Falcons 2006 Draft

After a less than impressive 2006 campaign, the Atlanta Falcons entered Saturday and Sunday's NFL draft in need of some new blood. The theme this offseason has been to tighten up the Dirty Bird defense. We've done just that by aquiring defensive end John Abraham from the New York Jets and trading a first round draft pick for safety Lawyer Milloy. We continued this trend on Saturday when we drafted Virginia Tech cornerback Jimmy Williams in the second round, 37th selection.

Williams is 6'2", 214 pounds, and has 4.37 V 40 speed. According to NFL.com, Williams has excellent atheletic ability, with great acceleration and speed. He has great hips, which help him with bump-and-run coverage. He has great hands for breaking up the pass and/or intercepting the ball, and he's a strong and physical tackler.

He's weakness is his footwork and backpedal, which allows him to get beat late getting to the receiver. Additionally, he seems to want to tackle people catching the ball as opposed to making a jump on the pass to intercept the ball. Lastly, Willaims gets out of control at times when he comes up on plays in front of him and it leads to him lunging and missing some tackles he should make.

Other Falcon Draftees:

1. Jerious Norwood, 3rd round, 79th selection. Norwood is a 6'0", 203 pound running back from Mississippi State. He is a very instinctive runner who sees the field very well. His agility, balance and quick feet combine with good vision to help him cut back and get through the hole quickly. While he can bounce to avoid tacklers and can make jump-cuts, he lacks explosiveness and top-end playing speed -- he is more of a one-speed runner who gathers to full speed. While he can make the cut to the outside when the middle is clogged, he does not show the burst to get the corner consistently. When he runs aggressively, he runs through arm tackles, keeps his feet vs. hard hits and gains yards after contact. He looks surprisingly thin for a 200-plus pound running back and runs very upright.
2. Quinn Ojinnaka, 5th round, 139th selection. Ojinnaka is a 6'5", 308 pound offensive tackle from Syracuse. Ojinnaka is a talented athlete who has all the tools to become a good starting offensive tackle in the NFL, but he needs to greatly improve his technique and footwork and must block more aggressively in order to play up to his ability. Additionally, he is not a highly competitive offensive lineman who attacks his man and fights to the death to eliminate him from the play.
3. Adam Jennings, 6th round, 184th selection. Jennings is a 5'9", 181 pound wide receiver from Fresno State. He's suppose to be good at returning kicks.
4. D.J. Shockley, 7th round, 223rd pick. Shockley is a 6'1", 213 pound quarterback from my beloved University of Georgia. Shockley's my favorite Falcons' pick. I hope he makes the team because he's a character guy and he's a winner. Shockley posses athleticism, an ability to throw accurately deep and consistently has a knack for making clutch plays when they mattered most. Obviously, Shockley is shorter than ideal and is very raw when it comes to passing footwork and technique, but his athleticism and smarts allowed him to overcome those in 2005 and will help him to become a player that is capable of succeeding in the NFL, given the time to develop. The biggest concern is that Shockley has not shown a willingness to consistently throw the ball away and will force some passes that he should not throw.