By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The 2021 NFL draft is in the books. We saw what each team did to address their needs. Let’s take a look to see how the Atlanta Falcons did. This was the first draft for General Manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Arthur Smith.

I’m trying to not get too excited, but I have seen several different publications give the Falcons an A+ draft grade.

They selected Florida tight end Kyle Pitts with the 4^th pick. Pitts is the highest rated tight end prospect ever. He’s projected to have an impact like Travis Kelce and that should really help in the red zone. Atlanta should have an explosive top five offense in 2021.

In the second round with the 40^th pick Atlanta selected UCF safety Richie Grant. He was first-team All-American Athletic Conference in 2019 and 2020.

Last season he led UCF with 72 tackles, 3.5 for loss, 6 pass deflections, 3 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles in 9 games. He was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation’s top defensive back.

Michigan guard Jalen Mayfield was taken with the 68^th pick. The Falcons needed help on the offensive line, so they addressed a need.

Mayfield is only a redshirt sophomore, so he does not have much experience. In 2019 he played 13 games at right tackle and was honorable mention All-Big Ten. He played two games in 2020 before a high ankle sprain ended his season.

San Diego State corner back Darren Hall was the 108^th selection. In 2019 he tied for the FBS lead in pass breakups with 16.

In 2020 he was first-team All-MWC and led the Aztecs with 3 interceptions, 6 pass deflections, 38 tackles with 2 for loss in 8 games.

Stanford center Drew Dalman was the 114^th pick. He’s the son of former 49ers offensive lineman Chris Dalman and he was a top 10 center nationally coming out of high school. He was first-team All-Pac-12 in 2020 and started all 6 of their games.

The 148^th pick was Texas defensive lineman Ta’Quon Graham. He was a top-150 recruit nationally coming out of high school.

Graham started every game the past two seasons and was named honorable mention all-conference as a senior in 2020. He had 23 tackles, 7 for loss and 2 sacks.

Notre Dame defensive end Adetokunbo Ogundeji (pronounced ah-DAY-tok-uhn-bo oh-gun-day-gee) was 17 when he enrolled in college. It took him a while to work his way into the rotation because of that.

He started 12 games as a senior and was a team captain. He was honorable mention All-ACC and had 23 tackles and a team high 7 sacks.

Boise State corner back Avery Williams was the second to last pick (No. 183) for the Falcons.

He was All- Mountain West Conference in all four seasons and he’s a good kick returner as well.

He was a third team All-American as an all-purpose player because he led the FBS in combined return yardage (19-533-28.1 kick returns, 15-229-15.3 punt returns), topped the country with two punt return touchdowns and tied for the national lead with two kick return touchdowns. He also tied for fifth in the FBS with two blocked kicks.

The final player drafted was Arizona State wide receiver Frank Darby (No. 187). ASU only played four games in 2020 and he played in three as a team captain. He received limited touches after suffering a rib injury in the season opener.

Time will tell if these players develop the way the franchise hopes but Atlanta did a good job addressing team needs.