The Falcons had a thorough scouting plan for former Florida tight end Kyle Pitts led by area scout Tokunbo Abanikanda.
“Well, this whole process, the college scouts, even if the boots on the ground – the first evaluation, which was probably Tumbo (Abanikanda) doing the first evaluation – you have the area scout, the national scout, then you get into the directors, then the coaches get involved,” Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said. “We had very high grades on him even in the previous years.”
Abanikanda is a native of Atlanta who played linebacker at Southern Miss and Osborne High. After going undrafted coming out of Southern Miss, he attended Tampa Bay’s rookie camp and had a tryout with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. He has been with the Falcons since 2012.
Abanikanda served as a scouting assistant during the 2012 season, where his duties included day-to-day operations of the scouting department, draft-board preparations, evaluations of college and pro players, and coordinating college and pro workouts and visits. He was promoted to area scout in 2013.
Fontenot cited the importance of the scouting process in reaching the decision to draft Pitts.
“The entire time, like A to Z, he checked all the boxes,” Fontenot said. “Now we go through the process and we evaluate everyone, compare and contrast. This player was identified a long time ago. Every exposure, every opportunity, he checked all the boxes.”
AJC’S POSITION-BY-POSITION NFL DRAFT SERIES
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RUNNING BACKS: Plenty of prospects to pick from | Top 10 RBs
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OFFENSIVE TACKLES: A ‘nasty’ bunch | Top 10 OTs
OFFENSIVE GUARDS/CENTERS: The men in the middle | Top 10 C/OGs
END RUSHERS: Pass on this draft stock | Top 10 DEs
DEFENSIVE TACKLES: One star among lackluster block | Top 10 DTs
LINEBACKERS: Deep class for position | Top 10 LBs
CORNERBACKS: Plethora of options for first two rounds | Top 10 CBs
SAFETIES: Falcons likely will add position player | Top 10 Safeties
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