List of Atlanta Falcons first-round draft picks

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2001 first-overall draft pick Michael Vick at the 2006 Pro Bowl
2001 first-overall draft pick Michael Vick at the 2006 Pro Bowl

This is a list of first-round draft picks made by the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League.

The Falcons joined the NFL in 1966.[1] The Falcons' first selection as an NFL team was Tommy Nobis, a linebacker from Texas. The team's most-recent first-round selection was Jamaal Anderson, a defensive end from Arkansas.

Every year during April, each NFL franchise seeks to add new players to its roster through a collegiate draft known as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting," which is more commonly known as the NFL Draft. Teams are ranked in inverse order based on the previous season's record, with the worst record picking first, and the second worst picking second and so on. The two exceptions to this order are made for teams that appeared in the previous Super Bowl; the Super Bowl champion always picks 32nd, and the Super Bowl loser always picks 31st. Teams have the option of trading away their picks to other teams for different picks, players, cash, or a combination thereof. Thus, it is not uncommon for a team's actual draft pick to differ from their assigned draft pick, or for a team to have extra or no draft picks in any round due to these trades. [2]

The Falcons have selected number one overall four times: Tommy Nobis, Steve Bartkowski, Aundray Bruce, and Michael Vick. The team has also selected number two overall three times and number three overall two times. The Falcons have selected players from Florida State University and the University of Nebraska three times each, the most from any university. No Hall of Famers have ever been selected by the Falcons in the first-round of the draft.

[edit] Player selections

Selected number one overall
Draft Player name Position College Notes
Year Pick
AFL and NFL Competitive Draft Era (1960–1966)
1966 1 Tommy Nobis LB Texas
15 Randy Johnson QB Texas A&I
Common Draft Era (1967–1969)
1967 No first-round draft pick [3]
1968 3 Claude Humphrey DE Tennessee State
1969 2 George Kunz OT Notre Dame
Modern Era (1970–present)
1970 12 John Small LB Citadel
1971 7 Joe Profit RB Northeast Louisiana
1972 15 Clarence Ellis S Notre Dame
1973 No first-round draft pick [4]
1974 No first-round draft pick [5]
1975 1 Steve Bartkowski QB Cal [6]
1976 9 Bubba Bean RB Texas A&M
1977 6 Warren Bryant OT Kentucky
20 Wilson Faumuina DT San Jose State [7]
1978 13 Mike Kenn OT Michigan
1979 17 Don Smith DE Miami (FL)
1980 7 Junior Miller TE Nebraska
1981 25 Bobby Butler CB Florida State
1982 9 Gerald Riggs RB Arizona State
1983 16 Mike Pitts DE Alabama
1984 9 Rick Bryan DT Oklahoma
1985 2 Bill Fralic OT Pittsburgh [8]
1986 2 Tony Casillas DT Oklahoma
17 Tim Green LB Syracuse [9]
1987 12 Chris Miller QB Oregon
1988 1 Aundray Bruce LB Auburn
1989 5 Deion Sanders CB Florida State
27 Shawn Collins WR Northern Arizona [10]
1990 20 Steve Broussard RB Washington State [11]
1991 3 Bruce Pickens CB Nebraska
13 Mike Pritchard WR Colorado [12]
1992 8 Bob Whitfield OT Stanford
19 Tony Smith RB Southern Miss [13]
1993 9 Lincoln Kennedy OT Washington
1994 No first-round draft pick [14]
1995 26 Devin Bush S Florida State [15]
1996 No first-round draft pick [14]
1997 11 Michael Booker CB Nebraska [16]
1998 12 Keith Brooking LB Georgia Tech
1999 30 Patrick Kerney DE Virginia
2000 No first-round draft pick [17]
2001 1 Michael Vick QB Virginia Tech [18]
2002 18 T.J. Duckett RB Michigan State [19]
2003 No first-round draft pick [20]
2004 8 DeAngelo Hall CB Virginia Tech
29 Michael Jenkins WR Ohio State [21]
2005 27 Roddy White WR UAB
2006 No first-round draft pick [22]
2007 8 Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas
2008 3 Matt Ryan QB BC
21 Sam Baker OT USC

