Why the Atlanta Falcons should trade down in the 2022 draft

With the Atlanta Falcons season over they are locked in with the 8th overall pick in the draft and will have plenty of time to scout and decide what position to target in the first round. If there was a silver lining to the Falcons season finale it was improved draft positioning.

The final day of the regular season worked out perfectly for a Falcons team with a lot of needs to address.  The defensive line, the secondary, receivers, a corner, safeties, and an offensive guard are the top positions on Atlanta’s list and primarily will have to be addressed in the draft.

With so little cap space Atlanta’s draft picks become all the more important. Even if each of their picks develops as expected Atlanta is going to have to spend what little cap space they have to address a myriad of issues.

With so many positions to address the Atlanta Falcons are going to have to be creative this off-season including in the draft

Sitting 8th overall the Atlanta Falcons are in an odd position. At this point there isn’t a clear pecking order after the top five you will find mock drafts and pre-draft rankings vary by quite a lot. A part of this is due to a lack of information as we are still in the playoffs and far off from the draft.

The top ten to fifteen prospects will become more clear as we close in on the draft. What we do know is that Atlanta is going to be in a position to trade down and acquire more picks either in this or future drafts.

Trading down in the first round and acquiring future assets is the right move for Atlanta unless one of the two best pass rushers in the draft were to unexpectedly fall. This would be unexpected with the number of teams in the top ten that already have the quarterback position addressed.

Trading outside the top ten would not only allow Atlanta to acquire future assets to address their myriad of roster issues but still draft an impact player.  Two names, in particular, that should interest Falcons fans are Jordan Davis and Jameson Williams.

Both players would fix one of Atlanta’s problems and both players are currently expected to go in the mid-to-late first round.   Trading down is the right move for a team that needs to find a lot of help with very little cap space this off-season.