00:00We did keep saying that we would have a clear idea of what the goal is
00:04for the Falcons in 2026 or 2027 after the draft.
00:08What do you think it is, Mike?
00:13Raise the ceiling.
00:14I think that Bo and I talked about this a little bit on Saturday.
00:17I was tired of the raise the floor talk.
00:19I wanted to take big swings,
00:21and I think they did that definitely with Harold Perkins
00:25and a number of the players they had.
00:27I think Zachary Branch is the same way.
00:28I think for most of the picks, for me, it looked like they valued speed,
00:31and then the Kendall Daniels one threw it off.
00:33But I think they tried to raise the ceiling.
00:34I think they tried to take some big swings.
00:36I think there were definitely targeted positions,
00:40and Bo and I had the conversation about the secondary of need versus want.
00:46But I do think they raised the ceiling of this team.
00:48I think you've got a couple of guys that if they could hit,
00:50you can kind of swing for the fences.
00:53It's funny we talk about the speed, though,
00:54but Kendall Daniels is probably a faster player than Ronnie Harrison,
00:58J.D. Bertrand, and maybe even Cade Nellis.
01:02If you watch him on film, he plays a lot.
01:05We just keep talking about his 40-time.
01:07I think it's a little unfair.
01:08If you watch him play, he plays a little bit faster.
01:12And a lot of the stuff that you'll see from him is coverage stuff, right?
01:16So that makes me a little bit curious about what they view him as.
01:20But I think it's already – I mean, I've been disagreeing with Mike on this a lot.
01:27I think the roster is a lot better than people want to give it credit for.
01:30And when it comes to the – you have a 53-man roster.
01:35You only have like 47 guys available on game day.
01:38And then you get down to it and you probably play, what, about 15 guys on offense.
01:47If you count like, you know, a couple guys you'll sub in with wide receiver
01:51and running back.
01:52And then on defense, obviously you play a little bit more
01:55with the defensive line rotations.
01:58But you upgraded in the DB department because Billy Bowman,
02:05we don't know how long he's going to be out.
02:07And then you got a drastic need in Zachariah Branch,
02:12the guy that can put – yeah, I'm not a big fan of the Taylor Gabriel comparisons.
02:16I don't really think that him and Gabriel are the same player.
02:19He's – so first off, one thing you know about Taylor Gabriel is he was barely 5'7
02:25and about 165 pounds, okay?
02:27But Zachariah Branch is about 5'9, 185 pounds.
02:31He's already bigger.
02:34And so – and Gabriel was a over-the-top receiver.
02:39You look at most of the ways he was used in 2016, it was over-the-top.
02:45I think Zachariah Branch will be used more in, you know,
02:50the intermediate to short route stuff than anything.
02:53Yeah, I'm with you.
02:54Some of the other things that are going on outside of the draft classes,
02:59the Falcons are also reportedly making a few signings.
03:01Brandon Frazier out of Auburn, Cam Dewberry from Alabama,
03:05Cash Jones out of Georgia, Jack Strand, James Brockenmeyer, and Carlos Allen.
03:12I'm really intrigued by James Brockenmeyer.
03:16Full disclosure, he started his career at Alabama, all right,
03:19before bouncing to a couple different places.
03:21But I was intrigued when he got to Alabama.
03:24He had a brother that was really athletic,
03:26and I thought that he was going to develop into a really good player,
03:28and then he was gone.
03:30And then Parker Brailsford, who actually was drafted by the Cleveland Browns this year,
03:34was suddenly the center in Alabama, and Brockenmeyer moved on.
03:37He is – he's built a lot like Ryan Neusel.
03:42I think he's kind of flipped in terms of their skill set.
03:45I think he's a much better pass protector, and he has run block,
03:48and I think Ryan Neusel's the opposite.
03:49But I think that's a spot that we've talked about interior offensive line
03:53where you're going to have to find a couple of guys that I was kind of surprised
03:57at some point that you didn't draft somebody or sign somebody, really.
04:00I know he signed Corey Levin over free agency,
04:03but there is some opportunity there, I think, in the middle of that offensive line
04:07for guys to come in and compete, and I'll be curious to see if he's able to do that.
04:11Yeah.
04:12I thought Cash Jones was interesting because Cash Jones is a pretty good third-down player.
04:18He can do pass pro.
04:20He can catch ball in the backfield.
04:21That was just funny to me because I know he was such a polarizing figure
04:25when he was at UGA.
04:27People either loved him or hated him, which was odd to me.
04:29You know how that goes.
04:30But Malik Rutherford out of Georgia Tech is a guy that's been reported.
04:34But the Brandon Frazier thing for me, because he's listed as a halfback,
04:42kind of that halfback kind of position at hybrid, kind of tight end, blocking back.
04:49And I think it's interesting because he, to me,
04:54has got probably the squad written all over it.
04:56Like, that's a guy you slide into practice squad.
04:58He's a pretty good blocking tight end.
05:00And then when Charlie Warner, at the end, he's got another year left.
05:05This is the final year of his deal.
05:07That's a guy, you know, Frazier, you would like to kind of cross-train
05:10and then see if you want to move on from Charlie Warner.
05:13And he kind of takes over that kind of hybrid kind of fullback kind of position.
05:21So that's interesting to me.
