The NFL Draft is the ultimate crapshoot in NFL world. When you hit on a pick, you hit big, hence why most teams attack the draft as an opportunity to swing for the fences. But no team hits on all of their picks--even the best general managers don't even come close to batting 1.000 as talent evaluators.
2026 marked the Atlanta Falcons' first draft class under new management, and the early returns on Ian Cunningham's first draft class have been strikingly positive. Both Kendal Daniels and Harold Perkins Jr. look like Day 3 steals, and Avieon Terrell and Zachariah Branch have shown elite flashes.
Even seventh-round rookie Ethan Onianwa had some positive buzz for a while there, but there's one player keeping this draft class from a perfect score: sixth-round DT Anterio Thompson. Thompson has been sidelined since OTAs due to injury, and the word on his return has been surprisingly quiet.
Anterio Thompson's health is casting a dark cloud over his NFL future
Ever since Atlanta drafted him, they've been unable to evaluate him on an NFL field after he was placed on the active/NFI list to start training camp. He has not participated in a single summer practice or in the preseason, and the longer his return timeline takes, the worse this pick looks.
The Falcons had high hopes for the 23-year-old, but his roster odds don't feel particularly strong in the wake of this injury news. He was always going to need to make a strong impression in camp to stick around, but considering he has made no impression, it should be easy to pull the plug on him.
Let's look at the Dirty Birds' DT rotation. Brandon Dorlus, Da'Shawn Hand, Maason Smith, Zach Harrison, and La'Cale London are completely safe, while Chris Williams and UDFA Carlos Allen Jr. are also pushing for roster spots with strong showings in camp. There is no room for Thompson.
Even if Thompson doesn't get released, it sounds like he'll begin the season on IR (where he would miss the first four games of the year), but stashing him on PUP sounds like a more realistic option. That way, 2026 would essentially operate as a redshirt season for him and shift the focus to 2027.
To be fair to Thompson, this pick is looking like a miss by no fault of his own--and the hit rate on late Day 3 picks is especially low. But the Falcons weren't asking him to turn into the next Chris Jones. They were hoping his athleticism would turn him into a rotational contributor for a DT-needy team.
Even if healthy, Anterio Thompson was always going to be an upside swing for the Atlanta Falcons, but it's hard to say his summer has gone as planned.
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