Fixing the Atlanta Falcons with one 2016 NFL Draft Pick

How can the Atlanta Falcons fix their team with one 2016 NFL draft pick?

Let’s explore which team and prospect would make for good matches.

The Falcons started out hot winning their first 5 games including some against potential playoff teams.

Since then, they’ve come back to Earth losing three of their last four. And the 49ers intentionally made their switch at QB when they would face the Falcons because of their ineffective defense.

The run defense for the Falcons has been pretty decent, they’re 3rd in the NFL in rushing yards allowed. However, they are 32nd in sacks. And even the addition of Vic Beasley has done little to improve their moribund pass rush.

The problem, beside Beasley disappointing so far as a rookie, is their LBs. They’ve only gotten 3 sacks from their LBs and have struggled so badly in coverage that Beasley has been dropping more into coverage.

Who could be a good fit for fixing this problem quickly? Darron Lee, LB Ohio State. He’s Ryan Shazier 2.0: good speed and tackling but maybe not the biggest LB prospect.
He’s probably a late first round pick with a good combine, but mostly likely will be a 2nd round prospect.

In the NFL, he’s probably a joker ILB, a two way Mike LB(ala Bobby Wagner) or a Will in an aggressive 4-3.

The Falcons could use one of the latter two: they need a Mike LB who can attack and cover. They also need a major upgrade from Justin Durant at Will so that Vic Beasley can attack full time.

Lee is no slouch as a blitzer, he’s proven that he can be an effective edge rusher. His prime use to the Falcons would be as a coverage/run stopping LB who uses his speed to disrupt short passing plays and to cover TEs. Both of these things are desperately needed by the Falcons.