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Does anyone like the underclassmen Landry and Bing?

I haven't seen enough of them to form my own opinion, but I've heard/read good things so far.

but IMO, I don't think we have to wait until the draft to get a safety. The FA class next year will be pretty strong at SS.

Archuleta
Tank Williams
Schulters
Chavous
Will Demps
Chad Williams

I think we could sign a young up and comer like Demps or Williams for a pretty cheap price rather than use a 1st or 2nd round pick on a safety. IMO, a safety has to be pretty damn special to be worthy of a 1st round pick. I'm not sure if Bing and Landry are there yet.

I have read where Bing is being compared to Lott. However, like you, I haven't seen them enough to form my own judgement.
I have seen our own safties play however. My hopes are we pick up one during free agency and draft one high as well depending on who is on the board. We could also use a corner that can play press coverage.

To me we need:
Help in the secondary
Help on the O-Line
A DE to replace Smith (33 next year if memory serves)

I think they are going to wait and see how things go with Keon and Heard who play SS in our system. They also like Scott at FS up closer to the LOS in run support. See for yourself:

http://www.ourlads.com/secure/depthchart.cfm?index1=atl

I think it would be wise to find a better option than Keon or Heard at SS (which is probably more like a FS in most systems). How they do that is the real question. They might let Keon and Heard continue for a while as a low cost option if they are proving they can do a good job. Carpenter has the leadership abilities to make a big difference in our secondary. I'd like to see him do well and stay healthy so that we don't need to address that position for a while.

I think RB will be our greatest need this upcoming offseason. We will likely have to cut Dunn because of his huge cap hit next season, and they will also possibly cut Duckett if he can't prove his worth. Losing Dunn IMO is huge and will require a significant replacement to make up for what he does for this team. There is a small possiblity that Westbrook will be let go after this season, so I'd seriously consider signing him. Other than that, we might have to look to the draft in order to fill that need. I would love to find a small to mid-sized RB with the quickness and cutting ability that Dunn has. If we can find that, we might just have ourselves a quick and inexpensive resolution to suite our needs. I would also want us to get a bigger back as well should we ditch TJ too, but Pudge has already mentioned that there should be several decent bigger RBs out there that will fill his shoes nicely.

I havn't seen enough of LAndry, but I've caught a few USC games. Bing being referred to Lott may be a stretch. He has all the physical tools but looks lost at times. He is very inconsistant. He will be money one week, then look like a HSer another week. IMO, unless he has a stellar year he would be better suited staying for his senior year and learning more about the position.

He is awsome at run support but blows alot of tackles trying to knock everyones head off. He needs to learn to wrap people up, then use his strength.

eh....drafting a safety high would leave a bad taste in my mouth. Anyway if we got another good corner safety would not be as big of a need. If I were GM (and God I wish I were, that would be to friggin cool) my priorities would be as follow:
1: CB
2: DE
3: S
4: RB

I think, for whatever reason, that we will resign Dunn to a cheaper contract for reasons I stated in a differant thread. CB is our biggest need, Mathis may never play again, Rossum does not belong on the field unless he's returning a kick, and J Web is injury prone, and solid at best when he's healthy. Another good CB would put us over the top. DE is another big need because I don't see Brady Smith playing at a high level much longer.

1: CB
2: DE
3: S
4: RB

I agree with that list. J-Web is extremely overpaid so it may be a little hard to get another highly paid CB in here. But as you said about Mathis & Rossum we should all agree that corner is a HUGE need.

And I as much as I know I shouldnt say this, I have a feeling Smith will be battling injuries all season and will never be what he was. But hopefully we have our RE of the future in one Chauncey Davis. Then we would just need depth which would bump down DE for me.

I'm not so sure that Chauncey could be our starter long term. He very well may be able to do so but as of this second I have some pretty serious reservations, but here's to hoping....

Hopefully we can continue our streak of making good middle round picks. There are almost always good RB's and good D-linemen in the middle rounds so we might get lucky and find someone there

I would agree with that list for the most part. I might put RB a bit higher than S simply because we have Scott, Keon, and Heard back there now. We will have to see how they held up at the end of the season to make that judgement.

McKay has said in the past that he prefers to fill his holes/needs through FA prior to the draft. That way, he then has the power and flexibility to take the best players available with our picks. We are somewhat limited with our current cap situation being pretty tight, but it will be better to sign whoever we can in FA to at least have good depth players and then see what the draft gives us. Personally, I'd love to see us get another CB, a solid DE, and a RB with our top 3 picks next draft. We'll have to see what's possible as the season progresses.

