The Falcons gave up a lot to get WR Julio Jones last April, but he was very solid when healthy.  The Falcons also got their starting punter in the 6th round (Matt Bosher).  Here is a look at how they did pick by pick last April:

The Falcons traded a lot of picks to the Cleveland Browns for the right to move up and select 22-year old WR Julio Jones.  Jones played in 13 games for the Falcons last year and he caught 54 passes for 959 yards (17.8 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 6 times for 56 yards (9.3 ypc) last year.  Jones was the game breaking WR the Falcons really coveted as they made teams pay for trying to stop WR Roddy White and TE Tony Gonzalez on the shorter stuff.

In the 3rd round the Falcons picked 24-year old LB Akeem Dent.  Dent played in all 16 games for the Falcons and he had 20 tackles and he forced 2 fumbles.  Dent was pretty much a backup and special teams player for the Falcons in 2011.  They hope he will help out more down the road.

In the 5th round the Falcons picked 21-year old RB Jacquizz Rodgers.  Rodgers played in all 16 games for the Falcons last year and he carried the ball 57 times for 205 yards (3.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 21 passes for 188 yards (9.0 avg) with 1 TD grab and he also had 4 tackles.  Rodgers will likely vulture more carries from Michael Turner in 2012, but he is no threat to his starting job any time soon.

24-year old punter Matt Bosher came to the Falcons in the sixth round.  He played in all 16 games for the Falcons last year and he punted the ball 70 times for 2,990 yards (42.7 avg).  He also had only 4 touchbacks (5.7%) and he placed 27 punts inside their opponents 20-yard line (38.6%) last year.  Bosher also had 7 tackles and that’s usually not a good thing for a punter.

23-year old OG Andrew Jackson (he was cut before the season started) and 22-year old DE Cliff Matthews (practice squad) both came to the Falcons in the 7th round.

GRADE FOR 2011:  B

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  B+

22-year old WR Julio Jones has been everything the Falcons thought he would be, and more.  He has been the true gamebreaking receiver that the Falcons have needed for quite some time.  Jones has played in 11 games for the Falcons so far this year and he has caught 42 passes for 755 yards (18.0 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  He has also carried the ball 5 times for 47 yards (9.4 avg) so far this year.  The Falcons gave up a lot of draft picks to get Jones last April, but it appears that he has been worth it so far.

22-year old WR Julio Jones and 21-year old RB Jacquizz Rodgers have looked pretty good so far this year for the Falcons.  The Falcons gave up a lot to trade up to get Jones last April, and he is proving to be worth the price so far.  In his first four games with the Falcons, Jones has caught 24 passes for 342 yards (14.3 avg).  Jacquizz Rodgers has played in all four games for the Falcons already this year.  He has carried the ball 13  times for 49 yards (3.8 ypc) and he has also caught 6 passes for 62 yards (10.3 avg) so far this year.  Jones is a game breaking WR, while Rodgers has been very valuable in giving Michael Turner a breather when he needs one.  The Falcons hope that both of these guys keep up the good work.

The Falcons didn’t have a homerun threat at WR last season to help stretch the defense.  That won’t be the case this year.  The Falcons traded their first, second and fourth round picks in the 2011 NFL Draft and their first and fourth round picks in the 2012 NFL Draft to the Cleveland Browns for the right to pick Julio Jones with the 6th overall pick.  Jones is lightning fast as he runs a 4.3 40 and he’s incredible after the catch.  RB Jacquizz Rodgers was picked up in the 5th round by the Falcons and he will give them a speed option in the backfield.  The Falcons’ defense was not good last year and they added only inside linebacker Akeem Dent and DE Cliff Matthews to the unit.  Dent could help them right away. 

