Patrick Mahomes injury should be a wake up call for the Atlanta Falcons

One of the biggest drafting blunders that Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff has made during his tenure is not drafting quarterbacks to develop and trade.

Since the Atlanta Falcons took Matt Ryan third overall on the 2008 NFL draft, they have only drafted one other quarterback – Sean Renfree out of Duke back in 2013. In a passing league, that just does not make any sense.

We have seen too many times over the last several years starting quarterbacks suffer season-ending or career-ending injuries. Having a good developed backup quarterback can actually serve a couple different purposes for clubs.

One, a good young backup serves as a replacement should a club suffer what happen last night to Patrick Mahomes or a couple of seasons ago to Teddy Bridgewater. Sure, the Atlanta Falcons have been extremely lucky in not having to face an issue like that as Matt Ryan has started all but two games in his 11.5 years with the Falcons.

However, there is an important second aspect to having a good young quarterback in the NFL.

Trade and pick accumulation.

The New England Patriots have served as the example for this and no one seems to be paying attention. Draft a quarterback to learn behind your starter and then trade him to a team desperate for a quality quarterback.

Over the 20 year career of Tom Brady, the Patriots have traded Drew Bledsoe, Ryan Mallett, Matt Cassell, Jacoby Brissett, and Jimmy Garoppolo to other teams for compensation that far exceeded that backups actual value to the club.

With Mahomes injury, if the Falcons had used a similar drafting philosophy, they could have picked up the phone and offered the Chiefs an opportunity to grab a developed quarterback in exchange for a pick or maybe a player that could help on the defensive side of the ball.

The Chiefs have Matt Moore as their backup and surely would be more than interested in listening to a team with a good young quarterback that could step in either as the starter or as the backup to Moore.

In the last couple of years, the Atlanta Falcons could have drafted guys like Dak Prescott or Jacoby Brissett in the third rounds or later and been able to be that team that is called to flip a backup for a better pick.

No one knows for sure, but it would be great to start seeing this franchise with a different draft mentality than it has had in the last ten years when it comes to quarterbacks and their ability to help in more ways than one.