The Atlanta Falcons’ final two picks of the 2022 NFL Draft were Georgia Bulldogs Justin Shaffer and John FitzPatrick. If Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest 2023 NFL Mock Draft holds to form, the Falcons would select two Bulldogs with their first two picks in this year’s draft.
Kiper has edge rusher Nolan Smith going off the board with pick No. 8 to Atlanta. Smith has aced the pre-draft process, turning in a strong NFL combine performance while impressing teams in interview settings.
Following his pro day, Smith was asked about possibly being taken by the Falcons.
“Man, I’m a hometown kid and it would mean a lot to me,” Smith said. “It just seems they see a future in me and really want to keep me home.”
Smith is from Savannah, Ga.
Then in the second round, Kiper has Atlanta going back and selecting Kelee Ringo with the No. 44 overall pick.
This is a bit lower than where other mock drafts have slotted Ringo, with some seeing the cornerback as a possible first-round pick. Should Ringo fall this far in the draft, Atlanta should be more than happy to scoop him up.
“He has a great frame (6-foot-2) and is incredibly fast (4.36 40-yard dash at the combine), but he can’t rely on his physical tools to get him by,” Kiper wrote of Ringo. He needs to clean up his technique. In Atlanta, he could stay local -- this means I’m projecting the Falcons to get two Georgia guys in this mock -- and compete for the No. 2 job opposite A.J. Terrell.”
Prior to the selections of Shaffer and FitzPatrick a year ago, the last time Atlanta drafted a former Georgia player came back in 2011 when Akeem Dent was a third-round pick.
Elsewhere in Kiper’s mock draft, Jalen Carter is the first non-quarterback off the board with pick No. 5. Seattle and Detroit both seem like viable landing spots for the talented defensive tackle, regardless of whether or not there is a run on quarterbacks at the top of the draft.
Kiper still has Broderick Jones coming off the board with the No. 13 overall pick, landing with the New York Jets. He is the third offensive lineman projected to come off the board, behind Tennessee’s Darnell Wright and Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski.
Darnell Washington still ends up with the New Orleans Saints, something Kiper had in his last mock draft. But this time, New Orleans takes Washington with pick No. 40 as opposed to pick No. 29.
The 2023 NFL Draft begins on April 27 and concludes on April 29. Georgia had five players taken in the first round of last year’s NFL draft and 15 overall.
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