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Dukes & Bell went back over the last several drafts the Falcons have done to see who else was on the board for their picks.
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00:00tomorrow with Day Day as the chaperone. Speaking of Day Day, he put together the list
00:04looking back over the years, former Georgia players available when Falcons had a pick
00:08because we've got Georgia's pro day today. Rusty Manziel will join us in about a half
00:12hour's time to tell us what he saw today up there and who looked good for the
00:16dogs, not just for the Falcons, but for everybody else in the NFL draft. Michael
00:19Pennix Jr. went eighth overall. Now by the time we had
00:24picked at that position, Brock Bowers was available.
00:28Of course, Brock is a rock star and we went with Pitts a few years earlier. We'll get to that
00:31Pitts draft in a second. Amarius Mims was available.
00:352023, Day Day points out, we went with Bijan. Carl had it first. That was a Dukes exclusive.
00:39Carl, I give him credit on that. He knew that was coming. When Bergeron went 38th, I got
00:43no problems with that. The great debate at the time, Abe, was Jalen Carter or
00:47Bijan. Jalen's got a Super Bowl ring. Bijan does not
00:51yet, but the Eagles are a better franchise, a better run organization
00:55organization, and Bijan is an absolute rock star and a core guy on our team.
00:59So two things can be true, because remember at the time, people were losing their minds
01:03about Jalen Carter or Bijan. I think we did what was best
01:07for us. Problem was, unfortunately, we kept missing on the quarterback.
01:10Let's continue to roll this out. Drake, London,
01:13you took what Jordan Davis was available.
01:15And White Walker, too, but let's just go with those two.
01:18And that was in lieu of the Calvin Ridley situation, right? We were kind of in limbo with Ridley
01:22going into that draft. If you substitute out, and I'm not
01:25trying to say we don't like these guys
01:28or we shouldn't have them, okay?
01:29If you substitute out Drake London and Bijan
01:32Robinson for Jordan Davis
01:34and Jalen Carter, do you
01:36feel like there's potential that this
01:38franchise is in a better position?
01:42I love, and Jordan Davis,
01:44I mean, you need that
01:46kind of peace. We've been missing this. We just talked
01:48about Ruka Roro earlier in the show.
01:49So, I mean, to have that kind of, like, just
01:52stalwart that's going to be in the core of your D-line
01:54for a decade, that's a hell of a peace.
01:55Take you back. Tyler Algier is a rookie,
01:57had also just come off of that thousand-yard season,
02:00and a lot of people were...
02:01No, that was the debate.
02:02I mean, if you go with Jalen Carter or Jordan,
02:03now Jordan, I would have...
02:05The Drake London pick, real quick, I'm just jumping around
02:07between the years, but the year that Drake got
02:09selected, I had COVID
02:11that week, so I didn't get to be at the common...
02:13They picked Drake. I asked Carl, what's the vibe?
02:15He goes, crowd stunned.
02:17He goes, crowd was stunned at Mercedes-Benz.
02:19It was not what was expected,
02:21you know, and the logic is
02:23you can always try to find a wide receiver
02:25a little bit later.
02:26You don't overpay for wide receivers.
02:28There's only four wide receivers
02:29that have been top 20 in payroll
02:30that have won a Super Bowl in the last 10 years,
02:32but they went with Drake.
02:34It's just, we went famously
02:36offense, offense, offense.
02:38You know, that's how we played it.
02:39And then eventually we got around to,
02:41you know, selecting some defense in 25,
02:43and we nailed it.
02:44But it's just, going back to Jalen Carter,
02:47Jalen Carter is a force.
02:48There was also, at the time,
02:50and I don't know if this mattered
02:51to the organization,
02:52Bijan was, like, literally,
02:54they vetted everybody,
02:55and he was, like, a five-star,
02:57you know, triple-A rating,
02:59you know, whatever Wall Street analogy
03:00you want to use.
03:01He was that guy.
03:02And Jalen was coming off the tragedy in Athens.
03:04I don't know if they had any bearing
03:05in the front office,
03:06but they didn't want,
03:06I don't think they wanted some of that smoke.
03:07I said it at the time.
03:09They picked up the smoke
03:10a couple years later.
03:11Yes.
03:12Yes.
03:13And then a few years later,
03:15they ignore all the warning signs
03:16and take James Pierce Jr.,
03:18to your point.
03:19But that goes back to the joke
03:21about the Falcon filter.
03:22You know, after Mike Vick,
03:24and guys, this isn't me talking,
03:25this is just what was perceived
03:26by the organization,
03:28that somehow we were going to go
03:29squeaky clean.
03:29You cannot win in the NFL
03:31with a bunch of Boy Scouts.
