Terry Fontenot and the Atlanta Falcons deserve more credit

Terry Fontenot made another surprise move for the Atlanta Falcons this week trading a 5th-round pick for corner Jeff Okudah a former top-three pick. The Detriot Lions were ready to move on and Okudah needed a change of scenery.

It was a savvy low-risk move that fits with the additions of Mack Hollins, Mike Hughes, Scotty Miller, and Kaden Elliss as similar moves. Adding potentially high-reward players for little to no risk. Atlanta's off-season has been perfectly executed and for the most part totally ignored in favor of a far more interesting story.

From the start of the Lamar Jackson saga, this off-season the Falcons were pointed to as a sensical landing spot. Despite the fact Baltimore clearly wasn't moving on from their franchise quarterback and the Falcons were all in on Desmond Ridder. For whatever reason the obvious escaped many pundits who flamed Atlanta for passing on Lamar as if they simply had to sign the quarterback and Jackson would be headed to Atlanta.

The forced story and lack of understanding of why this doesn't work have left the Falcons catching heat for no reason and ignoring the fantastic job that Fontenot has done building out this roster. If Desmond Ridder is anything close to capable this Atlanta roster is a playoff team.

In three seasons Fontenot and the Falcons have gotten rid of every bad contract and kept all their important building blocks moving on from aging players and poor deals.

Fontenot building the trenches on both sides of the ball, adding depth in the secondary, and bringing in a myriad of low-risk potential high-reward deals is being ignored because simply put it isn't that interesting to anyone not invested in the Falcons.

It is far more interesting to talk about a former MVP and why the Falcons are the perfect landing spot instead of the big bodies Atlanta has added on both sides. As boring as it may be it is the big bodies in the trenches that win football games. Even if you have a Patrick Mahomes if you cannot win the in trenches you won't win when it matters.

Fontenot understands this and has built a great roster one that the GM deserves far more credit for. Not the heat the Falcons have received for failing to add a player who was clearly never an option for the Falcons.