In Ian Cunningham's first draft as the general manager of the Atlanta Falcons. he has preached two things: adding draft picks, and always going with the best player available. But given the state of this Falcons' roster and their lack of draft capital, they may be forced to fill needs more often than normal.
The Falcons made plenty of moves in free agency to add some depth, which should help a team who won't make their first pick until No. 48. The belief here is that if a top defensive tackle is available for Atlanta, they'll try to take a nose tackle like Lee Hunter or Christen Miller and attack other needs later.
“We are believers of best player available, but you also have to take into account where some of those positional cliffs are," on Monday.
And on the topic of positional cliffs, the first-year GM was asked about his perception of the strongest and weakest position groups in the 2026 NFL Draft. Building off of some of his other comments, he named WR and edge rusher as strong groups, while he thinks RB and DT lack depth.
The Atlanta Falcons are enamored with the receiver depth in this draft
Cunningham's statement should be bittersweet, One of the Dirty Birds' biggest needs is at wide receiver since their WR room doesn't have much to offer behind Drake London. But the other position it's paramount for the Falcons to draft is defensive tackle, which he labeled a weaker position.
This means that the Falcons don't have to draft a pass-catcher like Ted Hurst or Zachariah Branch in the second round, they can go with an edge defender or DT whose falling who will present them better value. Unfortunately, value at defensive tackle might be incredibly hard to come by this draft.
With the way this DT class is set up, it'll take a miracle for a Miller or a Hunter to drop to 48, especially given the demand for interior defensive line help. If a top nose tackle drops, they have to be the pick, especially since receiver has enough depth where Atlanta can afford to wait for the right wideout, while the Ruke Orhorhoro trade has made this draft even tougher.
More than anything, the 2026 Draft should be about chasing value for Atlanta, especially without a first-round pick. They should not be stretching too far to fill needs. They're in a unique position where their approach need to play into the board, instead of the draft board playing into their approach,
Cunnningham learned his approach from both Howie Roseman and Ozzie Newsome, two Super Bowl-winning GMs who know the blueprint it takes to build a successful roster. And that starts in the draft. You build through the trenches, address needs before they surface, and chase talent over anything.
This draft is set up for WR and CB to be addressed any time, which plays into their needs, but defensive tackle is another story. But if Cunningham and Kevin Stefanski don't deem the value right at any point, they can trade down, which will help them pivot and navigate the board differently.