03:32You've got to have some guys on the edge,
03:33but then conversely,
03:34you can't have guys doing
03:34what James Pierce Jr. did.
03:36I would argue in back-to-back years,
03:39the previous regime fell in love
03:41with the player.
03:42Not that they necessarily shouldn't have
03:44or didn't need to.
03:46Obviously, Bajon Robinson,
03:48we get it.
03:48He's one of the greatest human beings,
03:51and not that I'm around him all the time.
03:53I'll take Bajon over, Jalen.
03:54As I said, two things can be true.
03:55It worked for us.
03:56It's not his fault
03:57that they've screwed up the quarterback
03:58every year he's been here.
03:59They go up to Washington.
04:00They're supposed to be scouting Roma Dunze.
04:04Right?
04:04That's the story we were told.
04:06That's the story.
04:07We come out of this
04:09with they fell in love with
04:11not Rome,
04:13but the quarterback.
04:14Right.
04:15Play it out.
04:15A couple months later,
04:16that's who they end up taking.
04:18Right.
04:18And so this was a regime
04:19that fell in love with guys,
04:21for better or for worse,
04:23that they could not move away from.
04:25And I think that has put you
04:27in a not-great situation now.
04:30Hopefully, this regime's different.
04:32Right.
04:32And if you go back to the 21 pick,
04:34you know,
04:34and it all starts,
04:35you know,
04:35of course,
04:36with Kyle Pitts.
04:36Now, in Terry's defense,
04:38and something that Carl's off today
04:40on vacay,
04:40he brings up,
04:41because we go down this road,
04:42they hire the coach
04:43a couple days before they hire
04:45the general manager.
04:46And again,
04:47you're talking about perception,
04:48right?
04:48You're talking about
04:48how it was perceived.
04:50Basically,
04:51the conventional wisdom on this
04:53is Arthur Smith wanted Pitts.
04:55And he drove that pick.
04:56And then two years later,
04:58both on the air
04:59and off the air,
05:00he's complaining about
05:00Kyle Pitts to us.
05:01You know,
05:02so it didn't work out.
05:04Now, the smart play,
05:04guys asked me back then,
05:06I said,
05:06Panay Sewell.
05:07It's a safe play,
05:08you know,
05:08and if you didn't like
05:10McGarry necessarily,
05:10or Jake is the heir apparent,
05:12you go for the solid piece.
05:13That's the way the Eagles
05:14would draft.
05:14You go for the sure thing.
05:15You know,
05:16you take the best guy.
05:17And Panay Sewell
05:18is the consummate pro,
05:19obviously one of the best
05:20tackles in the business.
05:21That's who I would have drafted.
05:22It's not sexy.
05:23The fans wouldn't have dug it.
05:24But when you're as bad
05:25as we were
05:26with the cap space
05:26and coming off of that point,
05:28all those years
05:29of not making the playoffs,
05:29Panay Sewell is the pick.
05:31I know you say
05:31it's not sexy,
05:33but you know what is sexy?
05:34A 12-year career.
05:36Correct.
05:36An upright quarterback.
05:38A pocket to throw.
05:39You know what I mean?
05:40And I understand
05:40it's not flashy,
05:42but ultimately,
05:43back to your point,
05:44what wins games?
05:45And it's the trenches.
05:46And they've come out
05:47and said this as well.
05:48Jeff Ulbrich has said it.
05:50You know,
05:50you've got to win
05:51in the trenches.
05:52And right now,
05:54there are questions
05:55at a couple of positions there
05:57that, you know.
05:58And again,
05:58the quarterback situation,
06:00that was the
06:00Trevor Lawrence draft,
06:0121.
06:02Everybody after Trevor Lawrence
06:03is not on the team
06:04that drafted them.
06:05So from Zach Wilson
06:06to Trey Lance
06:07to take it all the way
06:09down to Justin Fields
06:10is on another team now,
06:11Matt Jones.
06:12Nobody's on the team
06:12that drafted him
06:13in that draft
06:13just five years ago.
06:14But we went with Kyle Pitts.
06:16Now,
06:17if you reset that draft
06:18right now,
06:19we're talking about
06:1921 guys in the Falcons.
06:21Yes,
06:21who was the pick?
06:22How come only the Cowboys,
06:24Jerry got it right,
06:24Micah Parsons?
06:25Right.
06:25But Micah Parsons
06:26also had some
06:27off-the-field concerns.
06:28If you go back,
06:29nobody talks about that now.
06:30There were some issues
06:31that things that,
06:32you know,
06:32no one was specific about it,
06:33but about off-the-field.
06:35Well,
06:35now he's not even.
06:36Right.
06:36You know,
06:37he's not there either.
06:38He's not there.
06:38And of course,
06:39now,
06:39it looked like
06:40the trade of trades
06:41until he gets injured
06:42late in the season
06:43for Green Bay.
