Mel Kiper Jr. 1st NFL Mock Draft Has Falcons Picking ...

The Atlanta Falcons have the No. 8 overall pick in the NFL Draft, and ESPN Draft Analyst Mel Kiper Jr. released his first mock draft on Wednesday.

The Atlanta Falcons will have the No. 8 pick in the NFL Draft this April after finishing 7-10 on the season. While the loss to the New Orleans Saints in the season finale stung, it was the difference between the Falcons drafting No. 8 or No. 11.

Atlanta will have several good options to select an impact player at a premium position at No. 8, and long-time NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. has the Falcons selecting cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. out of LSU with the eighth pick in the draft.

Mel Kiper Jr. Full Mock Draft (ESPN+)

This was one of the toughest calls of the entire mock. I thought hard about a quarterback. My buddy Chris Mortensen, though, says the Falcons are committed to Matt Ryan for 2022, which means this might be too high to take a QB who's not going to play right away. This is not a class full of surefire starting QBs. If David Ojabo was still on the board, I probably would have gone with him because the Falcons finished last in the league in sacks (18) this season. But there's a little bit of a drop-off in the edge-rush tiers, and my next guy doesn't have a top-10 grade.

So how about a cornerback to play on the other side of rising star A.J. Terrell? Stingley looked like a potential No. 1 pick when he was dominating as a true freshman on LSU's national title team in 2019, but he was inconsistent in 2020 and then played just three games this season because of a foot injury. A team is going to have to take a little bit of a leap of faith with Stingley because he hasn't played great for two seasons. The draft is all about upside, though, and he has the potential to be a superstar. I'm hoping he can work out at the combine to ease some concerns. - Mel Kiper Jr.

If Stingley were to reach his potential with the Falcons, he and Terrell would give the Falcons arguably the best cornerback tandem in the NFL. That would give defensive coordinator Dean Pees much more flexibility to mask personnel problems in the front seven with pressure.

We agree with Kiper Jr. that this is a tough decision, but not because of Matt Ryan and available quarterbacks. Passing on Justin Fields and Mac Jones at No. 4 last year was a much tougher decision.

Taking a quarterback at No. 8 in this class looks like a gigantic reach. If the Falcons want to try for Ryan’s successor in this class, they’d be much better served trading back in the first round.

What makes this decision tougher is passing on an edge rusher like Purdue’s George Karlaftis. However Kiper isn’t as high on Karlaftis as many early pundits. He has Karlaftis coming off the board at No. 23 to the Arizona Cardinals.

We’d take the under on that prediction.

With one of the worst rosters in the NFL, the Falcons have needs at virtually every position. Taking the best player available should fit a need. In this draft, there are several premium position players that should be available at corner, edge, and offensive tackle when the Falcons pick at No. 8.

Taking Derek Stingley Jr. and pairing him with Terrell is a move we can get behind.