Let’s hope Dimitroff’s draft day trade magic continues for Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons have nine different draft picks in the 2019 NFL draft, there is zero chance they make actual pick with all nine selections.
During Thomas Dimitroff’s first 11 NFL drafts as the Atlanta Falcons general manager, he has shown the ability to make things happen for players that he covets. With nine selections in this week’s draft, we should expect Dimitroff to use several of them to obtain players he thinks will make a big difference on the roster.
If you are not aware – Dimitroff is damn good at this trading draft picks thing…
Quick recap of a few of the trades that Thomas Dimitroff has made during his time in Atlanta;
2008: Dimitroff traded several picks with the Redskins to select Sam Baker, Harry Douglas and Kroy Biermann
2011: They draft trade that will go down in NFL history as one of the most lopsided trades to ever take place. Thomas Dimitroff would send five picks to Cleveland to move up 21 places and draft the NFL’s best wide receiver and future hall of fame player Julio Jones. The five picks that Cleveland received were used on players no longer in the NFL.
2013: The Falcons held the 30th overall pick in this draft. They would trade up eight spots to grab University of Washington DB Desmond Trufant. Prior to his injury during the 2016 season, “Tru” had become a Top 5 corner in the NFL; let us hope he can get back to being the guy in 2019.
2015: Dimitroff waited until the later round to use his draft day trade magic, as he would move up nine spots to select an undersized defensive tackle out of Clemson. Of course, we are talking about Grady Jarrett, who would go on to terrorize Tom Brady in Super Bowl 51.
2016: The Falcons actually traded back a couple of spots in the 2016 NFL draft in order to wait and draft Deion Jones. They exchanged picks with Tennessee and grabbed the Titans sixth round selection as well which was used to select Wes Schweitzer.
2017: Coming off the Super Bowl appearance, the Falcons actually had the 31st pick in the first round but gave up a couple later round picks to move up to 26th and select Takk McKinley. While McKinley has struggled to consistently see the starting lineup, he has shown flashes of brilliance and like Desmond Trufant, let’s hope we can see him take a major step forward in 2019.
There are a few more trades that were not mentioned above, but you get the point. Thomas Dimitroff has done very well at executing the draft day trades and some would argue, he has been the best among his peers over the last decade.
With nine picks in 2019, let us hope Dimitroff is able to work the phones and add several players to this roster that will make a big impact in the immediate future.