In the later rounds of the NFL Draft, teams are more willing to bet on traits and upside rather than draft high-floor players. If they're going to take a swing, they'll swing for the fences, and more often than not, there are a few late-round gems who become key contributors for the team that took them.
With one of their final selections, the Atlanta Falcons selected Washington defensive tackle Anterio Thompson 198th overall in order to gamble on his athleticism. But so far, Jeff Ulbrich and DL coach Nate Ollie really haven't had a chance to evaluate him this summer because of lingering injury woes.
Thompson missed all of OTAs, minicamp, and rookie minicamp due to an undisclosed injury, and he's now going to miss the start of training camp. The Falcons reportedly placed him on the non-football injury (NFI) list, and it appears this unfortunate injury update is the worst-case scenario for him.
The Falcons placed Anterio Thompson on the non-football injury list
Though he will remain on the active list and the 90-man roster, Thompson will have missed basically all offseason activities. Training camp was his final opportunity to get on the field and make a strong impression on this coaching staff, but we really don't have much of an idea of when that will happen.
The 23-year-old has been away from the team for most of the summer, and while Kevin Stefanski said it was injury related, a Day 3 pick not even seeing the field makes it hard to crack the roster. It's not like this staff will be able to evaluate his performance in practice or in the preseason going forward.
Defensive tackle is a position of need, but the training camp battle is quiet with Thompson sidelined. The competition for a roster spot will be between Carlos Allen Jr., Chris Williams, and Ross Blacklock, but even if he was healthy, it wouldn't be easy to beat out two veterans and a more polished UDFA.
Now that we know he's hurt, it'll be even tougher. Those guys will be participating in practice every day, and their accomplishments will be clearer for Ollie and Ulbrich to see. Meanwhile. Thompson won't give the Dirty Birds anything to look at other than his college tape, which means nothing now.
It's not like Da'Shawn Hand, Brandon Dorlus, LaCale London, Maason Smith, or Zach Harrison are in any danger of being cut. So by mere process of elimination, there wouldn't even be much room on the roster for a healthy Thompson, but the injury has him more on the wrong side of the roster bubble--especially since he is undersized.
The best course of action with Anterio Thompson would be for the Falcons to stash him on the practice squad this season so he can focus on getting healthy. That way the team can spare him the pressure of the roster bubble and a training camp competition he's already falling behind in.
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