Executing a great draft is a relentless pursuit with evolving standards each year. In this latest Defiant Takes series, we’re looking at the greatest draft class of the last 20 years from the Atlanta Falcons. A great draft has no single definition, but it’s easy to recognize. A great draft fills needs, builds a foundation, adds a star, finds talent after day 1, and keeps the front office employed.
Picking the Falcons’ greatest draft class over the past 20 years is no easy task; it’s arguably the most successful period in team history featuring two NFCC games and one forgettable Super Bowl appearance. An honorable mention for the title greatest draft class would have to go to the 2016 class. This draft produced four immediate impact players that contributed to Atlanta’s Super Bowl run; nonetheless, this class didn’t quite have the staying power the team had hoped it would.
The Greatest Draft Class
Looking back over the past 20 years, it’s clear that 2008 is the greatest draft class of the era. The draft class didn’t lead to an immediate super bowl run; nevertheless, it set up a winning foundation that would stick with the Falcons for the next decade and produced a franchise quarterback. This draft was also the first for new first-time Head Coach and General Manager Mike Smith and Thomas Dimitroff, raising the degree of difficulty. On top of that, the franchise was still reeling from the loss of Michael Vick.
Atlanta desperately needed a quarterback, and hitting on the Matt Ryan draft pick was one of the main differentiators that solidified my decision to give 2008 the title of the greatest draft class. Drafting a franchise quarterback is one of the hardest things to execute in professional football. A new regime hitting on the position in year one accelerated their timeline for a winning roster. The Falcons made the playoffs in Matt Ryan’s rookie year after finishing last in the NFC South at 4-12 the year prior, but Ryan wasn’t the only rookie making contributions.
A Foundation for Success
Falcons WR Harry Douglas (83) – Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Second-round pick Curtis Lofton was a year-one starter and started all four years of his rookie contract before going to the division-rival Saints. Third-round picks Thomas DeCoud and Harry Douglas didn’t make much noise during their rookie seasons, but both would develop into key players. DeCoud became a five-year starter and was a pro bowler the year the Falcons went to the NFCC in 2013. Douglas became an excellent WR3 on a team that eventually featured Julio Jones, Roddey White, and Tony Gonzalez. He also had a 1000-yard season and shouldered WR1 duties in 2013 when both Julio and Roddy were out most of the season due to injury.
While the team did miss on day two picks Sam Baker and Chevis Jackson, they found a nice rotational piece and stopgap starter in fan-favorite outside linebacker Kroy Biermann in round five. Biermann played for the Falcons for eight years and started 3 of them. The 2008 class isn’t very flashy beyond the Matt Ryan pick, but it takes substance to be considered the greatest draft class. Not all players signed a second contract with the Falcons, but most did find work elsewhere and had solid NFL careers.
Falcons Former OLB Kroy Biermann (71) – Curtis Compton/AJC
The 2008 class helped set the tone for a new era in Falcons football, an era that would go down as the most winning in franchise history. The decision-makers took a drastically different approach than the current regime of Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot did with their first draft, and their boldness was rewarded. The team secured the coveted franchise quarterback and found plus starters and key rotational pieces that contributed for years—an impressive feat that fans should admire all these years later.
