Good News! I Had The Perfect Mock Draft For The Atlanta Falcons
Or maybe not, but I had fun creating it nonetheless.
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We are still a little more than two months away from the 2026 NFL Draft. The Super Bowl LX is tomorrow evening. And then there will not be any NFL, college football, or even high school football games for six-ish months. However, I have noticed over the years that leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, I think about the NFL Draft more and more, only to completely cease Draft Talk until the week leading up to the NFL Draft. So I thought it might be fun to write about the final NFL Mock Draft I completed for my Atlanta Falcons.
Let’s dive in.
The Falcons do not own their own first-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft. They traded it to the Los Angeles Rams in a deal that netted the Falcons an additional first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft (which became James Pearce Jr.) and a third-round pick. The Rams received the Falcons’ 2025 second-round pick, 2025 seventh-round pick, and, most importantly, the Falcons’ 2026 first-round pick.
The former Tennessee star led all rookies in sacks with 10.5 this season. Atlanta’s other first-round pick, Jalon Walker, finished second in sacks with 5.5. Sure, the price was steep for Atlanta to address their pass-rushing woes, but former general manager Terry Fontenot made the right move by adding Walker and Pearce Jr. in last year’s draft. Yes, it hurts not to have a first-round pick this year, but I think most Falcons fans are perfectly content with their dual first-round haul in 2025.
In the second round, Atlanta has the 48th pick, and I chose Miami’s Keionte Scott. Cornerback feels like where the Falcons need to go. Maybe you go defensive tackle if an excellent player drops. In the PFSN draft simulator, Florida State’s Darrell Jackson Jr. fell here when I was on the clock, but I did not pull the trigger. Scott just played in the CFP National Championship, was a two-time JUCO All-American, and had the third-highest grade for corners in college football last season, per PFF. The Falcons obviously struck gold the last time they took an ACC corner early in AJ Terrell, and I really like adding Scott here if he’s there for the Falcons. Atlanta has quietly created an extremely fun secondary with Jessie Bates III, Billy Bowman Jr., Xavier Watts, Terrell, and more. Let’s keep the party going with Scott in the slot.
Then, the Falcons are up at No. 79. Again, if you went defensive tackle here, I would understand. Hand up, I did not take a defensive tackle here or anywhere in my mock draft. That very well could be a huge oversight on my part. The Falcons have used six picks on defensive tackles and defensive ends combined in the last two drafts, though. It would make sense for the Falcons’ new general manager, Ian Cunningham, to address the interior through free agency with so much draft capital already invested at the edge spots. So I took Indiana wide receiver Elijah Sarratt, who followed his head coach from James Madison to Indiana and won a national title this season. The Falcons have not taken a wideout this high in the draft since they took Drake London at No. 8 in 2022. This room needs so much more juice, although I have refused to sell any of my Darnell Mooney stock. Sarratt feels like a throwback to the Michael Jenkins pick in 2004. Just get a solid wideout across from London. PFF graded Sarratt out as the 25th-best wideout in college football last year. His nickname is also apparently “Waffle House”, so I feel great about Sarratt trading in his Crimson red for a different shade next season in Atlanta.
Let’s combine picks No. 114 and No. 195 for the Dirty Birds.
The Florida Gators had a terrible season. Yes, that did happen. However, offensive tackle Austin Barber was not one of the reasons why the Gators went 4-8. Across four seasons, Barber totalled 2,728 snaps. He’s thrived as a run-blocker with a 90 PFF grade. He was up-and-down in pass-pro last year. With legendary offensive line coach Bill Callahan in Atlanta, I like taking Barber here. Before the season, he was a projected first-rounder, and I like the value.
I then took Clemson wide receiver running back Adam Randall to take Tyler Allgeier’s role in 2026, backing up star tailback Bijan Robinson. The Tigers had a miserable 2025 season, but Randall averaged nearly five yards per carry and caught thirty-eight passes out of the backfield. I like taking a gamble on him in the mid-rounds with his versatility as a wideout and tailback.
Finally, at pick No. 232, I took the player I’ve taken in this spot at least 32 times over the last month – Indiana center Pat Coogan. The national champ was PFF’s 25th-best center last year and was excellent in pass protection, allowing zero sacks and zero QB hits. The Notre Dame transfer feels like the perfect late-round guy for the Falcons to develop behind Ryan Neuzil.
My door is always open, Atlanta Falcons President of Football Operations Matt Ryan.