Walter Football projects Falcons to heavily target defensive players in middle rounds of 2020 NFL Draft
The Atlanta Falcons possess two second-round picks in the 2020 NFL Draft and six selections in the first five rounds. In their latest mock drafts, Walter Football predicts the Falcons will select a defensive player with all of those selections except one.
Judging how the Falcons played defensively for most of the 2019 season, that makes a ton of sense. Here is the full breakdown of who Walter Football has Atlanta picking with its No. 55, 78, 109 and 140 draft choices:
No. 55 Damon Arnette, CB, Ohio State
No. 78 Nick Coe, DE/DT, Auburn
No. 109 Neville Gallimore, DT, Oklahoma
No. 140 Kalija Lipscomb, WR, Vanderbilt
Arnette posted 35 total tackles, including 1.0 for loss and eight pass breakups. He also returned his lone interception 96 yards for a touchdown.
Coe recorded 15 total tackles, including 3.0 for loss and three quarterback hurries. Gallimore registered 30 total tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks with seven quarterback hurries. Lipscomb led Vanderbilt with 46 catches, 505 receiving yards and three touchdowns this past season.
Walter Football also projected in its mock drafts that the Falcons would choose defensive end K'Lavon Chaisson and linebacker Patrick Queen in the first and second rounds, respectively.
It's very hard to correctly predict how the draft will unfold after the first 10 picks let alone the first or second round, so by no means is this exactly how the draft will go for Atlanta, but anything close to this would be interesting. Walter Football obviously finds the Falcons' defensive line as the team's biggest need, as three of the organization's top six selections are dedicated to that position.
But the Falcons could also use upgrades at linebacker and cornerback.
What's very intriguing about these first five rounds in this mock draft, though, is the Falcons don't take a single offensive lineman. It's easy to predict the Falcons won't draft any linemen early this season because they took two in the first round last season, but the team still only finished 30th in rushing and gave up 50 sacks.
A big reason for those poor statistics was the offensive line. Granted, Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary both spent parts of the season injured, but it's still worth wondering if marginal improvement from the offensive line in 2019 will lead to more picks dedicated to that position.
Defense is definitely the side of the ball with the biggest needs, but there's a few holes to fill on offense as well, and based on the team's recent draft history, it's really pretty difficult to foresee the Falcons only taking one offensive player in the first five rounds.
