Drafting a quarterback would be a mistake for the Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons would be making a huge mistake by drafting a quarterback with the fourth pick in the NFL Draft later this month.

The quarterback position is not an area of need at the moment for the Atlanta Falcons. Matt Ryan is coming off of a great year, one in which he didn’t have his best wide receiver on the field for almost half of it and still threw for over 4,500 yards and 26 touchdowns.

However, according to a report from NFL Insider Chris Mortensen, GM Terry Fontenot could be looking at drafting a quarterback, while Arthur Smith believes that Ryan still has years to go before he is finished.

Yes, Ryan isn’t getting any younger and there are a decent amount of young and promising quarterbacks that could star in this year’s draft class. However, Ryan is still throwing the football with the best of them.

Many fans have concerns regarding who will be the organization’s next leader after Ryan retires or leaves. These fans want the Atlanta Falcons to draft the quarterback of the future right now. These are valid concerns, however, they are jumping the gun. There will be plenty of great prospects over the next couple of years as there always are.

The Atlanta Falcons do not need to draft Ryan’s replacement right now because he is still playing at a high level. What the team needs is to build around the quarterback of the present to win right now.

The Atlanta Falcons have other position needs to worry about.

This is a team with a plethora of needs that absolutely have to be filled if this team wants to go anywhere. As it stands right now, this is not a playoff team. Drafting a player with the fourth pick to help the team in the future instead of the present won’t win this team a ring in 2021.

There have been strong rumors that former Florida Gators tight end Kyle Pitts could be the Atlanta Falcons fourth pick favorite. He would be a great addition to the team.

With Arthur Smith running a two-tight-end system, the team could use another great pass catcher like Hayden Hurst, especially one like Pitts who proved at Florida that he was an elite red-zone target with strong hands.

You have to be able to score at will in today’s NFL, after all, that is how the Falcons made it to the Super Bowl in 2016. This is a team that struggled to score touchdowns in the red zone the last two seasons and that has to change now.

Aside from Pitts, the Atlanta Falcons defense could also use a major tune-up. The team could draft a possible star pass rusher or pass defender with the fourth pick, or even trade down and stockpile more picks to add more to the roster.

The possibilities are endless, so why waste the fourth pick this year on the quarterback of the future, when you can draft a guy that can help the quarterback of the present lead this team won its first Super Bowl victory.