Archive for April, 2010

Corey Peters Really a Reach?

The Falcons went pretty much according to plan with their first pick, grabbing OLB Sean Weatherspoon with their #19 overall pick. Media and fans alike were generally happy and thought it was a good move to fit a glaring need on defense with a potential playmaker. Of course drafts never go as planned, but many felt that if the Falcons passed on a DT in the first round that they would likely wait until a good bit later (4th or 5th round perhaps) to address a fairly unstable defensive tackle position. They were wrong. After not having a second round pick, fans watched excruciatingly as pick after pick came off the board. They wanted a big splash to make them feel better after not having a second rounder. And then the name scrolled across the board: Defensive Tackle from Kentucky Corey Peters. What?

Many had learned a little about Peters here in The Bird Cage after he was featured among many players in the Mock Drafts put forth. He was thought to be …

Continue reading Mock Draft Champs and DT Peters a Reach? »

Offer Up Your Expert Opinion

The 2010 Atlanta Falcons NFL Draft is in the books and the reviews have certainly been mixed at best from many fans examining the newest Falcons. Thomas Dimitroff has been marveled as a top general manager and talent evaluator in the National Football League, but this draft in particular wasn’t the homerun that many fans think the previous ones may have been. TD has always been very loyal to his “needs-based” approach to filling out the Falcons roster through the draft and has hit some major homeruns in his time as GM, with only a few players (3 out of 19 to be exact) that are not either a part of the active roster or on the practice squad. So without further ado, meet the newest Atlanta Falcons and give your grades accordingly.

((((Editor’s Note)))) – In an effort to spread out the draft evaluation, have plenty of football to discuss in the upcoming “dark-cloud-no-football” period, and get some much needed down time, the posts …

Continue reading Fans Grade the Falcons Draft »

Finally…….It’s Here!
  

Yes, its at last come, the NFL Draft is only hours away at this point. It’s been a long time since the Falcons beat the Bucs in Tampa Bay to end the ridiculous curse of not having back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in franchise history. Considering there was no postseason, it was a great way to end the season and left fans wanting more about what the possibilities hold in the future. The conversations immediately turned an eye towards the 2010 NFL Draft and what the Falcons would need and who would be the best fit come April.

After tons of scenarios, possibilities, and analyzing hundreds of players, the Big Day has finally arrived. The NFL Draft will try its hand at primetime, surely gaining the much wanted high TV ratings, but also rubbing some draft enthusiasts the wrong way by holding it during the week. The 2010 NFL Draft is finally upon us Ladies and Gentleman, so get your grill fired up and ready to go or head on down to your …

Continue reading The Big Day! »

The Falcons Experts Weigh In………..

((((Update)))) – Atlanta Falcons Examiner creator and author Daniel Cox’s picks have been updated to our Falcons Expert Panel.

It’s a matter of days now Ladies and Gentlemen….the NFL Draft is so very close. Graham? Weatherspoon? Pouncey? Trade Back? The 2nd Annual Bird Cage Mock Draft Competition is running strong and you still have plenty of time to get your mocks in before the deadline of 11:59 pm on Wednesday night.

Find all the rules, specifications, and scoring here………..2nd Annual Bird Cage Mock Draft Competition
 
Mocks Saved Thus Far

 NFL 1st Round Mocks: JohnWaynesWorld, Bangkapi Ajarn, Coop, Bill, Luladawg, Nookah, FalconsFan284, Ed, tyler.

Falcons Full Mocks: Marcus, Bill, Bangkapi Ajarn, darrell starks, Coop, JohnWaynesWorld, Unca’ Bob, marko, Nookah, FalconsFan284, tbhawksfan, tyler…If I’ve missed any, please let me know

After sharing my mocks, I decided to create a Falcons Expert Panel of sorts, including authors …

Continue reading Falcons Expert Panel (Updated) »

The Grand Finale………….

Finally, finally, finally….the wait is almost over! The Big Day is almost upon us. The hundreds of scenarios have been played out over and over and the anticipation on the big finish is oh so close. The 2010 NFL Draft will bring in a ton of excellent players (hopefully), but it also issues in the start of the 2nd Annual Bird Cage Mock Draft Competition! Get ready to lock and load those picks in for good as we roll towards a ton of fun in mocking the picks.

Not only will the winner get major bragging rights, but there also is a fun prize involved for the Mock Draft Champion. There might even be a small prize for 2nd and 3rd place finishers as well. Here’s the details on submitting, scoring, and all the rest:

The Mock Draft Competition will operate in two parts: 1)Mocking the entire first round of all 32 teams and which players the team will pick, just like Mel Kiper and Todd McShay. 2)The second part will be offering up your Falcons Full …

Continue reading 2nd Annual Bird Cage Mock Draft Competition »

Mid Round OLB Prospects

The two biggest positions the Falcons appear to be locking on for their #19 overall pick are outside linebackers and defensive ends. The Falcons have seemed to lock in on Sean Weatherspoon at Outside Linebacker and Brandon Graham at Defensive End. The Birds have had Weatherspoon in for two official visits and it was recently confirmed that the Falcons had Brandon Graham in for an official visit as well, even though that one was much more discreet. It’s almost a certainty that the Falcons will select an OLB at some point, but the same can’t be said of DE. Its impossible to know Thomas Dimitroff and Co.’s draft strategy since fans aren’t privy to information and how they truly feel about the players on their current roster, particularly on defensive end. Regardless of who the Falcons draft first, they most likely will be looking heavily at OLB’s if they pass on them in the first round.

Rounds slotted per NFLDraftScout.com’s rankings, special …

Continue reading Falcons OLB Draft Targets »

13 Days and Counting………….

There are several different camps that fans divide into assuming the Spoon-Graham absent theory actually happens. Many believe the Falcons should take the best interior lineman available such as Maurkice Pouncey at Center or Mike Iupati at Guard. Others believe that the Falcons should try their best to trade back either in the first or second round to acquire more picks to make up for them not having a second …

Continue reading Falcons Full Mock Madness 4.0 »

Extremely Deep Wide Receiver Class

Harry Douglas had a fantastic rookie year and added an excellent threat in the aerial attack, as well as raising all the other WRs game around him. Douglas is coming back from an ACL injury and won’t be ready until training camp in August. Brian …

Continue reading Falcons WR Draft Targets »

3 Weeks Away………

 The 2010 NFL Draft is finally drawing to its awesome culmination and the draft boards are beginning to solidify as the big day inches closer. The Falcons have had several private workouts with many different prospects, some in an attempt to perform due diligence (Rolando McClain – ILB) and others for obviously legit reasons (2 workouts with Sean Weatherspoon). There are many different directions the Birds can go in and the attempts of nailing down the Falcons draft might becoming an obsession to many of us junkies. And with that Falcons Full Mock Madness 3.0. 

Use this week and next to continue playing around with different scenarios, prospects, and combinations to come up with your best guess for the 2nd Annual Bird Cage Falcons Mock Draft Competition starting Monday, April 19th. More details to follow soon. 

1st Round

Sergio Kindle – OLB/DE – Texas

The assumption here is that both Sean Weatherspoon and Brandon Graham are gone and they can’t …

Continue reading Falcons Full Mock Madness 3.0 »