There had never been quarterbacks taken with the first four picks of an NFL Draft before Thursday night and the wait will continue for at least one more year.
The Falcons had the fourth pick and there was some speculation early in the offseason that they might look to take a quarterback as an heir to Matt Ryan. Restructuring Ryan’s contract strengthened their tie to him beyond this year, however, and the team wound up taking a weapon for Ryan instead.
Kyle Pitts‘ production as a tight end while at Florida and the athletic ability he showed while putting up numbers led many to suggest he was the best non-quarterback in this year’s draft. The Falcons made him the first non-quarterback off the board on Thursday night.
Interest will now shift to whether Pitts will be joining Julio Jones in the Falcons lineup as a rookie. The Falcons need to create cap space to sign Pitts and other rookies and General Manager Terry Fontenot said this week that the team is listening when other clubs call about trading for Jones.
Any Jones deal would have to come after June 1 for cap purposes, so there’s time for that to play out. For now, one is free to picture Pitts, Jones, Calvin Ridley, and Hayden Hurst sharing the field in 2021.