FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons picked up an extra selection during draft weekend and ultimately came out of the NFL Draft with six new players in Ian Cunningham’s first event as the team’s general manager.
Four of those selections were used on defense, where the Falcons added one of the draft’s top cornerbacks in Avieon Terrell on Day 2 and a slew of athletic defenders on Day 3. Wide receiver Zachariah Branch was one of the two offensive players that Atlanta drafted, and he will bring more firepower to that side of the ball.
“It felt like we got some good players. We got some good players that are going to be able to help our football team offensively and defensively,” Cunningham said after the draft. “It was a great experience. We’ve got to give a lot of credit to the guys and the girls upstairs that helped get this thing organized, and it ran smooth. We’ve got a lot of support, a lot of people up there, put a lot of countless hours, not just in the scouts and the coaches, but the whole operation. So really, a lot of the credit goes to them.”
Although it will be months until we see the kind of impact this draft class can have on the field, the national media draft grades are already out. The general consensus is that Atlanta nailed Day 2, and the reactions to the Falcons’ picks on Day 3 are a bit more mixed. That’s largely understandable as opinions take on more variance in the later rounds, where prospects may have qualities one team covets but another does not.
Value is a term often thrown around during draft season and something all teams try to keep in mind when making their picks. Warren Sharp, a data analyst who does good work covering the NFL, determined the Falcons got the most value out of the 2025 draft. The impact Atlanta’s 2025 class had on the field reflects well upon Sharp’s analysis from last year.
This year, the Falcons were once again better at getting value from the draft than most other teams and ranked ninth in Sharp’s 2026 draft rankings.
