Atlanta Falcons get fourth-round steal who is a "first-round talent"

The Atlanta Falcons selected their fourth player in the fourth round when they took Clark Phillips III out of the University of Utah.

Also Read: Three players who lost their job with the Atlanta Falcons in first three rounds.

Phillips is a small cornerback who is a playmaker that only fell because of his size but people that know him the best say that he is a first-round talent. If so, then the Falcons just got the biggest steal of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Atlanta Falcons fourth-round pick Clark Phillips III is the steal of the 2023 NFL Draft

Clark Phillips, the newest Atlanta Falcons player, might be an undersized cornerback at five-foot-nine, 190-pounds, but he is a playmaker who was talked about being a first-round or second-round pick—the Falcons just grabbed him in the fourth round with the 113th-overall pick.

Clark Phillips was a crazy productive cornerback at the U of U. He is coming off of a season where he had six interceptions in 12 games and had 142 return yards off of those interceptions. In 2021, he was able to defend 13 passes—if you do not know, that is a lot. Then during his three years at Utah, he had four pick-sixes.

And then Utah's CB coach Sharrieff Shah said that he is a first-round talent:

"I believe that without question. He’s a first-round talent. Will he be taken there? I don’t know. I hope so. It’s projected that there will be five or six cornerbacks go in the first round and another four in the second. He’s anywhere from four to nine on some boards. It’s a possibility. I just want his name to be called and then let’s go play football."

- Sharrieff Shah

He also goes on to say that "nobody will work harder than him." You can read more about him in an article written by Deseret News. He has received so much praise throughout the NFL Draft process. And unsurprisingly, they say he is a great person in the community—which seems to be a theme for the Falcons.

Right now, it looks like he will compete with Mike Hughes and Dee Alford for snaps in the slot. The Falcons now have a strong secondary for a defense that looks much improved.

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