Atlanta Falcons: 5 Biggest needs to address in 2020 NFL Draft

With the 2020 NFL Draft quickly approaching, here are five biggest needs for the Atlanta Falcons to address in the draft.

After another disappointing season in 2019, the Atlanta Falcons have their work cut out for them to try and bounce back in a big way during the 2020 NFL season.

Last year, the Falcons got off to an awful start to the regular season schedule while falling out of the playoff picture basically at the midway point in the year. Behind a solid second half of the year, Atlanta ended finishing the 16-game regular season with a record of 7-9 overall to finish tied for second place in the NFC South standings.

The Falcons ultimately ended up failing to reach the postseason for the second straight season, which makes this 2020 campaign an even more important one right out of the gate to end that stint.

There are a decent amount of needs on Atlanta’s roster as the offseason continues to roll along, mostly on the defensive side of the ball. The Falcons offense continues to look strong and they even managed to add running back Todd Gurley to replace Devonta Freeman in the backfield during free agency.

Those needs on the depth chart means the upcoming 2020 NFL Draft on April 23-25 will be key for Atlanta to be able to shore up some spots on the team and attempt to hit the ground running this year to end that postseason-less streak.

Unfortunately for the Falcons, they don’t have a ton of picks to work with in the upcoming draft this week and that could ultimately mean that Atlanta either gets less young talent than it hoped it would be able to bring in, or that means we will see the Falcons ultimately making some draft day trades to possibly move back in the draft and bring in more assets for the immediate future.

In the seven-round draft, Atlanta holds a total of six selections, with three picks coming in the first three rounds and the remaining three coming in either rounds four or seven.

Here is a full breakdown of Atlanta’s selections heading into the draft: Round 1 (No. 16), Round 2 (No. 47), Round 3 (No. 78), Round 4 (No. 119), Round 4 (No. 134), Round 7 (No. 228).

The picks that will be the most interesting and a few to keep an eye on as potential trade pieces for Atlanta is its third-round pick and two fourth-round draft picks in 2020. That’s about the time when teams try and decide whether or not to move up or back in the draft to potentially grab a player who has fallen in the draft or if they are trying to gain more assets for future years.

The Falcons, of course, could also use future draft picks and other assets to try and grab more selections in this year’s draft, if they deem necessary and have their eyes on a specific player at the time.

Overall, Atlanta has its work cut out for them in an important draft. Before the draft takes place this week, here are five positions of need for the Falcons and spots they could be looking to add to before the 2020 campaign begins.