ATHENS, Ga. – For the first time since the 2015 NFL Draft the Falcons will be selecting in the top half of the draft, and that could provide some interesting possibilities on draft night.
Atlanta holds the No. 14 pick in this year's draft, and the Falcons have nine draft picks in total. That's a lot of picks for a team to have in its back pocket, and they would provide the Falcons with resources to move around in the draft if they should so choose.
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Speaking at the University of Georgia's NFL Pro Day on Wednesday, general manager Thomas Dimitroff seemed to be thinking in that same mindset.
"As much as we don't like being at 14, it affords us an opportunity to be a little more creative about whether we move up or we move back," Dimitroff said. "Everyone continues to tell me that I never want to move back, but 14 is a good place to be considering you can move back as well."
The general consensus for this year's draft class is that it is full of potential impact players on the defensive line, an area the Falcons could address. Given the talent of this year's defensive line prospects, the Falcons are in a good spot to land one of the top defensive linemen at No. 14.
But Dimitroff also thinks there are around 20 really interesting prospects in this class, so it's possible the Falcons could go either up or down to get the player they really want. And if they stick at No. 14, Dimitroff is confident they can draft a difference-maker.
Either way, the Falcons could make the first round of this year's draft an eventful one.
"It just gives you some real flexibility, and you know that for sure at 14 there's going to be a legit player that you're going to be really excited about," Dimitroff said.
