We're heavily into the doldrums of the NFL offseason. Training camp is still a few weeks away, meaning players and coaches around the league are soaking up the remaining remnants of their summer.
For those covering the league, now is the time to get creative. Ben Solak, a national NFL analyst for ESPN, looked to the draft for one of his summer projects and has landed on the best player selected at each slot during the modern era.
He gives a few qualifiers for his list, such as defining "best" to mean a combination of "most talented and most successful." As with all subjective lists, this is meant to be taken as a jumping off point for discussion, and Falcons fans will likely have some players in mind who weren't represented here.
Nevertheless, Solak named seven Falcons in this exercise.
- Pick No. 5 – Deion Sanders
- Pick No. 33 – Brett Favre
- Pick No. 79 – William Andrews
- Pick No. 90 – Matt Schaub
- Pick No. 137 – Grady Jarrett
- Pick No. 236 – Tom Pridemore
- Pick No. 237 – Todd McClure
That is a nice shortlist of some of the best Falcons players of all-time, and it's nice to see guys like William Andrews, Grady Jarrett and Todd McClure get recognized here. The first two names shouldn't come as a surprise, although an easy argument could be made that Favre doesn't count as a name in Atlanta's corner.
"The 33rd pick has produced four Hall of Famers, but Isaac Bruce, Fred Dean and Ted Hendricks can't clear the value of Favre, a three-time MVP and one of the league's most electric passers ever," Solak wrote. "An excellent draft pick by the Falcons, though they reaped absolutely none of what they sowed."
A few notable players not on the list come from the most recent era of Falcons football. Matt Ryan was not even mentioned in Solak's blurb about the No. 3 overall pick, but that's somewhat understandable given that his choice for that spot was Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders. Similarly, Julio Jones was passed over at the No. 6 pick for Walter Jones, one of the greatest offensive linemen in league history.
On the current roster, the Falcons have a slew of talented offensive players who were drafted at No. 8 overall. However, Drake London, Bijan Robinson and Michael Penix Jr. have a long way to go to beat out Solak's pick at that slot, 49ers legend Ronnie Lott.
Solak picked a name that should matter to Falcons fans at No. 9, although that player never actually suited up for Atlanta. Hall of Fame tackle Bruce Matthews, the father of Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews, played a staggering 19 years in the league and made 14 Pro Bowls. He is a worthy selection to represent the ninth-overall pick, and Matthews' son has more than justified his selection at pick No. 6 in 2014.
The final player to call out here is safety Tom Pridemore, who was selected in the ninth round of the 1978 NFL Draft. He played eight seasons in Atlanta and finished with 21 interceptions and 13 fumble recoveries. That's not what separates him from the pack, though. I'll let Solak fill you in.
"I know times were different, but when Pridemore was playing in the 1980s for the Falcons, he was also a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates," he writes. "Again, while playing in Atlanta, he was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates."
Editor's note: An exclusive interview with Ben Solak will appear on the Atlanta Falcons Podcast Network before training camp begins. Stay tuned!
