:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66656855/1179375592.jpg.0.jpg)
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Wednesday that one team who could be poised to make a big leap up in the draft is the Atlanta Falcons. They reportedly like cornerback Jeffrey Okudah out of Ohio State a lot, though that might force them to move higher than the LA Chargers at pick six. Even if it’s not Okudah, a move up for Isaiah Simmons, Derrick Brown, Javon Kinlaw, or other.
One team that appears poised to make some noise with a move up is the #Falcons. They have spent a lot of times evaluating and talking to players who figure to be gone by No. 16… and when other teams do their projections, they believe Atlanta will be on the move.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 15, 2020
Chargers GM Tom Telesco so rarely makes trades but this could be an exceptional year for him in that regard, especially coming off of his Russell Okung-for-Trai Turner deal and knowing that for the first time he’ll have to find a franchise quarterback at some point. If Telesco doesn’t fall in love with any of the prospects available at six, could he risk moving down 10 spots in this year’s draft?
Moving from six to 16 almost certainly would guarantee the Chargers a 2021 first round pick in return. In 2017, the Houston Texans moved up from 25 to 12 and gave the Cleveland Browns a 2018 first rounder, which turned out to be fourth overall. That same year, the Kansas City Chiefs went from 22 to 10 for Patrick Mahomes, giving the Buffalo Bills pick 27, 91, and a 2018 first rounder. Even when the New York Jets moved from six to three in 2018 for Sam Darnold, a move up of three spots, they gave up three second rounders.
The Falcons don’t have a second round pick this year because they traded it for Hayden Hurst already. Their next-highest pick is 78 in round three, followed by 119 and 143. Moving up to six likely requires Atlanta to sacrifice pick 16, pick 78, and a 2021 first rounder. If you think the Falcons are going to be good next season, then the pick might fall in the 20s. If you don’t, they could very well end up making it a top-10 selection. I also think this is not a bad year to push your draft value into next year, when there may be less uncertainty about the future and the offseason.
Dimitroff once jumped up 20 spots for Julio Jones, giving up two first, a second, and two fourths. How badly might he want Brown or Kinlaw, two players the Falcons are known to have spoken with?
Unless they want Chase Young — another player they met with at the combine — in which case Telesco won’t even get a call. Not high enough.