FLOWERY BRANCH - A year ago, the Atlanta Falcons had no qualms about giving up draft picks. They felt the team was just a veteran or two away contending for a Super Bowl championship.
Talk about a miscalculation.
The Falcons endured another late-season collapse, slumping to 7-9 and missing the playoffs for the second year in a row. The meltdown cost coach Jim Mora his job just two years after he led Atlanta to the NFC championship game and led to a drastic change of philosophy heading into this year's draft.
General manager Rich McKay is now determined to rebuild his roster with young players, having accumulated 10 picks in this weekend's draft, seven of them in the first four rounds. They bolstered their position by trading highly regarded backup quarterback Matt Schaub to Houston, moving up two spots to eighth overall and getting an extra second-round pick.
``It should be interesting to have one of the top 10 picks,'' McKay said Wednesday, just before heading in for his last major draft meeting with the coaches, scouts and staff. ``It's not something you want to have, because it means the year before did not go as you would like. But it's something we've got to take advantage of.''
Much of the pre-draft speculation centers on the Falcons coming up with some kind of package to move up even more Saturday, giving them a shot at Georgia Tech receiver Calvin Johnson.
But Atlanta has so many holes to fill that it might be better off keeping its picks, or even moving down in the first round to pick up additional players. Besides receiver, the team needs major help on the offensive and defensive lines, as well as safety.
``I like the fact that we've got 10 picks,'' McKay said. ``We've got to fill some depth on the roster. This is a good year to do it.''
The GM rolled the dice a year ago, giving up a first-round pick to acquire defensive end John Abraham from the New York Jets and a fourth-rounder to Cleveland for safety Chris Crocker. The Falcons brass felt those moves, along with the signing of free-agent safety Lawyer Milloy, would carry the team back to the playoffs.
But Abraham had an injury-plagued season, Crocker didn't live up to expectations and the 33-year-old Milloy showed his age.
This time around, McKay is hoping to land several young players who will develop into building blocks for a franchise that suddenly looks to get a whole lot younger.
``This is a very important draft for us,'' he said. ``It's critically important because of the quality picks we have. Hopefully, this will be the last time we're having the discussion about a high pick.''
McKay had to spend more time preparing for this draft than he did the last two, largely because of the coaching change from Mora to Bobby Petrino. The Falcons have to be sure that everyone's on the same page when it comes to picking the sort of athletes that Petrino feels will best fit the new system, especially on offense.
The new coach put together one of the top college offenses at Louisville but he's got his work cut out in Atlanta. Quarterback Michael Vick is a dynamic runner but one of the league's lowest-rated passers, the receiving corps is weak and the offensive line is undersized as it moves away from the zone-blocking schemes favored by the previous regime.
``Any time you have a scheme adjustment, it's going to catch certain players who just don't fit anymore,'' McKay conceded. ``One of the things that works well in this league is continuity. If you don't have continuity, then you're going to have some roster movement.''
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Monday
May 19th, 2025
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