A great post.
To me it really depends on who is available. DE is predicted to be weak in the first round after the kids from B.C. and N.C. State go. I wouldn't reach for one despite the need. Everyone will admit corner is a need I believe and I still want a safety that will/can hit. We haven't had one since Scott Case if memory serves. If Maroney is available he might be too good to pass up.

Blue from GA is a big hitter, I am not sure how good he is in coverage but I know he brings the wood...

The Falcon's need to draft a corner,running back in case dunn doesn't want a lower contract,and def end.Running backs generally drop in the draft so maybe a good one wil be available.We need a guy like Dunn who is fast and shifty but can also catch a pass or two.Corner as we saw without mathis how weak our secondary is we have got to upgrade it.Webster seems to get injured alot and we need to groom someone.Def end,brady won't be around forever and I am not sure Chauncey Davis can be the def end we need to start.Safety is another priority as Scott and Carpenter are not exactly great.I did want to mention I think the falcon's should get a beefy 320+ def tackle as a project.I know Mckay believes in fast defenses which are smaller but unless the falcon's settle how to stop the run better we need a def tackle that won't get pushed around.

It would give us another option as opposed to none now at def tackle.Maybe alight bulb will go on in mckay's head and realize that a big def tackle will certianly help stop the run and free up hartwell to make plays.

Before we start adding size in the middle, I think we should let Babs, Lavalais, and Shropshire develop a little. Shropshire has been inactive all 3 weeks, but that's because the team would be hard-pressed to activate 5 DTs because it would likely leave them a man short on ST coverage.

I think Shropshire has the build to be our big interior presence. He just needs some more time.

I personally believe 320-pound tackles are overrated. You see more busts of DTs in that size range because almost every one of them is out of shape. Now, there are some very good ones in that size and I'm not every DT that comes out that is in the 320-330 pound range is going to stink, but I think the risk factor for lazy, out of shape players is significantly higher in those guys than it is in a guy that is only 295 or 300 pounds.

Also factor in that DTs rarely make a huge impact in the league early on. Kevin Williams is the only guy off the top of my head in recent years that came into the league as a rookie and really had an outstanding year. Other guys, it takes 2-3 years before they really get into their stride.

As for corners and RBs, I think both areas based on tradition should be addressed on the 1st day. Most nickel-caliber corners are taken in Rounds 2 and 3. Most RBs that are capable of 15-20 carries per game are also take between Rounds 2-4.

Safeties IMO, can wait until the 2nd day of the draft. You can get a quality safety in Round 4 or 5. Erik Coleman, Gibril Wilson, Lance Schulters, Arturo Freeman, Dexter Jackson, and Jermaine Phillips are examples of recent starting safeties that were taken in those two rounds. I think cornerback is a position that is of higher importance. We need help at safety, but I think solidifying the CB spot will do more to improve our defense than getting a starting safety.

I'm really hoping for a safety in the mold of:

Taylor (physical skills w/o the baggage)
Roy Williams
Lott
Dawkins
Jack Tatum

You guys get the idea...

that's asking a lot, I am not sure that there is a safety in this draft that fits that mold...those types of players don't come around often....

If Keion would just catch the darn ball when he cuts routes we wouldn't need a safety

Jason Allen of UT would be a nice 2-3rd pick. Also what about Greg Blue of UGA? Good hitter, solid cover guy, a little raw but has the physical tools to be a very good player.

I think the Falcons do need a stronger run stopping presence at safety to work in the box. Right now, we don't have a good in the box safety. I know we discusssed last year if the Falcons should go after Thomas Davis or Brodney Pool in Round 1 if available. I think we all pretty much agreed that Davis would have been a worthy pick if he was available when we picked (because he was a middle first round talent), but most considered Pool a good player, but the team was better off going for a pass rusher or OL at that spot than a safety.

Again, I think the Falcons should only look at a safety in Round 1 if a quality guy that slips 5-10 spots. I'm assuming we'll be picking in the 20s next April.

I can agree with this. As of now I think the only safety that goes in round one would be Landry. Bing and Blue would be solid picks later.

Looking at our needs and thinking as realistically as possible:

Running back - Bush and Williams off the board. I hope Dunn will accept a paycut to remain a Falcon through '06.
Tackle - Ferguson, Winston and McNeil off the board. Shaffer and Weiner currently playing very well however.
Defensive End - Noone worthy of taking with our #1 on the board.
Cornerback - Williams off the board. Allen is somewhat of a tweener...do we want this??

Given the above scenario whom might we take??

Note - I do believe Cash can take over as our nickel back.

I like Jason Allen a lot. He has the ability to play both CB and S, and plays them both very well. I think he is more likely to be a FS in the pros but could be a very solid CB as well.

I've thought about Allen and I like him. I would prefer him to play corner if we were to take him. I just don't want him to become another Bryan Scott. We need a coverage corner with quickness and speed.