FLOWERY BRANCH – The Falcons draft board is finalized.
The hay is pretty much in the barn at this point and they are pretty certain to have a decision to make on a quality defensive player when they select with the 17th overall pick of the NFL draft, which is set for Thursday through Saturday in Chicago.
Here are the five things we learned this week:
1. Three starters or contributors? Falcons owner Arthur Blank expects his football men to land thee starters in the draft. General manager Thomas Dimitroff believes three major contributors would be nice and head coach Dan Quinn isn't in the business of handing out starting spots to rookies. "I think any time that you go into a draft you get as many starters as possible," Dimitroff said. "Everyone would love to get seven plus starters out of it." Quinn noted that the rookies draft picks won't be promised any playing time and that competition is the central theme of his operation. Check out this video: "Falcons looking for contributors, not three starters."
2. Trufant's deal done. In what was a presumptive move, the Falcons exercised the fifth-year option on cornerback Desmond Trufant, a first-round pick in 2013, who has developed into a Pro Bowler. Trufant, 25, plays left cornerback and made the Pro Bowl last season. The fifth-year is worth $8.026 million.
3. Floyd to workout on Saturday. Former Georgia standout Leonard Floyd is set to workout for the Falcons on Saturday. Some have Floyd projected to be drafted by the New York Giants, who hold the 10th overall pick in the draft. Mike Mayock is worried about Floyd's lack of power, but believes he'll be a top 10 pick.
4. Roster moves. The Falcons reached injury settlements with Beau Gardner and Adam Replogle on Friday. Their injuries were undisclosed.
5. New Locker room set up: The Falcons started their offseason program on Monday. The players learned that they have a revamped locker room and new neighbors. Quinn said re-arranged the locker room in an attempt to foster togetherness.
[cmg_cinesport url="http://cinesport.ajc.com/embed/ajc-nfl-atlanta-falcons/d-led-top-3-names-falcons-draft/"]
The AJC’s D. Orlando Ledbetter gives his top players for the Falcons to draft at #17, talks about the interest in LB Myles Jack & tells CineSport’s Noah Coslov where the team may go in round 2.
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