During the 2007 NFL Draft, AF.com's Chris Pika will give his observations on what is going on at the Falcons' facility as the club makes its' selections in the seven-round extravaganza.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
9:00 pm - Final numbers: The 11 players selected in this draft are the most by the Falcons since the league moved to a seven-round draft and tied for the most by one team (with Green Bay, Jacksonville and Oakland) in the Draft. The next highest total was 10 in 2001. The Draft took a total of 18 hours and five minutes to select 255 players. By position, there were six centers, 14 guards, 21 tackles, 22 defensive ends, 18 defensive tackles, 35 linebackers, three kickers, one punter, one nose tackles, 50 defensive backs, 34 wide receivers, 24 running backs, 13 tight ends and 11 quarterbacks. The SEC led the way among conferences with 41 picks, while the Big Ten had 32, the ACC 31 and 28 each by the Big 12 and the Pac-10. There were 26 trades during the two-day session - 17 on Saturday and nine on Sunday.
- 4:20 pm - Even more video: More video of Daren Stone's college highlights can be seen here.
- 4:15 pm - More video to check out: Thanks to YouTube, we have some more video of Falcons draft picks to share. To see a cool photo collage of David Irons action shots, click here.
- 4:07 pm - Jump-mania: The Falcons have finished the flurry of picks in the sixth round. We just saw some interesting videos that showed CB Daren Stone jump over the roof of cars after a running start. To check them out, click here and here. To see his Pro Day workout, click here.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
- 11:23 pm - The end of the day: The first day is now complete and 99 picks are in the books from LSU's JaMarcus Russell at #1 by Oakland to #99 overall -- WR Johnnie Lee Higgins of UTEP -- also to the Raiders.
The final tally was 11 hours and four minutes - one hour and 44 minutes in the third round. We have plenty to read, watch and listen to from today on the site.
- 10:56 pm - Winding down: The third round is winding down and the Falcons seem to be done on the first day. It was an interesting three rounds for everyone and the Falcons helped themselves in need areas. One factoid dug up by Dan Levak, our Director of New Media is that CB Chris Houston ran the fastest 40-yard dash time among defensive backs (and third-best among all Combine participants).
The action kicks off tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET with a press conference featuring the Falcons first and second round picks will be held at 1 p.m. ET (we will have live coverage right here at AF.com). The Birds have two fourth-round picks and one each in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds.
By the way, we are up to 17 trades on the day and the third round (#95 as this is being typed) is still not over. The general managers across the league have been busy today, including our own Rich McKay.
We given you our take on the day's proceedings in Flowery Branch. What did you think of the Falcons selections and the first day of the 2007 NFL Draft? We'll, here is an invitation (if you haven't already joined) to join our message board community. Sign in and participate in the fun along with Falcons fans from across the country and the world who are passionate for all things Falcon.
- 9:44 pm - Time issues: The second round took a more merciful three hours and 12 minutes. For the record, two rounds took a total of nine hours, 20 minutes...and Mel Kiper, Jr.'s hair has absolutely not moved (it's the little things you notice after nine-plus hours).
- 8:35 pm - Swap meet: From the time the league year started on March 2 to yesterday, there were 13 deals that involved 2007 draft picks. Today, as of right now in the second round (#55 overall as I write), there have been 13 deals.
- 7:51 pm - Flurry of activity: Instead of a spread of six selections in which the Falcons would get two players, the club did it in three slots, thanks to a deal with Minnesota that flipped the two teams' picks in the fourth round #41 for the Falcons' #44 and #121 overall tomorrow in the fourth round.
The Falcons helped themselves in two need areas as they got a huge offensive lineman at #39 - the 6-3, 320-pound guard Justin Blalock, out of the University of Texas. At #41, the Birds went to Arkansas for the second time today - getting Jamaal Anderson's defensive teammate - CB Chris Houston, a shutdown corner.
Now, everyone can catch a breather as the Birds are not back on the clock until #75 overall in the third round.
- 6:22 pm - Time after time: The first round is finally through -- a long time -- so long, in fact, it was a record for the longest first round in league history. The first 32 picks took six hours and eight minutes to be complete.
Commissioner Roger Goodell summed it up nicely - "This is a record we really don't want to break." Luckily, it begins to speed up as the picks in the second round are 10 minutes each and after that -- it's five minutes each the rest of the way.
- 4:14 pm - Back in action: In the constant whirlwind to get you every piece of info on Arkansas DE Jamaal Anderson for the site, I am just now getting back to the blog.
- 4:14 pm - Back in action: In the constant whirlwind to get you every piece of info on Arkansas DE Jamaal Anderson for the site, I am just now getting back to the blog.
Interesting afternoon to say the least, but for the Falcons - a solid, strong defensive end who converted after moonlighting at the position in high school. At Arkansas, his coaches saw that he could be a dominant player at the position. He moved into the starting lineup midway through his junor year and had a huge season with 13.5 sacks in 2006.
Rich McKay said defensive end became a priority after Patrick Kerney left for Seattle in free agency and Anderson fills the bill - a complete player who can defend both the run and the pass equally well.
McKay also said that the club would not mortgage the future since the draft and what the Falcons will get out of it -- especially on the first day -- is important to building the Falcons.
The Birds have a while before they are on the clock again at #39 overall in the second round.
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- 1:27 pm - Vikings take Peterson: Speedy Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson went to Minnesota at #7. The Falcons are on the clock.
- 1:17 pm - Landry goes to Skins: Projected by many mock drafts to go to Atlanta, LSU S LaRon Landry lands in Washington at #6 for the Redskins.
- 1:07 pm - Cards take Brown: With the shuffle in the first four slots, Arizona opted to give Matt Leinart some much-needed protection as they took Penn State T Levi Brown.
- 12:54 pm - Bucs hold at #4: Tampa Bay, which reported had several options to move, according to media reports, elected to take Clemson DE Gaines Adams at #4.
- 12:42 pm - One small surprise: Most draft experts had QB Brady Quinn headed to Cleveland, but, the Browns took Wisconsin T Joe Thomas at #3.
- 12:31 pm - Calvin is off the board: The Lions took local favorite Calvin Johnson off the draft board as they took the Georgia Tech WR at #2.
- 12:21 pm - We finally have a #1 pick: The Raiders bled the draft clock and held the football world at bay until they picked LSU's JaMarcus Russell at #1.
- 12:13 pm - Uncertainty at the top: The jumble at the top of the draft is controlled by Al Davis of the Raiders - do they take Russell, Quinn or Johnson, or trade the pick away? Davis loves being in this spot - to influence the first round as only he can. We'll see shortly ...
- 11:52 am - Ceremony at NFL Draft: The NFL recognized the tragedy at Virginia Tech by honoring the school in pre-draft ceremonies at Radio City Music Hall. On stage with Commissioner Roger Goodell were Falcons QB Michael Vick and CB DeAngelo Hall, who joined with former NFL star Bruce Smith and Hokies head football coach Frank Beamer.
Beamer said a few words about the school and he, along with the players put on Virginia Tech caps in a show of support for the Hokies.
