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Atlanta Falcons make splashy first round decision in this mock draft

By Joe Carlino

MOBILE, AL - JANUARY 30: Safety Richie Grant #27 from Central Florida of the American Team during the 2021 Resse's Senior Bowl at Hancock Whitney Stadium on the campus of the University of South Alabama on January 30, 2021 in Mobile, Alabama. The National Team defeated the American Team 27-24. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
MOBILE, AL - JANUARY 30: Safety Richie Grant #27 from Central Florida of the American Team during the 2021 Resse's Senior Bowl at Hancock Whitney Stadium on the campus of the University of South Alabama on January 30, 2021 in Mobile, Alabama. The National Team defeated the American Team 27-24. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /
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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – NOVEMBER 27: Isaiah Spiller #28 of the Texas A&M Aggies runs with the ball as Jaquelin Roy #99 of the LSU Tigers defends during the second half at Tiger Stadium on November 27, 2021, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – NOVEMBER 27: Isaiah Spiller #28 of the Texas A&M Aggies runs with the ball as Jaquelin Roy #99 of the LSU Tigers defends during the second half at Tiger Stadium on November 27, 2021, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

Round Two (43rd overall): Isaiah Spiller, Running Back (Texas A&M)

This pick, admittedly, was the toughest one in the early stages because a quarterback here felt right. Matt Ryan’s entering his age-37 season, is currently a middle-pack quarterback with some top-10 caliber play at times, but the options behind him are nonexistent. Also, please don’t bring back Josh Rosen, Atlanta.

That said, with looking at a quarterback here since the defense had to be the first pick, Desmond Ridder and Carson Strong were the two options that fell here. Sadly, Strong went to Houston, and Ridder was selected just before Atlanta, by the newly named Washington Commanders (horrible name, by the way).

So, assuming Mike Davis doesn’t return to Atlanta and Cordarrelle Patterson (maybe, Spotrac projects him to command $9 million/year) does, that would leave CP and Qadree Ollison as two running backs in the Falcons organization.

Enter Aggies running back Isaiah Spiller, who despite the last name, is not related to the former excellent running back for the Buffalo Bills. Instead, this Spiller is a larger back for his position (6-foot-1, 225 pounds) who has good movement with his feet and pretty good eye movement to find the open holes, especially on third down.

Even better? Despite playing in the SEC his entire collegiate career, Spiller’s prowess at blocking defenders from his position is very impressive, as he finds the lone rusher and can either completely prevent their lane or make enough of a cut to give his quarterback enough time to avoid the hit.

In a team with a priority of the zone blocking scheme for running backs, Spiller here at the beginning of the second round is a good win for the Falcons.