Falcons Owner Arthur Blank On Draft Approach; Team Hosted Texas LT Kelvin Banks Jr.

“The emphasis during the draft will be certainly on the defensive side of the ball,” Blank said at last week’s league meetings (via Marc Raimondi of ESPN.com). “It’s pretty obvious to everybody, I would say.”

Atlanta fired one-and-done defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake this offseason and replaced him with Jeff Ulbrich. One of Ulbrich’s primary tasks will be coaxing more production out of a pass rush that finished with the second-fewest sacks in the league (31) last season, and to that end, the team has held visits with potential first-round EDGE talents like Marshall’s Mike Green and Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart.

Of course, the Falcons are not limiting their pre-draft evaluations to defensive players. Interestingly, the team recently held a private workout with Texas left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., per longtime Longhorn beat writer Brian Davis. Atlanta GM Terry Fontenot and HC Raheem Morris were in attendance.

Banks is currently ranked as the 31st-best prospect on Daniel Jeremiah’s latest big board, and Jeremiah says some clubs view Banks as a guard at the professional level. That said, he certainly has the talent to stick as a tackle, and many recent mocks project him to be selected in the first half of the first round. The Falcons presently hold the No. 15 pick and could therefore be in position to select Banks with that choice, but he is likely to be gone by the time Atlanta is back on the clock with its No. 46 pick.

The Falcons have invested considerable draft capital and dollars into its O-line, and they currently have Jake Matthews set to reprise his long-standing role as their starting LT. Matthews, 33, may be nearing the end of his career, but the team recently authorized an extension that keeps him under club control through 2028.

On the right side, Banks could serve as a near-future replacement for RT Kaleb McGary, who is entering the final year of his contract and whose trade or release would yield considerable cap savings. But McGary currently operates as the blindside protector for second-year quarterback and southpaw Michael Penix Jr., so it is unclear if the team would be comfortable plugging a rookie into that post right away. 

Even if the Falcons are one of the teams that view Banks as an interior blocker, he may not see immediate playing time if he were to land in Atlanta. The team currently has 2023 second-rounder Matthew Bergeron penciled in at left guard after he turned in a quality 2024 season, and right guard Chris Lindstrom is coming off his third straight Pro Bowl campaign and is (like Matthews) under contract through 2028.

With so many resources tied up in their offensive front already and with so many needs on defense, the Falcons were forced to let center Drew Dalman walk in free agency (Dalman signed a three-year, $42MM contract with the Bears). However, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says the team is perfectly content to have Ryan Neuzil, who started a career-high eight games last year in relief of an injured Dalman, serve as Penix’s full-time snapper. Per Ledbetter, both Morris and Fontenot have spoken highly of Neuzil’s abilities.