Atlanta Falcons Draft Grades Vary Widely, but They're Slammed by NFL.com

The Atlanta Falcons had a regime change following the final game of the 2025 season that included hiring general manager Ian Cunningham. Cunningham was groomed in the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles front offices before doing two years as assistant general manager with the Chicago Bears.

In his first draft with the Falcons, he was without a 1st round pick after his predecessor, Terry Fontenot, used it to acquire rookie sack leader James Pearce Jr. in last year's first round.

Cunningham and the Falcons were universally praised for their Day 2 haul of cornerback Avieon Terrell and wide receiver / return man Zachariah Branch. The reviews were mixed on the Day 3 group that focused on athleticism.

But the Falcons still seemed to have gotten punished for their No. 26 pick last year turning into the Rams' No. 13 pick this year, despite the fact that Pearce lapped the field in sacks as a rookie.

Reviews for the Atlanta Falcons' 2026 draft varied widely, with ESPN, NFL Network, Sports Illustrated, and CBS Sports all giving the Falcons different grades.

NFL Network's Falcons Draft Grade: B-

Chad Reuter of NFL Network was the harshest of the grades, giving the Falcons a B-. While that doesn't sound like that bad a grade, remember, networks are loath to be overly critical of the teams they cover and are partnered with.

No other team got a grade below a B.

Another way to put that: NFL Network thinks the Atlanta Falcons had the worst draft class in 2026.

Reuter, like nearly everyone else, made it a point to highlight the Falcons trading their 2026 pick for Pearce. But let's compare apples to apples. The Denver Broncos got an A- despite not having a 1st or 3rd-round pick after trading it to the Dolphins for Jaylen Waddle.

Pearce's future is uncertain; his play on the field wasn't. We can no more assume his days in the NFL are over than we can assume he'll return to the Falcons as the menace off the edge he showed as a rookie.

Downgrading the Falcons' grade because of Pearce feels like a double standard, and those are the type of things we try to avoid when handing out grades.

Reuter seems to like all of the Falcons' pick, despite giving them his worst grade of the 32 teams.

"(Kendal) Daniels is like Falcons LB Divine Deablo in that he's a tall former safety who moved into the box full-time," Reuter wrote on NFL.com. "Atlanta took another linebacker in (Harold) Perkins, a player I expected to go much earlier in the draft. They had to find a run-stuffing DT in this draft; Thompson's excellent pro day and flashes on tape made him a worthy Day 3 pick.

ESPN Falcons Draft Grade: C+

Mel Kiper Jr. may have had a worse grade than NFL.com, but he's a tougher grader. Three teams got worse than a C+, and the Falcons were tied with five other teams with that grade.

Kiper reminded us that he gave the Falcons a C last year for the Pearce trade and then gave the Falcons a C+, in part, for only having five picks this year. Knocking the Falcons twice in consecutive years feels like confirmation bias.

Kiper loved the Falcons Day 2 picks, but he wasn't as impressed with Atlanta getting linebackers Kendal Daniels and Harold Perkins Jr., along with defensive tackle Anterio Thompson and offensive tackle Ethan Onianwa on Day 3.

"The rest of the selections left a lot to be desired, though," Kiper wrote on ESPN. "Atlanta didn't take an offensive tackle until Ethan Onianwa in Round 7. Harold Perkins Jr. has a chance to make an impact, but coach Kevin Stefanski needs to figure out his real position. No first-rounder and only a handful of selections hurt the Falcons, but their Day 3 haul wasn't very impressive."

Sports Illustrated's Falcons Draft Grade: B

Matt Verderame and Gilberto Manzano teamed up for Sports Illustrated for the NFL Draft report cards, and the Falcons came out with a B. Like most everyone, they liked the Terrell pick at No. 48 and were more complimentary of the Day 3 picks. However, they also count just the picks made and not the players acquired by trading a pick.

To be fair, the Denver Broncos were graded the same way after trading their first-round pick to the Dolphins for wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, saying of Denver, "All told, it’s a draft that doesn’t have much wow factor."

"Atlanta also made an excellent pick in the third round, with Branch coming aboard to finally help Drake London and a thin receiving corps," Verderame and Manzano wrote on SI. "Branch can play from the slot and stretch the field with his speed, having run a 4.35 40-yard dash at the combine. Given that they didn’t have a first-round pick, the Falcons came out pretty well in the 2026 draft by adding talent and addressing needs.

CBS Sports Falcons Draft Grade: B+

Carter Bahns of CBS Sports gave the Falcons the highest grade across the major networks with a B+. Bahns is also the only one who didn't penalize the Falcons for not having a first-round pick; instead, grading each of the 2026 picks individually.

The Falcons got an A+ for Terrell and an A for Branch, but Atlanta's fourth-round pick of Daniels left him scratching his head, giving it a D.

"Things went a little sideways for the Falcons in Round 4, when their grade dipped from an 'A+' to a 'B+' with one pick," Bahn wrote on CBS Sports. "The Kendal Daniels selection is a tricky one because Josh Edwards described him as 'a player without a position' and suggested he may have to start his career on special teams."

Daniels is a big athlete at 6'5 and 242 pounds who will add depth at both linebacker spots, and as anyone who really watched the Falcons last year will tell you, if he helps shore up Atlanta's wretched coverage units on special teams, he's well worth a fourth-round pick.

The Verdict

Grades immediately after the draft are more about who seemed to fill immediate needs the best. A true measure of a draft's success won't happen for at least three years down the road.

Take Pearce as a case study. In the last 12 months, he's gone from an overreach from a desperate general manager, to a steal and rookie of the year candidate, to a bust who may never play in the NFL again, to avoiding significant legal trouble and waiting on a response from the NFL.

His story isn't finished, and we're only opening the first page on the Falcons' class of 2026.

That said, Cunningham and the Falcons remained patient and let the board fall to them. They addressed several positions of need with their first two picks (cornerback, wide receiver, and returner), and they prioritized athleticism on Day 3 after trading back with the Raiders.

We'll wait and see how these players eventually develop, but you'll be hard-pressed to find many Falcons fans who won't give Cunningham an 'A' for his first draft.

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