Atlanta Falcons 2007 NFL Mock Draft
by Matt Libid

First Round: Laron Landry Safety | Senior | L.S.U.

6′1″ 213 lbs. 4.35
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It’s obvious that Atlanta needs a ball hawk in their secondary besides DeAngelo Hall. Chris Crocker and Lawyer Milloy was an addition to the team last year. However, Lawyer Milloy isn’t getting any younger as we speak, and Chris Crocker hasn’t really been impressive much either. Our secondary is nothing with just DeAngelo Hall being the only obvious playmaker. With Laron Landry, we have a playmaker that will bring power, skill, and intimidation to the safety and maybe even cornerback position. That means we kill two birds with one stone due to the fact that Landry can possibly play cornerback at the next level. Laron Landry fits our team needs perfectly. He can keep up with almost all of the recievers in the league, he can tackle (hard), and he’s got great run coverage skills to go along with his pass coverage abilities. The reason why I drafted Laron Landry over Reggie Nelson is simple. In a handful of games that I’ve watched Reggie Nelson for Florida, I’ve seen him give up on many plays. Landry hussles his behind off on practically all the plays I’ve seen him play in. Reggie Nelson didn’t impress much with his performance in the national championship; and impressed even fewer with his performance at the NFL Combine. I’m sure that once we tutor Landry into the team in the offseason, he’ll be starting at the FS position starting from week one. Laron Landry has the potential to be the anchor of this defense for many years to come, we can’t pass up such a high-caliber defensive back like Landry.

Second Round: Michael Bush RB | Senior | Louisville

6′1″ 243 lbs. 4.50
After seeing how Atlanta played in the short yardage situations last year, it’s tough to say that we don’t need a power running back. Michael Bush is the running back that Petrino’s system needs. Petrino already stated in a press conference before that he will definetly look into a power back for Atlanta, and that a power back is essential for his offensive scheme to work properly. And what better player to draft than Michael Bush? Bush has already played under Petrino in Louisville. He is also pretty quick for his size, and can definetly step in and block with the body frame that he has. Some may say that Bush has durability issues. I think that people are putting too much hype into that leg injury. In my opinion, if Michael Bush didn’t get injured in the beginning of the 2006 season, he could of been a nominee for the Heisman Trophy. I’m almost positive that Bush will be there when we draft someone at the forty-fourth overall selection of the draft. Keep in mind that ‘if’ Bush isn’t there for us to draft, we can always go with a defensive end/tweener like Lamar Woodley. However, with the lack of redzone success last year, it’s crucial to this offense that we get a strong running back. Warrick Dunn and Jerious Norwood have already shown that they can’t do much in the redzone, and Mughelli is better off blocking for the back than running with the ball. With the lack of skillful power backs in the free agency pool, we’ll just have to settle with the best one and draft Michael Bush with our second round pick.

Third Round: Daniel Bazuin DE | Senior | Central Michigan

6′3″ 266 lbs. 4.77
With Kerney out the door, it’s clear that we need someone to bring depth into the defensive line early and maybe start later on. Daniel Bazuin is an excellent pass rusher, and he reminds me of a slightly altered version of Patrick Kerney. Bazuin plays very aggressive, works hard, and can put in quite an amount of time on special teams. Bazuin’s the kind of player that can bring pressure to the quarterback from the outside and provide quite a distraction to the offensive linemen. Not to mention that if we put him in the right scheme, we can possibly play him at the outside linebacker position. Dan Bazuin may end up being a steal for Atlanta if he’s available at this point of the draft. I know some of us may want to draft an offensive lineman at this point of the draft, but we may just draft a defensive end just to be one step closer to re-building our defensive line all over again.