06:43But anyway,
06:44that's how that draft falls.
06:46Again,
06:46you say,
06:47what about,
06:48you know,
06:48the 2022?
06:49Let me go up to 2022
06:51because we just talked
06:52and you brought up
06:53how we should have gone for,
06:54you know,
06:54are we talking about
06:55Jalen Carter?
06:55Are we talking about,
06:57you know,
06:57going after Drake London?
06:58You know,
06:59we went with Drake London.
07:00Look who was selected after.
07:02Charles Across from Seattle.
07:04Garrett Wilson,
07:05who got his contract extension
07:06before Drake did,
07:07by the way.
07:08Chris Alave
07:09with the Saints.
07:12Jamison Williams
07:13with Detroit.
07:14He got suspended.
07:14He's had some injury issues too.
07:16Jordan Davis goes 13.
07:18Kyle Hamilton's been a pro bowler
07:20for the Ravens.
07:21So just giving you some of the,
07:22and ironically,
07:23Jahan Dotson goes 16
07:24in that same draft
07:25that Drake London was drafted in.
07:27So are you still cool with Drake?
07:29Yeah,
07:29I don't have a problem with Drake.
07:31I would have liked Drake more
07:32if you didn't draft Pitts
07:34the year before.
07:35I think that's where
07:36it kind of got stuck on me
07:38is just like,
07:39hey man,
07:40I get that we're getting
07:41skill positions,
07:42but we don't have a quarterback
07:43and the guy that is playing
07:44quarterback's not protected.
07:45Right.
07:46We can't get to the quarterback
07:48on the other side of the ball.
07:50And so I,
07:51it's pretty basic
07:52to me,
07:53Mike.
07:54There are certain things
07:55you have to have
07:56to be a winning franchise
07:57in the NFL.
07:58And sacking the quarterback
08:01is pretty high up on that list.
08:02I know you guys have had this
08:04for a long time
08:05and I agree with you.
08:06To just continually
08:08not go there
08:09for a position,
08:10I think you can backfill easier.
08:12The receiver position,
08:13a tight end position,
08:14I think it's easier to find.
08:16Um,
08:16it's tough,
08:18man.
08:18It's tough to look
08:18and go first round offense
08:20four years in a row.
08:21Right.
08:21See where this team is.
08:23How could we have saved
08:23the Falcons
08:24by probably drafting
08:25the heir apparent?
08:26It goes back to Dimitrov.
08:27Dimitrov was never
08:27going to draft a quarterback
08:28in the late 2000s
08:31or early 2010s
08:33into where we get
08:34at 2020
08:35in the COVID draft
08:36is because
08:37they were so
08:38just cash strapped
08:40with the salary cap
08:41that he was always
08:42trying to
08:43cobble together something
08:44that's going to get
08:44them out of the
08:45playoff drought.
08:46That's eventually
08:46why Dimitrov got got.
08:48But you probably
08:49needed to find
08:49Matt's heir apparent
08:50sooner and then
08:52the Deshaun Watson
08:52debacle happens
08:53where we lose Matt
08:55and then it's
08:55Mariota,
08:56Desmond Ritter.
08:56I don't have to tell
08:57you guys what just
08:57happened.
08:58So, you know,
08:59you've got to get
08:59your quarterback in
09:00order.
09:00This is not the draft
09:01and that brings us
09:01back to why we're
09:02doing these one-year
09:03contracts with the
09:04Falcons.
09:04They're never going to
09:05say it, but they're
09:06going to give
09:07Panix a chance.
09:07At some point he's
09:08on the field this year
09:09unless, and you said
09:09this yesterday,
09:10Tua balls out,
09:11which nobody out
09:12there listening
09:13believes in.
09:14That Tua somehow
09:14is going to come out
09:15and rediscover his
09:16game learning a new
09:17offense where he's
09:18got to be under
09:18center a lot.
09:19And maybe he won't.
09:20And it's probably a
09:21fair opinion to not
09:22expect it.
09:23I just, I don't
09:24want to completely
09:25rule it out as
09:26possible.
09:27That's all.
09:27And the guy showed
09:28for a year and a
09:29half stretch that he
09:30was one of the
09:31better quarterbacks
09:32at that time in the
09:33NFL.
09:34Is there any way he
09:35finds that again?
09:36I don't know how you
09:37say like a thousand
09:38percent.
09:38No, I'm not
09:39suggesting it's likely,
09:41but I'm just saying
09:41the odds of it.
09:42I mean, again, guys,
09:43right.
09:43Dante Moore, Arch
09:44Manning, seeing how
09:46the lawsuit goes,
09:47Trinidad Chambliss.
09:48Yeah.
09:48Julian saying it.