Atlanta Falcons draft picks 2022: Round-by-round selections

usa today

Sat, Apr 30, 2022, 11:08 PM·2 min read

Here is a 2022 NFL draft pick-by-pick breakdown for the Atlanta Falcons:

Round 1 (No. 8 overall) - Drake London, WR, USC: The 2021 trade of Julio Jones, 2022 suspension of Calvin Ridley and free agent departure of Russell Gage evidently moved wideout right to the top of GM Terry Fontenot's wish list. A 6-4, 219-pounder, London reminds many of Tampa Bay's Mike Evans, partially due to their basketball backgrounds. London and 2021 first-round TE Kyle Pitts should provide new QB Marcus Mariota quite a pair of capable rebounders – "twin towers" as London said. Draft tracker

Round 2 (38, from Panthers through Jets and Giants) - Arnold Ebiketie, DE/LB, Penn State: After transferring from Temple last season, he burst onto the scene in Happy Valley by posting 9½ sacks and 18 TFLs. He's not the stoutest guy (6-2, 250), but his specialty – hunting quarterbacks – immediately improves a team that finished last (by far) in 2021 with 18 total sacks. Draft tracker

Round 2 (58, from Titans) - Troy Andersen, LB, Montana State: Really good athlete (6-4, 243 pounds, 4.4 speed), he could take the starting gig left behind by departed Foyesade Oluokun, who led the NFL in tackles in 2021. Draft tracker

Round 3 (74) - Desmond Ridder, QB, Cincinnati: He's a renowned leader, winner and worker – plus a very good athlete to boot. He'll need to work on his accuracy, but plenty going for Ridder, including an opportunity to play fairly soon depending on how things work out in Atlanta with stopgap QB Marcus Mariota. Draft tracker

Round 3 (82, from Colts) - DeAngelo Malone, LB, Western Kentucky: Another candidate to bolster Atlanta's putrid pass rusher, Malone has 25 sacks and 48½ TFLs over the past three seasons. Draft tracker

Round 5 (151) - Tyler Allgeier, RB, BYU

Round 6 (190) - Justin Shaffer, OG, Georgia

Round 6 (213, compensatory) - John FitzPatrick, TE, Georgia

Atlanta Falcons' last five top draft picks: