Should the Falcons keep the No. 8 overall pick in 2023 NFL Draft or make a trade?

Tori: I. Am. Not. Moving. Call this thought stubborn, or call it conviction, either one is fine with me. Honestly, it’s probably a little bit of both. I tend to be stubborn in my convictions anyways. So, for the sake of this exercise, I am keeping the No. 8 overall pick.

My reasoning behind this is based on how I believe the top five picks in this year’s draft are going to go. I think there’s going to be a run on quarterbacks early. I’m talking a top-5 run. If that happens, that is – without question – the best case scenario for the Falcons at No. 8, because I don’t put any of the top quarterbacks in the draft on Atlanta’s first-round radar right now. At all.

So, if quarterbacks – multiple of them – come off the board early, that means more and more top players at positions of need for the Falcons get closer and closer to them at No. 8. There’s a chance one of the class’ best edge rushers is there at No. 8, or the best interior defensive lineman, or the best offensive guard, or the best cornerback (though my thoughts on drafting a corner in the first round have changed with the recent reported news).

If you can get one of the best at No. 8? I say do it. If you can’t, that’s when I would weigh my trading down options.

I’ll add this, though: I wouldn’t make a final decision until names start coming off the big board on the first night of the draft. A lot can happen in those first seven picks.

Ashton: Tori, I’d probably call your thought a conviction if I didn’t agree with you. Ha. But yeah, I would also stay locked at No. 8 overall. There’s no need to trade up or down. The Falcons added and retained key depth pieces in every position of need during free agency.

Before Jeff Okudah was reportedly traded to the Falcons, I believed the cornerback position was most pressing for Atlanta heading into the draft. But that quickly shifted to edge rusher. And the draft is stacked with plenty of them. If the draft ultimately shakes out to where quarterbacks are taken first through fourth overall, that leaves Atlanta with a solid chance to draft a highly-touted edge rusher

But, you know, anything could happen on draft day. It’s never predictable. Nonetheless, I think the Falcons are in a really good spot heading into the draft. I don’t think it’s necessary to move from No. 8.