The Falcons haven’t had much success drafting under Terry Fontenot, and that continued with the latest draft class.
Outside of Michael Penix Jr., who the jury is still out on, the 2024 rookie class was pathetic and the second-least productive in the NFL, ahead of only the Vikings.
The Falcons notably traded up in the second round to draft Ruke Orhorhoro, a selection met with criticism at the time and even more now. The Clemson product appeared in just eight games and recorded 11 combined tackles with no sacks, while other rookies drafted after him contributed at the highest levels — Braden Fiske, Cooper DeJean, Kool-Aid McKinstry, Kamari Lassiter, and T’Vondre Sweat.
The club’s third-rounder, Bralen Trice, never got to see the field because he tore his ACL. The fourth-round pick, Brandon Dorlus, sat out the entire season despite being healthy, and JD Bertrand, the Falcons’ fifth-rounder, only saw some run because of injuries.
Finally, the Falcons’ three sixth-round picks didn’t see a lick of playing time. This isn’t some new trend either. Fontenot hasn’t found consistent success outside of the first round, and even then, he’s 2-for-3, with Kyle Pitts firmly standing in bust territory.
On Days 2 and 3 of the draft, the “hits” aren’t premium positions. In fact, they’re statistically the easiest to hit on in the NFL — running back (Tyler Allgeier) and offensive guard (Matthew Bergeron). Fontenot’s draft resumé is average at best, and I’d argue it’s quite poor, which got me thinking…
Remember when Bill Belichick’s minions were leaking information about the Falcons? One particular nugget caught my eye more than any other, when Belichick leaked that he took issue with Atlanta’s draft strategy or, more specifically, Terry Fontenot’s arrogance.
“Listening to Fontenot discuss drafting systems last January, as if he knew it all, bothered him,” a Belichick confidant said to Seth Wickersham.
The reason I bring this up is because we are entering the fifth draft cycle of Fontenot’s tenure, and there’s little to believe that things will change, as Fontenot alluded to in his end of season press conference.
“We haven’t won enough, right Mark. So, if you haven’t won enough games, then I would say we have to look at everything we’re doing, whether it’s the draft, whether it’s free agency. Everything we’re doing is not good enough if we haven’t won enough,” Fontenot said in response to a question about his draft history.
“Now, I have a lot of confidence in our process. We assess everything as we go, we assess every single move and we adjust the process as we need to. We’re very reflective in that sense.
I have a lot of confidence in Kyle Smith, he’s our assistant GM and (Adetokunbo Abanikanda) is our college director. I have a lot of confidence in our process. We’re very collaborative the way we work with the coaches and analytics and all those things we constantly look at everything and that said Mark, we haven’t won enough games.”
The Falcons have confidence in their process? How the hell is that even possible? Even though there’s not much else Fontenot can say about his piss-poor draft resumé, it’s still disheartening to hear him continue to back his obviously flawed way of drafting.
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Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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