2021 NFL Draft: Huge QB trades in pre-Super Bowl mock draft
2021 NFL Draft: 4th pick
Pick Analysis. QB. player. 44. Scouting Report. Ohio State. Justin Fields. 4
With no clear-cut top defensive prospect in the 2021 NFL Draft class like Chase Young, the Atlanta Falcons are going to have a dilemma on their hands.
Do they trade back here? Do they take the best defensive player on their board anyway?
The Falcons are actually in prime position to take their quarterback of the future and start planning for life beyond Matt Ryan.
Even though 2008 was a long time ago, that still seems crazy to even say.
The Falcons were in the Super Bowl with Matt Ryan a few years ago, but that era is done. New general manager Terry Fontenot has hired Arthur Smith as his new head coach, and you can almost always bet on new general managers and head coaches making their own selections at the quarterback position.
Smith has done an incredible job in Tennessee with the Titans building an offense around Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill. Not that Justin Fields has a “Tannehill” comp at the next level, but Tannehill is a big-armed QB who can run, and Fields is as well.
There is so much to love about Fields’ game from a physical standpoint but he has some impressive accuracy to all levels of the field as a passer. He needs to work on processing things as a field general reading the defense, but the talent level, work ethic, and toughness are all there for this player.
The Falcons’ situation could dictate this selection.
New GM, new head coach, aging quarterback who is not raising all boats, and the fact that Atlanta obviously is going to hope they aren’t picking this high again for some time. All of those factors lead me to believe this Falcons squad and new brain trust will target a QB early.