Fuller actually has a decent shot to make the team just because of his 4.39 speed and his ability to return kicks. But will he be used in the passing game? Nah.

Next: Grading the Atlanta Falcons' draft class

All-in-all it was a solid draft, but a draft that could have been so much better. With a couple more trade downs, this Falcons could have walked away with eight or nine picks and a handful of studs. But instead they walked away with just six picks and maybe two or three studs. Oh well.