Kyle Pitts (on NFL Network) just said he thinks the first 4 picks will be QB’s. Hmmm, you would think Atlanta would have had a conversation with him if they were going that way. No reason to hide their interests since first 3 picks will be QB’s.
1 Like
I’d guess Atlanta trades down.
2 Likes
Interesting.
1 Like
Sure looks that way.
@Air2theThrown started a thread after Dimitroff provided an interview a week or so ago. I think QB has always been in play for them and after the interview I was even more convinced that they’re going QB. The single biggest impact player in the draft for them would have come if there were top-flight defenders. There aren’t, though, so you build what you can with the resources you have. In their case, a QB.
Dimitroff is not dumb. He isn’t going to pick a TE in the top 5. There is a very good chance this is the last lottery ticket he has.
If Atlanta is picking this high again…he’s probably not the one doing the picking…unless he picks a QB and sells Blank on a rebuild.
Dimitroff is also not the GM anymore. He’s the former GM, he was fired. So, it doesn’t matter what he thinks.
7 Likes
Arthur Blank be like:
3 Likes
It matters just as much as what Bob Quinn thinks the Lions will do at 7. lol
2 Likes
I tend to think that Atlanta is willing to roll with Matt Ryan for 3-4 more years… so I think they really do want to trade down.
It will be interesting to see if they make a trade down to #8 or #9… maybe for less than typical QB trade… and then take a CB.
Or… maybe the Julio trade talk is being floated because they really want to draft Chase at #4 if they don’t get a decent offer on a trade down.
I just REALLY hope the Patriots don’t shock everyone and move up to #4 to get Fields. I really hope the Patriots make the trade with Lions… especially if Lance or Mac is the last QB on the board.
2 Likes
I also believe Atlanta wants to trade down, the problem is they are too high. Cinni and Miami are not taking a QB, so teams know they can go to Detroit at #7 to get one of the 5 QBs. They don’t need to pay the additional compensation to go all the way up to #4.
1 Like
I thought the interview was insightful into what Blank thinks and might do. He brought up some great points.
Clearly him and Blank had discussions about drafting a QB. And clearly if he were GM that’s the way he would have went.
But… he said Blank thinks Matt has at least two more good years in him. He also said that when they gave Matt his contract that the intent was for him to finish his career in ATL.
He also said that Blank would allow the current staff to decide on the best course of action and wouldn’t force anything.
He also stated that he felt ATL had a ton of talent at the skill positions so why draft a TE at 4OA. He seemed very against taking Pitts.
Personally I think ATL takes a QB or trades out of 4OA.
Right. His interview provided good insight.
BQ couldn’t provide insight if he wanted. Providing insight requires that you first possess it.
I don’t think ATL wants to take a QB, but I think getting the compensation to move off #4 is gonna be hard. We’ll see. They strike me as being in the position Detroit was last year - stuck.
2 Likes
Dimitroff is assistant to the regional manager.
2 Likes
Thomas Dimitroff was fired along with Head Coach Dan Quinn. It is the Thomas Dimitroff interview that I listened to that just sort of reinforced the idea that they’d be going QB.
Trey Lance wouldn’t shock me there.
If QBs go 4 in a row and Lance is the only one left at No. 7, that might not be a bad thing. Less supply, perhaps, more demand.
Nope- I doubt it. I see them taking Fields or Lance. The Julio news being validated in Atlanta set it in stone.
There is no way they choke down his cap hit, can’t add anyone due to cap constraints, and roll into Matt Ryan’s age 36 season with this squad plus Pitts and sans Jones feeling like contenders.
They take their QB, Alex Smith Ryan next year like KC, and start over with huge cap room in 23’.
But as Bill Barnwell explains in this excellent article (behind paywall):
" 7. Teams can’t really afford to give their quarterbacks a redshirt season.
Given that three-year window of opportunity, organizations need every evaluation rep they can get to figure out whether their quarterback is the man of their dreams. Taking their rookie season off the table to get adjusted to the speed of the pro game or to make mechanical changes is almost a non-starter. It pushes the development cycle back; the missteps you would expect a quarterback to make as a rookie instead pop up during his second pro campaign, meaning that a team would then really have only one year to see whether their first-rounder is worth a significant extension (or a fifth-year option).
For whatever teams say about what they want to do with quarterbacks coming out of school, the reality is that they’re almost always going to get inserted into the lineup quickly. The Jaguars wanted to use Bortles’ rookie season as a redshirt year and had him in the lineup by Week 3. The Eagles kept Bradford around, signed Chase Daniel and then drafted Wentz; when the opportunity arose at the end of the preseason, despite Wentz sitting out most of the summer with broken ribs, they flipped Bradford for a first-round pick and pushed Wentz ahead of Daniel on the depth chart. The Texans sat Deshaun Watson to start the year behind Tom Savage, while the Bills did the same with Allen behind Nathan Peterman. Both passers were in the lineup before the end of Week 1.
The notable exception here: Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs star sat out nearly all of his rookie season, making a lone appearance in Week 17 before blowing away the league in Year 2. That was a scenario in which everything was in line; the Chiefs were a competitive team with a very solid quarterback (Alex Smith who stayed healthy all season). Mahomes was a player with incredible upside who, by just about everybody’s opinion, needed some work as he entered the pros. Maybe there’s a scenario where that plays out again in the future – if the 49ers actually do draft Lance behind Garoppolo and the veteran stays healthy, as an example – but it seems like a rare exception to an otherwise solid rule.
Keeping this in mind means that teams can’t plan on getting their quarterback and then surrounding him with talent in the subsequent years. They don’t want to run the risk of a David Carr situation, where a talented prospect was lit up by years of terrible offensive line play in Houston and developed awful tendencies. (You might call this a Darnold situation in years to come if things don’t correct themselves in Carolina.)
If a team is planning on taking a quarterback in the first round, it has to plan for that passer to play as a rookie. And when that happens, it’s their job to have the right pieces around that quarterback from the moment he steps on the field, not a year or two after the fact. Some teams can get away with this, as we saw with Allen from his first season in Buffalo, but it’s a dangerous game to play.