With the 2020 NFL Draft now over, let’s look back and grade each day of the draft for the Atlanta Falcons during the seven rounds.
The Atlanta Falcons came into the 2020 NFL Draft with their work cut out for them while preparing for the upcoming season.
Coming off of a year of disappointment in 2019 that resulted in Atlanta missing the playoffs for a second straight season, the Falcons were looking to try and bring in more talent and retool to try and bounce back and end that streak during the 2020 campaign.
One avenue of doing that, although it wouldn’t end up being easy for the Falcons, was via the NFL Draft on April 23-25 and selecting bright young prospects who could come in and contribute both this season and in at least the next few years to come.
The reason that was going to be a tough task for Atlanta was due to the fact that it had more needs on the roster than picks held going into this year’s draft.
The Falcons came into the draft holding just six selections, and after a week filled with multiple rumors involving their interest in trying to make moves and move up in the draft order, they would end up not making any trades and holding onto those six selections as planned at the end of the three-day, seven-round draft.
Some of the biggest needs present for Atlanta coming into the draft was on the defensive side of the ball, an area the Falcons struggled especially in the first half of the regular season in 2019 and failed to help their high-powered and talented offense on the other side.
With needs consisting of positions at edge rusher, linebacker, cornerback, defensive line and offensive line, the Falcons were able to try and make the most of the few picks they did have to address some of their biggest needs.
Atlanta did manage to take players to help the back end of the defense and both within the line and the middle of the defensive unit. It also did happen to address an eventual need at the line to help protect quarterback Matt Ryan.
Now with the 2020 draft behind us, let’s look back at each day of the draft and grade the performance of the Falcons during the draft.