In Week 16 we saw the Falcons play a close game against the Chiefs, but come up short 17-14. The game could have been sent to overtime but Younghoe Koo missed a 39-yard field goal in the closing seconds. It was Koo's just second miss of the year. AJ Terrell could have picked off Patrick Mahomes the drive before that to win the game 14-10 for the Falcons as well. This was just another typical Atlanta Falcons game.
Around the rest of the league we saw the Bengals beat the Texans, Jets beat the Browns, and the Panthers beat Washington. The reason all of this is significant is now it has put the Falcons sitting at #4 in the NFL Draft order. Which now puts them in a very good spot to draft a potential new franchise quarterback. Justin Fields will most likely be sitting there at the pick and the Falcons should bite at the opportunity.
Now the three teams in front of the Falcons are the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets, and Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins own the rights to the Houston Texans first round pick. The situations for these teams are as follows.
Jaguars
Jacksonville will be taking Trevor Lawrence with their first overall pick in a no brainer decision. Lawrence will really make this offense pop with running back James Robinson having a good season this year, and wide receivers such as DJ Chark and Keenan Cole. There isn't much thought to this pick at all.
Jets
The Jets have won two games in a row, Sam Darnold may have saved his job, and the draft situation for them has drastically changed in the past two weeks. I haven't seen any Jets fans talk about drafting Justin Fields. They were all in on Trevor Lawrence and now that he's not in the picture it seems like Oregon tackle Penei Sewell is now the name Jets fans are starting to hear. Sewell can match up with Mekhi Becton who the Jets drafted last year and create a skyscraper offensive line and build around Sam Darnold. This situation will be interesting to follow.
Dolphins
Miami will be in the market for more playmakers to surround around Tua in the future, and the best option out there is Tua's former teammate Devonta Smith. Smith is the favorite to win the Heisman as of now and would be a great connection for Tua who has mildly struggled to produce big plays so far this season.
Now it is time to talk Fields to Atlanta. First of all this obviously is going to depend on what the new coach and new GM will want to do with the team going forward. If the new hires want to start a full rebuild and trade off Matt Ryan and Julio Jones to gain draft capital then Fields is the obvious pick here. The other side of the argument is even if they are not able to trade away Matt Ryan, it's known that Ryan is getting towards the end of his career and it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a top prospect ready to go. It worked for Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, and could work with Fields.
The problem that some people may have is that if Matt Ryan is still going to be the starter for a few years maybe this isn't the right move, and they would be partially right. The argument against that is this draft class is not that strong on defense compared to years past. Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons is talked about as the top prospect on the defensive side of the ball, but he also didn't play in 2020. Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain wouldn't be too bad of a option, but the Falcons just drafted a first round corner last year in AJ Terrell.
Fields is from Georgia, grew up just about 30 minutes from the Falcons stadium. Not only would this be an ultimate pick for the fanbase, but with the right development and coaching Fields could turn into what Cam Newton was when we was winning an MVP. Atlanta has given their fans some good memories the past 13 seasons with Matt Ryan, but it's time to look at the future. Justin Fields is the future all Falcons fans should want.
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