05:23But, you know, look, all those guys are – I think I counted it last year.
05:27The very last game against the Saints, you had something like 11 undrafted free agents
05:34that were on your roster.
05:35Not that they were from the year before, but just undrafted overall.
05:39So if you guys kind of, like, scoff at undrafted free agents, just remember,
05:44they make up – sometimes they can make up a decent amount of your roster.
05:48You don't want it to.
05:49But sometimes it can, depending on your injury situation, your cap situation,
05:54and that kind of stuff.
05:56Yeah.
05:56I mean, when we were sitting here Saturday, off the top of my head,
06:00I'm sitting there trying to name guys that made the team last year.
06:02Because you remember coming out of training camp last year,
06:05we were talking about position battles, and he was like,
06:07oh, this guy's an undrafted free agent.
06:08I'm like, yeah, you usually maybe one, maybe two that will make it.
06:14But we've had the opportunity to round here because the limited draft picks
06:17over the last few years to have undrafted free agents become depth.
06:20I do want to go back just one second because you brought up Cash Jones.
06:24In my opinion, he might have the best shot of actually making the team.
06:32And I know that's – there's Georgia fans and the like, whatever,
06:35that are going to say that's crazy.
06:36Look at the depth we have at running back.
06:39Look at the fact that he is not – and this is very important.
06:44He is not a guy that was like a full-time starter in college that showed up to the NFL
06:48and had to learn how to play special teams.
06:51He's a guy that wasn't a starter at all in college and played a lot of special teams.
06:56And if there is a route to get on a roster, be it third, fourth, running back,
07:01whatever it may be, while also playing special teams, that's it.
07:03So he's going to – I think that there's a really good opportunity for him here.
07:09I'll be curious to see what all goes on with him throughout training camp.
07:14Yeah, I kind of like him.
07:16I kind of like his kind of little skill set.
07:18I don't – I think he can – he kind of can do what – he's going to –
07:23I don't want to say he's a Swiss Army now, but I feel like he can do a lot of
07:25the things.
07:26If you need him to do something, you can ask him to do it.
07:28He normally goes out there and is able to do it.
07:30I think the special teams parts are a really good topic to bring up.
07:37And I think that's where you look at a guy like Harold Perkins Jr., who was drafted, I know.
07:42But that's – talk about how he can make an instant impact.
07:46It's definitely going to be there.
07:48I'm also just really curious where they decide to use him
07:52and what specialization they want from him.
07:56Because are you going to say, hey, go in the middle, which he did late last year,
08:01or are you going to say, you know what, man?
08:03You're a fire breather off the edge.
08:04You're a little bit light in the ass, but go out there and –
08:07let's see if you can take on some tackles.
08:11Let's see if you can use your speed and quickness to kind of get around the edge
08:15and if that fits you.
08:17Well, I know it's been all celebrations and parties, and we're all excited
08:21since everyone got drafted.
08:23We've got a new draft class.
08:24When does the work actually begin for all these guys?
08:26I would assume you've got a week or two.
08:28I think it's a couple weeks.
08:29I think it's maybe the second week in May that they –
08:32it used to be literally the week after the draft.
08:35Yeah.
08:35I mean, I know Mike probably was up there on Wednesday
08:38getting ready for a Thursday and Friday and Saturday minicamp, rookie minicamp.
08:42There was – it was the following.
08:44So I think there was a 10-day period.
08:46Because you know why I remember this?
08:48This is funny to think about timeline-wise.
08:50Paul Boudreau, who was the offensive line coach when I got drafted,
08:53mailed me – I kid you not – an overnight package that was a DVD of the playbook.
09:00I got it overnighted to where I was living, and I opened it up,
09:04and I'm using, like, one of the TVs that had the DVD player attached underneath.
09:07Yeah.
09:08And I'm rewinding and fast-forwarding and watching –
09:10watching film.
09:11Like, I don't think they have to mail out DVDs this past weekend.
09:15I think they probably have other ways they can probably do that.
09:18They can just mail you an iPad instead.
09:20So May 1st through 4th is the first weekend teams can hold a three-day rookie minicamp
09:25following the NFL draft.
09:27So the first is Friday, isn't it?
09:29Yeah, yeah.
09:30That's Friday.
09:31There you go.
09:31That is indeed Friday, yes.
09:33There you go.
09:34But we got to find out when the Falcons are holding theirs.
09:37Well, on the Falcons' website, it says May 1st through 4th.
09:41Good.
09:41Get them right in there.
09:42I like that.
09:43I've said it's a four, and we'll talk about it when we get closer.
09:45That is not something you want to be a part of.
09:48That is – there are live bullets in that whole ordeal, buddy.
09:51There are some people out there.
09:53You're going to have five or six guys in that rookie minicamp that go,
09:56this might be my last time wearing shoulder pads.
09:59It's going down.
10:00I remember Dante Fowler tore his knee in rookie minicamp.
10:04It was like the first day of rookie minicamp.
10:06He was in Jacksonville, and he tears his knee up.
10:09Oh, man.
10:10Well, that's – so Friday.
10:12They have Friday to look forward to.
10:13I would love to hear your thoughts on the draft class.
10:15There is a thread going at 929 Morning Shift on how Ian Cunningham did,
10:19how you would grade him, feel free to weigh in on that.
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