Former Falcons 1st-round pick rejoins Dan Quinn with the Cowboys

Something has been up with edge rushers, formerly drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the first round, over the past week as the Cowboys have elevated a Falcons draft pick from five years ago.

First, Vic Beasley was drafted with the first pick in another football league and now the Falcons’ 2017 first-round pick has been elevated to the Dallas Cowboys active roster just in time for their annual game on Thanksgiving day.

Falcons first-round pick reunites with Dan Quinn for gameday with the Cowboys

Back in 2017 coming off of Super Bowl LI, the Atlanta Falcons were looking for an edge rusher to pair with Vic Beasley who led the NFL in sacks during the regular season. They traded up to nab their target from UCLA, Takkarist McKinley.

He had quite the emotions and passion when he took the stage with a picture of his grandmother who was his motivation.

However, in usual Falcons fashion, they did not find their next great pass rusher and instead wasted a draft pick that could have been used on the best pass rusher in the game right now. 

Takk McKinley went on to get cut by Atlanta before his rookie contract expired after he had 17.5 sacks in four years. He would be picked up off waivers by the Bengals but failed a physical, then claimed by the 49ers but failed a physical again. Then he finally stuck with the Raiders for a moment before going to the Browns where he had a season-ending injury last year.

He joined the Titans and Rams since then and then a week ago was signed to the Cowboys practice squad.  The day before their game on Thanksgiving, he was elevated since the is an illness that has spread amongst the Cowboys locker room.

In Atlanta, fans don’t exactly have a positive opinion of him but he was a better player than his stats suggested while with the Falcons. He is only 26 years old and could turn out to be a good signing for the Cowboys as he links up with Dan Quinn again.