Thomas Dimitroff’s five worst draft picks as Falcons GM
This one still hurts. Being number one on a list like this is not something to brag about. This miss was so bad, that even Dimitroff himself has talked about this being his biggest regret during his professional career.
In his first NFL Draft, Dimitroff struck diamonds with Matt Ryan and many were hoping he would repeat that luck in the 2009 NFL Draft.
When the Falcons were on the clock with the 24th pick, Thomas Dimitroff had decided to go with Peria Jerry out of Mississippi. Jerry spent five seasons in Atlanta and ended his career with 5.5 sacks and 19 QB hits.
Who could the Falcons have had? How about future Hall of Fame LB Clay Mathews III.
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Clay Mathews started out at USC as an undersized walk on and had only started 10 games at Southern California, all as a Senior, however, what a 10 games it was. He was the 2009 Butkus award winner and had unbelievable workouts at both the combine and the USC pro-day. He had skyrocketed up draft boards for seemingly everyone but the Falcons.