I know Atlanta reworked Matt Ryan‘s contract, which led some people to believe they’re committed to Ryan for a long time, but I’ve talked to two general managers in the past week who told me they fully expect the Falcons to draft a quarterback. Atlanta reworked Ryan’s contract to get under the salary cap. That needed to take place no matter what.
A lot of people connect Justin Fields to Atlanta, since it’s his home-state team, but I like Lance for this spot. I think it makes a lot of sense for him to come in as a 20-year-old and sit behind Ryan until he is ready. He offers tremendous upside and is a great fit for new head coach Arthur Smith’s offense as a more physical and faster version of Ryan Tannehill, whose breakthrough occurred under Smith in Tennessee.
Tannehill was a really sharp young man coming out of Texas A&M, and Lance is the same way. I had a chance to meet the former North Dakota State QB this past week, and he’s a very impressive person when you visit with him. He’s extremely smart, with outstanding football awareness. The thing is, Atlanta could be in jeopardy of getting leapfrogged because that No. 3 pick, currently held by the Dolphins, looks like a prime trade spot for a QB-needy team. I think there’s a legitimate chance we’ll see the first four picks of the draft be quarterbacks.
