Does Atlanta Really Avoid Drafting Georgia Football Players?

Georgia football fans are notorious for claiming that the Atlanta Falcons avoid Georgia players, but do they?

We have all heard this narrative from Georgia football fans and many others; the Atlanta Falcons refuse to draft players from that school in Athens, their own back yard.

Yet, has anyone really taken any time to look into it?

Well, I did this offseason, and this is what I found on what Pro Football Reference had on Georgia‘s and Atlanta‘s draft history.

For starters, Champ Bailey was a HUGE deal coming out of Georgia in 1999.

People were calling him the next Deion Sanders. Washington was the lucky team that got to scoop him up, taking him 7th overall. That year Atlanta was coming off their first Super Bowl appearance in the franchise’s history.

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They were picking 30th overall and knew they had no shot at Bailey.

Ten years later, Matthew Stafford was coming out of Georgia. He would go 1st overall to Detroit.

Atlanta had no shot at getting him as they were picking 24th overall that year. It also did not bother them as the previous year they had drafted  Matt Ryan in the 1st round.

In 2005 highly touted Georgia safety Thomas Davis was heading to the NFL. He was taken 14th over by the Carolina Panthers.

As much as you and I would have loved to see him in an Atlanta Falcons uniform, the Falcons had the 27th overall pick that season. He was gone long before they could even consider it.

In 2011 Justin Houston was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 3rd round with the 70th overall pick.

Atlanta had traded up to get Julio Jones that year and in turn, did not have a 2nd round pick. Their 3rd round pick was the 91st overall pick, 21 spots after KC took Houston.

In 2013, there was an intriguing prospect coming out of Georgia; safety turned linebacker Alec Ogletree. The then St. Louis Rams would select him.

The Falcons did have the option to take him but opted for Washington CB Desmond Trufant with the 22nd pick instead. This choice, in my opinion, was the right one.

Cornerback was a significant need for the Falcons in 2013 and Trufant was rated as one of the best in the draft, and he played up to the billing early in his career.

This brings me to 2015 and the draft that most “Atlanta doesn’t draft Georgia players” skeptics point to. This was the draft of Vic Beasley over Todd Gurley.

I’ll admit, I was on the Vic Beasley train back then. Beasley got compared to the next Von Miller, and Atlanta was desperate for a pass rusher.

Atlanta ended up going with Beasley, and the rest is history. Yet, Georgia fans that double as Falcons fans have never forgiven this move by  Atlanta.

Even though, at the time, it was the right move. Hindsight will always be 20/20, but on draft night Atlanta did the right thing. They already had their running back; you can debate that if you want, but they believed they had their starter. So they went with the pass rusher.

Also in 2015, the Falcons did make a mistake in not enlisting the services of David Andrews. Every team in the NFL overlooked him and the Patriots ended up signing him as an undrafted free agent.

He has since started is multiple Super Bowls while the Falcons had to throw big money at free agent center Alex Mack just a year later.

As far as Sony Michel and Nick Chubb are concerned, according to Over The Cap’s website, Calvin Ridley, whom the Falcons picked in the 1st round this year is making $10,900,732 over four years with $3,899,273 guaranteed. This is what that pick is worth since they started the rookie wage scale.

Devonta Freeman‘s cap hit for 2018 was $5,000,000 and Tevin Coleman‘s cap hit was $977,939. That’s $6,000,000 tied up in your top 2 RBs for 2018, and you think it would have been a smart move to draft another RB and pay him almost $3,000,000?

So in closing, there are no real factual grounds on which this accusation can stand.

There are more things to consider when drafting than the logo on the player’s helmet. Total cap space, the cap being used on a position, is the position a need, and are they the best player available are all things to consider.

The NFL is a business and can not be run through feelings or allegiances to one school over another.