2021 Falcons NFL Draft Picks Tracker
Draft Tracker
Round 1
London was an all-state pick in football and basketball for Moorpark High School in California and also played AAU hoops. He suited up for two games for the USC basketball team in the 2019-20 season, though he missed five games with a viral illness in January. His football prowess is what has turned heads, though, beginning with a strong true freshman season in 2019 (93-567-14.5, five TDs in 13 games, nine starts). London led the Trojans with 502 receiving yards (33 receptions, 15.2 per rec., three TDs) while starting all six games in 2020, receiving second-team All-Pac-12 accolades from league coaches. London missed the end of the 2021 season with a fractured right ankle but impressed Associated Press voters (who selected him as a third-team All-American) and league coaches (Offensive Player of the Year, first-team all-conference) by leading his squad with 88 receptions and 1,084 receiving yards (12.3 per rec.) and tying for the team lead with seven scores in just eight starts. -- by Chad Reuter
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- Falcons select Drake London with No. 8 pick in 2022 draft
- Falcons select Drake London in first round of 2022 NFL Draft | Top photos
- How Drake London fits with the Atlanta Falcons
- Falcons select Drake London with No. 8 overall 2022 NFL Draft pick
- Drake London highlights | 2022 NFL Draft
Round 2
Ebiketie (pronounced ebb-uh-KAY-tee) transferred from Temple to Penn State for 2021, adding weight to his frame to help the Nittany Lions replace edge rushers Odafe Oweh and Shaka Toney. He led the team with 18 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks among his 62 total tackles, two fumbles and two blocked kicks. Big Ten coaches voted him first-team all-conference. At Temple, in his first year as a starter in 2020, he garnered second-team All-American Athletic Conference honors by leading the Owls with 8.5 tackles for loss with four sacks (42 total tackles) and added three forced fumbles in six starts. Ebiketie unfortunately missed the regular-season finale due to COVID-19 protocols. The native of Cameroon did not start playing football until his sophomore year in high school. When he was 12 years old, his family moved to Maryland, where he played soccer and basketball before hopping on the gridiron. Temple signed him out of Albert Einstein High School and Ebiketie played in six games as a redshirt freshman (four tackles) and 12 games off the bench the following year (13 tackles, two sacks). -- by Chad Reuter
Andersen is one of the more versatile performers in college football in recent memory. He showed skills on offense and defense during his career at Beaverhead County High School in Montana, starring at safety and quarterback as well as twice winning state titles in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Bobcats coaches played Andersen in 11 games his true freshman season, starting him at running back in the opener (90-515-5.7, five TDs rushing on the season; 7-45-6.5, one TD receiving) and also once at linebacker (nine tackles, one sack) later in the season. Andersen was the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year and a Freshman All-American that season. He moved to quarterback for the 2018 season, earning first-team All-Big Sky Conference honors (115-of-208, 55.3 percent completion rate, 1,195 yards, three TDs, seven INTs passing; 206-1,412-6.9, 21 TDs rushing in 13 games, 11 starts). He was a first-team all-conference pick in 2019, as well, but for his work as a linebacker (54 tackles, 11.5 for loss, with 6.5 sacks, one interception, five pass break-ups) as well as at running back (49-336-6.9, seven TDs). In three of his 11 starts, Andersen was on the field with the No. 1 offense, as well as on defense. He suffered a lower-body injury in November, missing the final four games of the year. Doctors thought his injury would heal without surgery, but it did not, so he underwent surgery in early 2020 and would have missed the fall season, had the school played. Andersen was good to go for 2021, grabbing first-team Associated Press FCS All-American and Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors by ranking second in the FCS with 147 tackles (14 for loss, with two sacks), intercepting two passes (one returned for a score) and breaking up seven in 15 starts for the national runners-up. He was a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy (also known as the Academic Heisman). -- by Chad Reuter
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- Falcons select Troy Andersen in Second Round of 2022 NFL Draft | Top photos
- Troy Andersen highlights | 2022 NFL Draft
- Falcons select ILB Troy Andersen with No. 58 overall 2022 NFL Draft pick
- Falcons select Troy Andersen with No. 58 pick in 2022 draft
Round 3
The Louisville native played for former NFL offensive lineman Will Wolford at Saint Xavier High School, getting his first scholarship offer from current Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor when he was the offensive coordinator at UC. After taking a redshirt in 2017, Ridder started 12 of 13 games in his first season on the field, winning the American Athletic Conference's Rookie of the Year Award by completing 62.4 percent of his passes (194-of-311) for 2,445 yards, 20 touchdowns and five picks. He also rushed 149 times for 583 yards (3.9 per carry) and five scores on the year. Ridder started all 13 games in 2019, though his production dropped a bit (179-of-325, 55.1%, 2,164 yards, 18 TDs, nine INTs; 144-650-4.5, five TDs rushing). He took a step forward in 2020, as he was named the AAC Offensive Player of the Year and a first-team all-conference passer (186-of-281, 66.2%, 2,296 yards, 19 TDs, six INTs) while leading his 9-1 squad with 12 rushing TDs (98-592-6.0) in 10 starts. Ridder was the conference's Offensive Player of the Year again in 2021 (251-of-387, 64.9%, 3,334 yards, 30 TDs, eight TDs; 110-365-3.3, six TDs rushing in 14 starts), leading the Bearcats to the College Football Playoff and setting school career records with 87 passing touchdowns and 12,418 yards of total offense. -- by Chad Reuter
