Atlanta Falcons 2022 mock draft following Matt Ryan trade
By Lucas Schuh
After all of the moves, the Falcons have made in the past 12 months, it’s clear that the Falcons are officially in rebuild mode
From about 2011 to 2017, the Atlanta Falcons were serious playoff contenders every season, thanks in part to Matt Ryan and Julio Jones. The duo helped lead the team to multiple playoff seasons and a Super Bowl, but after the past 12 months, it’s clear that things are on a bit of a downturn.
The Falcons drafted Julio Jones back in 2011 with the 6th pick in the draft. Jones proved to be an absolutely great selection as he became one of the best receivers in the NFL and at times was completely unguardable.
Jones and Ryan proved to be a great duo as they torched the NFL, but sadly things changed. Julio made things clear that he wanted out and wanted to join a winning organization. Jones joined the Titans but was cut after one year with the team and is still trying to find his next home.
Ryan joined the Falcons back in 2011 and came in after the Michael Vick era, safe to say that’s some big and interesting shoes to fill. Despite not having the easiest situation, Ryan managed to win the rookie of the year award in 2008 as the Falcons finished 2nd in the NFC South. Ryan has won an MVP with the Falcons, helped lead the team to the Super Bowl, and has proven to be one of the best, if likely not the best QB in the franchise’s history.
Despite being arguably the best QB in the history of the franchise, the Falcons didn’t treat Ryan like that this offseason. As everybody knows, Deshaun Watson cleared his criminal charges earlier this year which opened up the floodgates of NFL teams vying for his services, and one of those teams as the Falcons.
Reports were coming out that the Falcons and the Saints were the final two teams that Watson was choosing between. Things took a bit of a left turn as Watson ended up in Cleveland, leaving the QB situation in Atlanta interesting, to say the least.
Despite Ryan leading the team out of the Vick era, winning an MVP, taking the team to their 2nd ever Super Bowl and not having a controversy at all while in Atlanta, the Falcons tried to trade for Deshaun Watson, despite him still having multiple civil charges surrounding him and likely an NFL suspension.
After the Watson debacle, Ryan was traded Colts for a 3rd round pick, clearly showing they are in a rebuild. While the Falcons have shown that they are in a rebuild, this also raises the question of whether the Falcons think that they wouldn’t be in a rebuild if they traded for Deshaun Watson, even though they would have sustainably fewer draft resources? But that’s a question for another day.
To add on to all of this, the Falcons will also be without Calvin Ridley. Ridley left the Falcons mid-season last year because of mental health issues. Of course, the Falcons were expecting to get Ridley back, but news broke that Ridley was betting on NFL games while away from the team. Ridley didn’t bet on a Falcons game, but he will be suspended indefinitely through the 2022 NFL season.
The Falcons are in a very poor position currently as they have plenty of weaknesses on their roster. Atlanta has a poor offensive line, a weak receiving group, very few safties, and virtually no pass rush. It also doesn’t help the fact that the Falcons only have Marcus Mariota and Feleipe Franks at QB with a weak draft class when it comes to QBs. It’s very obvious that the Falcons have a massive rebuild ahead of them.
Just a little note before I dive into this mock draft, but this will be what I think the Falcons should do, not what I think they will do. I will also be using the NFL Mock Draft Databases Draft Simulator, to get a more accurate representation of how crazy the draft can be.