PROJECTED GRADE:  B

The Falcons selected 22-year old DE Cliff Matthews with the 230th overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Matthews is 6’4″, 265 pounds and he runs a 4.85 40.  Matthews probably couldn’t handle playing outside linebacker, so the Falcons might be best served to try to get him to gain a few pounds.  Matthews plays all out, all of the time which has served him well in college ball and it should translate well in the pros.  He played in 14 games (all starts) at South Carolina last year and he had 44 tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks, batted down 1 ball and he forced 4 fumbles.  Matthews played in 51 games (47 starts) in his four years with the Gamecocks and he had 149 tackles, 26 tackles for a loss, 15.5 sacks, batted down 5 balls and he forced 7 fumbles.  The Falcons caught another player who slid in the draft as many draft experts had Matthews getting picked in the 4th or 5th round.

The Falcons used the 210th overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft on 22-year old OG Andrew Jackson out of Fresno State.  Jackson is 6’5″, 302 pounds and he’s pretty strong and nasty.  He dropped so far in the draft because of a high ankle sprain that cause him to miss quite a bit of his senior year.  He played in 4 games (all starts) last year for Fresno State and he played in 40 games (39 starts) in his four years with them.  This was a solid pick for the Falcons this late as Jackson can handle guard and center.

The Falcons took punter Matt Bosher out of Miami (FL) with the 192nd overall pick (6th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Bosher is 6’0″, 208 pounds and he’s very versatile as he also was a placekicker who also handled kickoffs.  Bosher punted the ball 59 times last year for the Hurricanes for 2,596 yards (44.0 avg) and he pinned the opposition inside their own 20-yard line 19 times (32.2%).  He played four years with the Canes in which he punted the ball 234 times for 9,756 yards (41.7 avg) with 70 punts being downed inside the opposing 20-yard line (29.9%).  Bosher was a good pick for the Falcons as he can replace Michael Koenen who is getting a tad overpriced  for his production.

The Falcons picked 21-year old RB Jacquizz Rodgers out of Oregon State with the 145th overall pick (5th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Rodgers is on the small side at 5’7″, 190 pounds and he runs a 4.45 40.  Rodgers makes a lot of good moves and he is a excellent receiver out of the backfield.  He projects to be a third down back because he can’t take the beating of a lot of carries at the NFL level and he doesn’t do his best running between the tackles.  Rodgers played in 12 games (all starts) for Oregon State last year and he carried the ball 256 times for 1,184 yards (4.6 ypc) with 14 TD runs.  He also caught 44 passes for 287 yards (6.5 avg) with 3 TD grabs last year.  Rodgers played in 36 games (35 starts) in his three years with the Beavers and he carried the ball 788 times for 3,877 yards (4.9 ypc) with 46 TD runs.  He also caught 151 passes for 1,056 yards (7.0 avg) with 5 TD grabs at Oregon State.  This was a good pick for the Falcons as Rodgers might be the backup to Michael Turner as soon as 2011.

The Falcons picked 23- year old ILB Akeem Dent out of Georgia with the 91st overall pick (3rd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Dent is 6’1″, 236 pounds and he runs a 4.85 40.  Dent is a classic inside linebacker as he is strong against the running game between the tackles.  Due to a lack of speed, I think Dent would be exposed quite a bit if the Falcons consider using him at outside linebacker.  Dent played in 13 games (all starts) for Georgia last year and he had 126 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks and he broke up 2 passes.  Dent played in 47 games (32 starts) in his four years with the Bulldogs and he had 240 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks and he broke up 5 passes.  Dent really only had one standout year for Georgia, so the Falcons are taking a big of a risk here.

The Atlanta Falcons traded their first round pick in 2011 (#27 overall), 2nd round pick (#59 overall), 4th round pick (#124 overall) plus their first round pick in 2012 and a 4th round pick in 2012 for the right to move up to the #6 pick overall and take WR Julio Jones.  The 22-year old Jones is a big guy at 6’4″, 220 pounds and he runs a 4.5 40.  He is a great runner after the catch and he’s also an outstanding run blocker.  Jones played in 13 games (all starts) at Alabama last season and he caught 78 passes for 1,133 yards (14.5 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  He played in 40 games (all starts) in his three years at Alabama and he caught 179 passes for 2,653 yards (14.8 avg) with 15 TD grabs.  The price was high to secure Julio Jones, but it’s likely to be worth it as teams will now pay for double teaming Roddy White all of the time.