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- 'Excited to get down there and work' | Desmond Ridder Press Conference | 2022 NFL Draft
- Falcons select Desmond Ridder with No. 74 pick in 2022 draft
- Marc Ross on Falcons' selection of Desmond Ridder at No. 74 overall 'NFL Draft Center'
- Falcons select QB Desmond Ridder with No. 74 overall 2022 NFL Draft pick
- Desmond Ridder highlights | 2022 NFL Draft
Malone showed glimpses of his playmaking ability in his true freshman season, as the Cedar Grove High School (GA) standout and former first-team All-Georgia pick started three times in 11 contests for the Hilltoppers (25 tackles, 1.5 sacks). He continued his success as a sophomore when starting 11 of 12 games played and attaining honorable mention all-conference honors (60 tackles, nine for loss with six sacks, one interception, two forced fumbles). Malone became one of the elite defenders in the country in 2019 and was named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year after recording 99 tackles, 21 for loss (tied for fourth-most in the FBS) and a team-high 11.5 sacks. He was a first-team all-conference selection for the second straight year in 2020, leading the Hilltoppers with 11 tackles for loss and six sacks with 71 total tackles in 12 starts, while forcing two fumbles and tying for fifth in the FBS with two blocked kicks. Malone finished his career in style as he again was named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year after tying for ninth in the FBS with 17.5 tackles for loss, including a team-high nine sacks among his 94 tackles and four pass breakups, and tying for 10th with four forced fumbles in 14 starts. He also holds the WKU career record for sacks with 34. -- by Chad Reuter
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- 'Honored to play for my hometown team' | DeAngelo Malone Press Conference | 2022 NFL Draft
- Falcons select DeAngelo Malone with No. 82 pick in 2022 draft
- Falcons select DeAngelo Malone in Third Round of 2022 NFL Draft | Top photos
- DeAngelo Malone highlights | 2022 NFL Draft
- Falcons select OLB DeAngelo Malone with No. 82 overall 2022 NFL Draft pick
Round 5
Allgeier (pronounced al-jeer) had a breakout 2020 season, ranking seventh in the FBS with 7.53 yards per carry (150-1,130) and tying for 10th with 13 rushing touchdowns while also contributing as a receiver (14-174-12.4). He bettered those numbers in 2021, tying for fourth in the nation with 1,601 rushing yards on a school-record 276 carries (5.8 per) and tying for the national lead with 23 rushing touchdowns (also 28-199-7.1 receiving in 13 starts). Allgeier was named the 2021 Independence Bowl Offensive Most Valuable Player with 192 rushing yards and three scores in the team's loss to UAB. The Fontana, California product (he shares a hometown with former BYU and current NFL RB Jamaal Williams) walked on at BYU because of a lack of scholarship offers. He redshirted in 2018, playing in four games as a reserve (9-49-5.4, 2-57-28.5 kick returns). Allgeier saw action at running back (17-119-7.0 rushing; 3-67-22.3, one TD receiving), linebacker (26 tackles, one forced fumble) and kick returner (2-40.0) in 13 games as a reserve in 2019. Allgeier had a profane anti-cancer theme written on his left shoe vs. Navy in 2020 despite BYU's school code outlawing that language. His grandfather, Robert, was suffering from prostate and lung cancer; he also used the hashtag to honor Dr. James Logan, who was a vice-principal at Kaiser High School who died in February 2020. -- by Chad Reuter
Round 6
Shaffer is a Georgia native who helped Cedar Grove High School win a state title as an all-state selection his senior year. He played in eight games as a reserve his true freshman season with the Bulldogs and then suited up for 12 games off the bench in 2018. Shaffer started two of six appearances at left guard in 2019 but missed the final eight games with a neck injury. He bounced back to start all 10 games in 2020, nine at left guard before shifting to the right side for the team's win over Cincinnati in the Peach Bowl. Shaffer was a second-team All-SEC selection in 2021, starting all 15 games at left guard for the national champions. -- by Chad Reuter
FitzPatrick attended the Marist School in northern metro Atlanta, where he was a first-team all-state pick on defense as a junior and repeated that honor on offense as a senior. He chose to play for the Bulldogs for the 2018 season, which he redshirted while playing in two contests as a reserve (no statistics). Fitzpatrick started once in 2019 (1-22-22.0 in 11 games) and five times in 2020 (10-95-9.5, one TD in 10 contests). He had a limited role as a pass-catcher in Georgia's 2021 national title run (6-83-13.8) but contributed as a blocker for the team's run game, starting seven of 15 games played. -- by Chad Reuter