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Atlanta Falcons Team History: NFL Football. sportspool.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-22.
  2. ^ Alder, James. "NFL Draft Basics:Determining Order of Selection". About.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-22.
  3. ^ The Falcons traded their first pick in 1967 to San Francisco for WR Bernie Casey, OT Jim Wilson, and DE Jim Norton. [1]
  4. ^ The Falcons traded their first pick in 1973 to Houston for DT Mike Tilleman. [2]
  5. ^ The Falcons traded their first pick in 1974 to Minnesota along with QB Bob Berry for QB Bob Lee and LB Lonnie Warwick. [3]
  6. ^ The Falcons traded their first pick in 1975 to Baltimore for the Colts' first and sixth picks. [4]
  7. ^ The Falcons acquired their first pick from the St. Louis Cardinals. [5]
  8. ^ The Falcons acquired their first pick in 1985 from Minnesota. [6]
  9. ^ The Falcons traded their 1985 second round pick and 1986 second round pick to Washington for the Redskins' 1985 second round pick and first pick in 1986. [7]
  10. ^ The Falcons acquired their first pick in 1989 from Cincinnati. [8]
  11. ^ The Falcons traded their first pick in 1990 to Indianapolis for the Colts' fifth pick in 1990, first pick in 1991, WR Andre Rison, and OT Chris Hinton. The Falcons acquired another pick from Washington. [9]
  12. ^ The Falcons acquired their first pick in 1991 from Indianapolis along with the Colts' fifth pick in 1990, WR Andre Rison, and OT Chris Hinton for the Falcons' first pick in 1990. [10]
  13. ^ The Falcons acquired their first pick in 1992 from Green Bay for QB Brett Favre. [11]
  14. ^ a b The Falcons traded their first and third picks in 1994 to Indianapolis along with the Falcons' first pick in 1996 for Colts' QB Jeff George. [12]
  15. ^ The Falcons traded their first pick in 1995 to Cleveland the Browns' first pick and RB Eric Metcalf. The Falcons acquired another pick from Denver then traded the pick to Minnesota for a second pick in 1994 and DE Chris Doleman. [13]
  16. ^ The Falcons acquired their first pick in 1997 from Seattle. [14]
  17. ^ The Falcons traded their first pick in 2000 to Baltimore for the Ravens' second pick in 1999. [15]
  18. ^ The Falcons traded their first pick in 2001 to San Diego along with the Falcons' second and third picks in 2002 and WR Tim Dwight for the Chargers' first pick. [16]
  19. ^ The Falcons acquired their first pick in 2002 from Oakland. [17]
  20. ^ The Falcons traded their first pick in 2003 to Buffalo for WR Peerless Price. [18]
  21. ^ The Falcons traded their second, third, and forth picks in 2004 to Indianapolis for the Colts' first and third picks. [19]
  22. ^ The Falcons traded their first pick in 2006 to Denver for the Broncos' first and third picks in 2006 and forth pick in 2007. The Falcons then traded the first pick to the New York Jets for DE John Abraham. [20]

[edit] References

v • d • e
Atlanta Falcons first-round draft picks
Nobis • Johnson • Humphrey • Kunz • Small • Profit • Ellis • Bartkowski • Bean • Bryant • Faumuina • Kenn • D. Smith • J. Miller • Butler • Riggs • Pitts • Bryan • Fralic • Casillas • Green • C. Miller • Bruce • Sanders • Collins • Broussard • Pickens • Pritchard • Whitfield • T. Smith • Kennedy • Bush • Booker • Brooking • Kerney • Vick • Duckett • Hall • Jenkins • White • Anderson • Ryan • Baker
v • d • e
List of NFL team first-round draft picks
   

AFC East
Buffalo Bills
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots
New York Jets

NFC East
Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Redskins

AFC West
Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs
Oakland Raiders
San Diego Chargers

NFC West
Arizona Cardinals
St. Louis Rams
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks