Arthur Blank: Best is yet to come
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank continues to put pressure on the Falcons management and coaching staff. It’s a welcomed site from an owner that for the most part has been quiet during the 19 years he has owned the franchise.
On Friday Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank told the clubs in house media team that he believes the team is poised to have one of their best drafts ever saying:
"“My personal feeling based off our needs and based on talent available is this will be probably one of the better drafts we’ve had,” Blank said. “I’ll be surprised if that’s not the case.”"
That would certainly be something given that 2016 looks like the best class that the Falcons have had top to bottom under Blank’s leadership and Thomas Dimitroff as general manager. That draft class yielded three pro-bowlers in Deion Jones, Keanu Neal and Austin Hooper as well as starting LB De’Vondre Campbell.
However, this 2019 draft class is stocked with high level DT and OT, some of which could last into the middle of the second round. A guy like Clemson’s Dexter Lawrence, two-time All-American DT and is 6’4 340lbs, will more than likely be on the board when the Falcons pick in the second round simply because of how loaded this draft is.
We all know the names like Jonah Williams at Alabama and Jawaan Taylor from Florida but starting tackles like Kansas States Dalton Risner and Wisconsin tackles Michael Deiter and David Edwards will be available in the second round. More than likely two-time national champion and four year start Mitch Hyatt from Clemson will be available in the third round. Hyatt took nearly 4000 snaps in college and started 58 of the 59 games in his Clemson career.
The point in all of this is that Blank feels really good about this team’s draft strategy and their plan going into the draft on April 25th. This speaks volumes to me as Blank has never been this vocal in previous years and that feels like a great omen from where I am standing.
dark. Next. Paying has not paid off for the Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons have nine draft picks in 2019 and this draft is deep with talent at the spots the Falcons must address and seemingly looks like it should be Dimitroff proof. I hope this class is more like the 2016 draft class top to bottom and not like any of the others from the Dimitroff era.