One of the most interesting aspects of the Falcons offseason was their decision to hang onto general manager Terry Fontenot while choosing to fire Arthur Smith. Essentially, Smith was handed the blame for all of the Falcons faults the last three seasons, despite a plethora of questionable draft decisions made by Terry Fontenot.
Fontent’s draft history with the Falcons began with perhaps the most egregious error of his entire tenure, making Kyle Pitts the highest-draft tight end in NFL history. Despite a Pro Bowl rookie season, Pitts has become more of an afterthought in the Falcons offense ever since, failing to eclipse 700 yards receiving in years two and three. The hope was that all of that would change with a new offensive coordinator in Zac Robinson and quarterback in Kirk Cousins. But through four games, it’s the same old Kyle Pitts, as he’s recorded just eight catches for 105 yards and a touchdown, including a zero-catch performance on Sunday against the Saints.
What makes that draft pick look even worse today is the slew of All-Pros taken right behind Pitts. Ja’Marr Chase, Penei Sewell, Patrick Surtain, and Micah Parsons were all taken in the next eight picks, and all of them were significant positions of need at the time.
However, Terry Fontenot’s missteps didn’t stop with Kyle Pitts. Of the Falcons eight draft selections that year, only four remain on the roster, with Pitts being the only starter.
The 2022 draft was a little better, but there were still far more misses than hits. Drake London looks like he’ll be in Atlanta for a long time, but the Falcons two second-round selections — Arnold Ebiketie and Troy Andersen — have both struggled, but the latter showed some life against the Saints and still deserves time to develop. The Falcons also had two picks in the third round — Desmond Ridder and DeAngelo Malone — one who is already out of the league, and Malone will be following Ridder before long, as he’s failed to take any defensive snaps for the Falcons.
About the only thing saving the Falcons 2022 draft class is Tyler Allgeier, who has proven to be a steal as a fifth-round selection. Unfortunately, Atlanta would waste a top-ten draft pick on his successor just a few months after Allgeier broke the franchise rookie rushing record.
Is it too early to call Bijan Robinson a bust? Absolutely, but it’s not too early to say the Falcons did not make the best use of their resources. Robinson has not only failed to play like the generational running back some pundits painted him out to be, he might not even be better at running the football than Tyler Allgeier, which is a problem in itself. Running backs are a dime a dozen, which is why most well-run organizations don’t even consider them in the first round. The Falcons had a lot of needs going into the 2023 draft; instead, they addressed a position of strength, and to this point, it’s looking like a colossal waste of a top-ten draft pick.
But somehow, 2024 might take the cake for Fontenot’s most questionable Falcons draft class in four years. Obviously, the Michael Penix Jr. situation has been well-documented. At the end of the day, how his career pans out is ultimately what will determine how well Fontenot drafted. However, for a team that was said to have Super Bowl aspirations prior to the season, they haven’t had a single rookie take a snap, other than JD Bertrand, through four weeks, despite having eight selections in the 2024 NFL Draft.
I don’t care how you choose to slice it, that’s unacceptable. The Falcons had two picks in the top 35, including a top 10 selection, and four picks in the top 109. That can’t happen, especially since three of those picks were used on defensive lineman, and the Falcons defensive line has been absolutely abysmal at both stopping the run and rushing the passer this season.
It’s actually almost impressive how incompetent a general manager has to be at identifying talent at the collegiate level for that to happen. If the Falcons fall short of their goals this season, nobody deserves more blame than Terry Fontenot for how poorly he’s drafted year after year, and this time, Arthur Smith isn’t around to be the team’s scapegoat for their issues.
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Photographer: John Adams/Icon Sportswire
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