Falcons pick Big Ten DE in latest Walter Football mock draft

It's officially NFL mock draft season. It seems to come earlier every year, as nowadays the experts don't even let the confetti finish falling from the Super Bowl prior to releasing their first mock for the upcoming NFL draft.

Anyway, many early mock drafts have the Atlanta Falcons targeting the defensive line. In the latest first-round mock from Walter Football, the Falcons took Penn State defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos at No. 16 overall.

Here's Walter Football explanation for why Gross-Matos would be a good fit in Atlanta:

The Falcons have needed to bolster the trenches for quite some time. I imagine they'd be highly interested in Derrick Brown or Javon Kinlaw if they can obtain one of them via trade. In this scenario, they find a strong presence on the edge. Yetur Gross-Matos registered a ridiculous 20 tackles for loss in 2018. His potential is off the charts.

Gross-Matos was the fourth defensive linemen taken in the Walter Football first-round mock draft. Ohio State's Chase Young was the first defenseman lineman off the board at No. 3 to the Detroit Lions. Auburn's Derrick Brown and South Carolina's Javon Kinlaw also went prior to No. 16.

Any of those four players would fit well with the Falcons, who desperately need to bolster their defensive line. The Falcons announced this week they don't plan to re-sign edge rusher Vic Beasley. Once an All-Pro, Beasley had a strong finish to 2019, but overall, he hasn't been the same player since leading the NFL in sacks with 15.5 in 2016. Defensive end Adrian Clayborn is also a free agent.

That creates a hole along the Falcons defensive front, but it's an area that the Falcons needed to improve anyway. Atlanta struggled with its pass rush for most of the 2019 season. On the team's way to a 1-7 first half of the year, the Falcons recorded just seven sacks.

Gross-Matos led Penn State with 9.5 sacks and 15.0 tackles for loss in 2019. He also earned 40 total tackles and seven quarterback hurries in 12 games. A junior from Spotsylvania, Virginia, Gross-Matos elected to forego his senior season to enter the 2020 NFL Draft.