Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports
2023 NFL Draft: Who Do Falcons Select No. 1?
The Atlanta Falcons don't have high expectations heading into the 2022 season. Many fans and critics expect the Falcons to be one of the league's worst teams and back in the top 10 for a third straight year in the draft.
Some are taking it a step further, saying the Falcons will be on the clock to start the draft in late April ... including Sports Illustrated, who projects Atlanta will take Alabama defensive lineman Will Anderson with the top pick. Here's more of what SI had to say ...
While it wouldn’t surprise me if the Falcons drafted a quarterback—Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud or Alabama’s Bryce Young—even after drafting Desmond Ridder in the third round last April, Anderson enters the 2022 college football season comfortably ranked as my top draft prospect and Atlanta is still early in its rebuild process. Rookie edge defenders Arnold Ebiketie (38th pick in ’22) and DeAngelo Malone (82nd) will help improve a pass rush that generated a league-low 18 sacks last season, but Anderson would give his hometown team a true difference maker. Anderson, who played his high school football less than 30 miles from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Hampton, Ga., led the nation in QB pressures in each of the past two seasons—60 in ’20 (as a true freshman) and 81 in ’21, per PFF stats. Anderson’s not just an elite pass rusher, he’s also an outstanding run defender as well.
The team will have to get some sneak preview of third-round rookie Desmond Ridder in the second half of the season to get a true idea of whether it can pass up on a quarterback with the No. 1 pick. But Anderson may be the best player in the draft on either side of the ball.
C.J. Stroud or Bryce Young could be intriguing and get the Falcons fully on the rebuild train, but taking the best defender in the draft could go a long way to reshaping Atlanta's defense.
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