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April 30, 2007

Falcons drafting Georgia Players


Martrez Milner is headed to ATL (Image: Jim Hipple)

There was a lively discussion yesterday on the DawgRun message board about the Falcons' historical lack of drafting Georgia Bulldogs. The Falcons of yore under the Smith Family were totally inept on draft day and all other days frankly. They blew shot after shot at taking Georgia players that would've dramatically upgraded the franchise (See: Rodney Hampton and Hines Ward as the most glaring examples).

But the Blank/McKay team seems to be doing a better job of looking towards Athens in the draft and free agency. Over the past few years, they've picked up Shockley (7th Round), Martez Milner (4th Round), Fred Gibson (FA 2007), Terrence Edwards (FA 2003), Josh Mallard (FA 2006), Steve Herndon (FA 2004), and I think one more. Additionally, they are rumored to have signed Tony Taylor to a free agent deal Sunday night. While they still aren't the Pittsburgh Steelers (to say the least), they're making progress.

I'm not a Falcons fan or apologist. I'd rather them not suck because it makes Sunday's more interesting. Beyond that, I'd like them to draft more Bulldogs. If they do great. If not, whatever as long as the team gets better. Other than WR drafting, McKay is pretty solid on draft day. Unlike his predecessors.

Regardless, Moosefish took an interesting look at the Falcons' last few drafts under McKay. He looked at the available Bulldogs at each pick of the draft vs. needs of the team. If you've got a minute, check it out.

See Also:
-- Shockley and Milner Reunited - Columbus-Ledger
-- Worth the Wait for Milner - AJC
-- Photo: Martrez beats the Buffs - ABH

PWD

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

For once though, JMO, but this wasn't exactly a big reason to celebrate. Look, Trez is probably a great guy, a good team player and leader and all that jazz... but he's probably the worst 1st string TE to come out of UGA in the last decade.

Add to that, the Falcons biggest problem being nobody can catch the freakin ball, and Milner's biggest problem at Georgia? Uh huh. I just changed the channel in disgust after that one. Of ALL the great Dawgs the dirty birds' management has passed on over the years, they take this one? In the 4th round?!? Alright, who let Billy Knight modify the big board... the first day's picks weren't a whole helluva lot better either. Again, just my $.02 : /

Anonymous said...

Outside of Dan Iman I don't think the Falcons could have made a worse selection of a Dawg. With Charles Johnson on the board they draft a WR? Typical Falcons.

Anonymous said...

The Market for 6'2" DEs who run 4.84 at the combine (Source: NFL.com) isn't all that high. No one was taking Charles in the 2nd round for a reason.

I think Martrez fits perfect into their plans. He blocks well, he runs great routes, has great TE speed, and he's a 50/50 shot to catch it.

They've got Crumpler to catch it. Martez is going to be a blocking TE / H-back. And if he gets open on a seam or drag and catches it, that's a bonus.

PWD

 
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