Atlanta Falcons draft Hall of Fame potential better than most in the Top 5

For the 12th time in Atlanta Falcons franchise history, they will have a Top 5 pick in the NFL draft.

While there are lots of opinions on what the Atlanta Falcons should do with this pick, what is almost a given is that should they actually draft a player with their fourth overall selection, he will go onto become one of the league’s best.

Of the previous 11 Top 5 draft picks that the Falcons have had, six of them have been Hall of Fame talent – that is a hit rate of 55 percent, which is unheard of. In case you are wondering those six players are Tommy Nobis, Claude Humphrey, Bill Fralic, Deion Sanders, Michael Vick, and Matt Ryan.

Of course, of those six players, only Humphrey and Sanders are actually in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Atlanta Falcons have drafted plenty of Hall of Fame-level talent.

Tommy Nobis is among the most snubbed players ever. He is among the greatest college football players of all time as he won the Outland Trophy, Maxwell Award, Knute Rockne Memorial Trophy, and led Texas to a national title.

Not only was he the first-ever Atlanta Falcons draft pick, but he was also the NFL Rookie of the Year, he was a 5x Pro Bowl selection, was a first-team All-Pro selection, and was part of the 1960s NFL All-Decade team.

Of course, Nobis is in the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, Falcons Ring of Honor, and his number is actually retired.

Bill Fralic was no slouch himself.

As an Atlanta Falcons offensive lineman, he was named to the 80s NFL All-Decade team, was a four-time Pro Bowl selection, two first-team All-Pro selections.

In college, he was the UPI Lineman of the Year and was a two-time All American.

Michael Vick revolutionized the quarterback position and accomplished things that were never seen before or since. Had Michael taken the game seriously and genuinely cared about being the Atlanta Falcons quarterback, he would have undoubtedly led this franchise to heights we could only imagine.

Instead, he was the cause of some of the worst years this fan base has ever had and it took more than a decade to welcome him back.

Though, Mike is the reason that the Falcons have Matt Ryan.

The 2021 NFL draft starts two weeks from this Thursday and the Atlanta Falcons are going to have their choice of any of the top players from the draft except the quarterback position and there is one non-QB in this draft that has Hall of Fame talent coming out of college and this is Kyle Pitts.

There is a lot riding on this draft for the franchise and it is important that Terry Fontenot net at least three immediate starters with the franchise’s first five picks this year if this team is truly going to be able to reload and not rebuild.