I have given this team high marks for adding a couple of stars and making depth picks along the Offensive and defensive lines. However it now looks like one of those picks was a miss, so this draft class may come down to fining a starting strong safety and a bunch of depth picks. I don’t think a successful draft class that makes, and after giving them a mulligan after year one a failing grade seems appropriate.
A quick look at the 2009 Falcons draft class:
•Round One (24)- Peria Jerry DT •Round Two (55)- William Moore DB •Round Three (90)- Chris Owens CB •Round Four (125)- Lawrence Sidbury DE •Round Five (138)- William Middleton DB •Round Five (156)- Garrett Reynolds OG •Round Six (176)- Spencer Adkins LB •Round Seven (210)- Vance Walker DT
So Peria Jerry was hurt in year one, and has yet to live up to being the 24th overall pick. William Moore also went down with an injury in year one, but rebounded well and had an excellent year two. Chris Owens has developed into a pretty solid backup CB. Lawrence Sidbury has done next to nothing, and William Middleton was released in training camp. Garrett Reynolds has done nothing, and we can say the same about Spencer Adkins. Vance Walker is also a solid backup.
On one hand most of these picks are still on the roster and likely filling the roles for which they are drafted, but when you whiff on the first round pick the rest of the class never looks very rosy.
