NFL Draft Grades: Falcons Get a B+ - And 2 Future Stars?
Here's a take I have never heard before: NFL.com is saying that the evaluators shouldn't try to judge teams' picks in the long-term, but rather, that immediate snap judgments provide a clearer picture.
Hmm.
Writes Chad Reuter: "Grading teams' drafts immediately after the event is necessary in order to provide the proper evaluation of their actions in the moment. Waiting three years to evaluate draft classes, without accounting for how the decision was viewed at the time, usually leads to revisionist history.''
I've always leaned the other way - basically passing on pretending to be smart enough to give "my grades'' to the work of somebody like Atlanta Falcons GM Terry Fontenot and staff.
But Reuter's way is ... more interesting, for sure. And for this team, here they are ...
Atlanta Falcons B+
Draft picks
USC WR Drake London (No. 8 overall)
Penn State Edge Arnold Ebiketie (No. 38 overall)
Montana State LB Troy Andersen (No. 58 overall)
Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder (No. 74 overall)
Western Kentucky Edge DeAngelo Malone (No. 82 overall)
BYU RB Tyler Allgeier (No. 151 overall)
Georgia OG Justin Shaffer (No. 190 overall)
Georgia TE John FitzPatrick (No. 213 overall)
Day 1 grade: B+
Day 2 grade: A
Day 3 grade: C
Analysis: The combination of London and Kyle Pitts should give a needed boost to the Falcons' passing game. General manager Terry Fontenot addressed the team's other major need on Day 2, strengthening a poor pass rush with Ebiketie and Malone, while also landing an athletic second-level defender in Andersen and smartly nabbing a potential future starter in Ridder.
In summary: It's hard enough to know how a team really did with its premium picks on guys we've heard of. A mediocre grade for Day 3? At that point, as we know the teams are just "guessing,'' aren't we as fans and media just "guessing,'' too?
