When Atlanta Falcons GM Ian Cunningham says he believes in best player available, he means it. But he also told you exactly when he’s willing to bend that rule.
“We are believers of best player available, but you also have to take into account where some of those positional cliffs are.," Cunningham said.
That one sentence is the key to how the Atlanta Falcons will approach Pick No. 48. Because this draft, for Atlanta, isn’t just about who the best player is. It’s about who the last good player at a position might be before the board falls off.
Cunningham opened up his pre-draft availability by circling back to free agency for a reason: it changed the math.
The Atlanta Falcons know exactly how to attack the value in the 2026 NFL Draft
By adding veterans across wide receiver, edge, linebacker, running back, defensive tackle, and right tackle, the Falcons removed the pressure to draft for need. Add in the trade for Maason Smith, and there are no true roster emergencies left. That’s intentional.
“I feel like it’s given us the flexibility to do what we want to do in this draft and take the best player available.”
In most years, that would be the end of the story. This year, it’s just the beginning.
The “Nerdy Birds” are going to work
Ian Cunningham said his analytics group built him a mock draft simulator, and he’s been running it constantly. Not to find the best case scenario. To find the worst one.
“I’ve been asking them to put me in the worst position possible so we can anticipate where our pivot points are.”
That’s the tell. The Falcons are preparing for the moment when they realize: If we don’t take this position now, we may hate what’s left later.
Cunningham has been consistent about how he views this class: Deep positions include wide receiver, defensive end, and cornerback/safety. Shallow positions (the cliffs) include running back and defensive tackle.
That matters a lot at No. 48. Because if wide receiver is deep, Atlanta can wait. They can come back at No. 79 and still get a player they like. If defensive tackle is shallow? Waiting could mean missing the tier entirely.
That’s exactly what Cunningham meant when he said you might have to: “take a prospect a little bit higher if that cliff is about to hit.”
On draft night, if Atlanta takes a defensive tackle and fans see a higher ranked receiver still available, it may seem like they passed on the “better” player. Except they didn’t.
They passed on the player they can still get later. They took the player they can’t. And Ian Cunningham just explained the entire logic behind it.
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