Falcons Doing Extensive Work on Draft's Top QBs, Meet with Caleb Williams & Drake Maye
INDIANAPOLIS -- While much of the focus at the NFL Combine centers around on-field performance, the Atlanta Falcons have been busy getting to know the draft's top signal callers.
It's a quarterback class that Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot and staff were fond of entering the week.
"It's a really good group," Fontenot told local media Tuesday. "It's a strong draft overall, the quarterback position is strong and you have some different types, too. Guys that do it different ways, but it's a really good group. So, it's very, very exciting."
And from the sounds of it, the Falcons' time spent with the group was positive.
Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot meets with local media at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine.
Daniel Flick, SI Falcon Report
Quarterbacks met with reporters Friday inside the Indiana Convention Center, right across the street from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Nearly all of the draft's top passers - USC's Caleb Williams, North Carolina's Drake Maye, LSU's Jayden Daniels and Washington's Michael Penix Jr. - confirmed meeting with the Falcons. So did South Carolina's Spencer Rattler.
Prospects don't usually disparage teams they've met with, so it comes with little surprise that each quarterback was filled with praise for Atlanta - but some had different takeaways than others.
For Maye, who's viewed as the draft's second-best quarterback behind Williams, the Falcons' coaching staff stood out - starting with head coach Raheem Morris and quarterbacks coach TJ Yates, with whom he shares an alma mater.
"Atlanta, I was really impressed," Maye said. "TJ Yates, North Carolina guy, is the quarterback coach. That was my first interview of the Combine, so they made it easy being with a North Carolina guy. Coach Morris, congratulated him, he's a new head coach. So, I thought Atlanta went well."
Williams said he plans to be the draft's No. 1 pick and hasn't thought much about going at any other slot. As such, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner had a much shorter answer.
"If they trade up," Williams said, "I'll be there."
Daniels brought home the Heisman Trophy this past season and watched his draft stock surge as a result.
He's played just one game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium - the 2022 SEC Championship, during which Georgia took a smothering 50-30 victory over LSU - but still holds the city in high regards.
Better yet, Daniels has taken note of the changes Morris and staff are bringing to Atlanta and likes the core skill position players in place, headlined by receiver Drake London, running back Bijan Robinson and tight end Kyle Pitts.
"Atlanta, what they're doing over there, Raheem and all those guys, getting a new regime in there and being able to go out there - I love Atlanta," Daniels told SI's Falcon Report. "Atlanta is a great city. They have some weapons on the offensive side of the ball and they're on the up and up."
Williams, Maye and Daniels are viewed as the draft's top three passers and the early favorites to be the first three players off the board, regardless of position.
As a result, if Atlanta, which holds the No. 8 overall selection, wants to land on of the trio's services, it'll have to trade up, as Williams referenced.
The dilemma lays in finding a trade partner, as each of the top three picks belong to teams in the quarterback market - the Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders and New England Patriots.
So, the Falcons may be forced to look elsewhere - perhaps at someone like Penix, a pinpoint lefty who broke Washington's single-season passing record in 2022 and again this past season, throwing for 4,903 yards, the highest mark in college football and second most in PAC-12 history.
The 24-year-old Penix, who battled shoulder and ACL injuries during his time at Indiana University before transferring to Washington, faced questions from teams about his durability and injury history.
Penix, viewed as mid-to-late first-round player who could slide to Day 2, said his medicals came back cleaner than he expected - and while the Falcons weren't an overly easy interview, he enjoyed the experience.
"I felt like it was great," Penix said. "I felt like it was a really good meeting. They asked me some tough questions. Also just trying to get to know me. I feel like that was a very good meeting and I was excited going into it."
Rattler, likely a second-day pick, offered similar thoughts.
"I had some great talks with the Falcons," Rattler said after walking off the podium.
Other top quarterbacks such as Michigan's JJ McCarthy and Oregon's Bo Nix, who spoke at the same time as Daniels, weren't asked about the Falcons and thus had no comment on the organization.
Fontenot and Morris aren't limiting Atlanta's search for a solution under center to a rookie, instead looking over every option with hopes of fixing a position marred by inconsistencies the past two seasons.
"We're going to keep all options open," Fontenot told local media. "Free agency, trade, draft - we're working through all those things simultaneous. So, we're right in the middle of that process right now."
