Pleased with their draft haul, Falcons must make it happen on the field

“It doesn’t always line up to where the need matches the board in terms of the players that are there,” Fontenot said. “But it really worked out for us and we truly were able to bring in impact players in all areas.”

There are spots yet to fill through free agency. But it’s unlikely they’ll acquire anybody as impactful as the players taken in the draft.

And now it has to translate into the product on the field. Namely, making the playoffs.

There is a lot riding on this season – Fontenot’s fifth as GM and coach Raheem Morris’ second.

If it goes as Fontenot and Morris believe, second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. will become the franchise quarterback they are counting on him to be, first-round picks Jalon Walker (Georgia) and James Pearce Jr. (Tennessee) will drive an impactful pass rush that the defense has lacked for years, and the team will make the playoffs for the first time since 2017. If it turns out that way, the Morris-Fontenot team will most likely be granted another year to execute their vision for owner Arthur Blank’s team.

However, Penix may not be the star on the rise that so many believe him to be. He has started a mere three games, after all. Maybe Walker and Pearce will need more time to become feared quarterback hunters and the Falcons’ postseason drought extends to eight years, a span of improbable length in the parity-driven NFL.

And, in that case, Blank may be forced to make a decision he surely wants to avoid – cleaning house and starting over again with a new coach and GM. And, for good measure, the 2026 first-round pick that they traded to the Los Angeles Rams to move up to get Pearce would likely be a high selection.

Every year is important and pivotal, but this one is debatably more so than most because of the potential for drastic change if it doesn’t meet Blank’s liking. Speaking at the NFL’s annual meeting on April 1, Blank did not hide his displeasure with last year’s outcome, when he spent big to sign quarterback Kirk Cousins in an all-in bid to get into the playoffs and saw the team start out 6-3 before faltering and missing the postseason again.

“Raheem certainly understands I was disappointed,” Blank said then. “Terry certainly understands I was disappointed. It wasn’t a long conversation, but it was a very clear conversation with both of them.”

Given the stakes, Fontenot and Morris can count themselves fortunate that the draft played out as well as it apparently did. Due to the salary-cap limitations that Cousins’ contract placed on free-agency activity, the Falcons especially needed to find players in the draft who can impact the team’s play this season.

And, at least judging by Fontenot and Morris’ post-draft statements, they have.

Needing to bolster the defense, the Falcons made picks to do so. It was just the second draft since 2008 that they’ve had two first-round picks (the other being 2019, when the team took two offensive linemen who became starters, Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary).

It was the first draft that they’ve stuck to one side of the ball with their first four picks since 2009, when they went defense with their first five picks (starting with uninspiring defensive tackle Peria Jerry, it didn’t work out well).

The four defensive picks figure to contribute this season. In particular, edge rushers Walker and Pearce will be expected to augment a dormant pass rush. Perhaps these selections work out better than Fontenot’s previous so-so classes.

Speaking Saturday, new defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was aglow about each of his four new charges. He said that you could make a case that Pearce was the best pass rusher in the draft off the edge.

Ulbrich praised Walker’s versatility and his “amazing football IQ.” Ulbrich said that, when the Falcons traded away their second-round pick as part of the package to move up for Pearce, he figured the Falcons would have no chance to take safety Xavier Watts out of Notre Dame in the third because “I thought he was going to be long gone.”

Defensive back Billy Bowman Jr., a fourth-rounder from Oklahoma, has the quickness to match up against slot receivers along with intelligence and character that is “off the charts.”

It appears the Falcons were prepared to take Pearce with their No. 15 pick until Walker was still available. When that happened, Fontenot had the opportunity to pluck both Walker and Pearce.

“It’s like, ‘Man, how do we get two of these studs,’” Fontenot. “‘Let’s figure out a way to do that and let’s really impact this thing.’”

It would be most welcome if it happens.