Atlanta targets an upgrade in their secondary in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Atlanta Falcons have a number of pressing needs on defense, to the point where a top-flight prospect at basically any position would elicit a thumbs up from me. Cornerback is certainly one of those spots.
The Falcons currently have A.J. Terrell, Clark Phillips, and Natrone Brooks, but that does not a cornerback corps make. Re-signing Mike Hughes as competition for Phillips and acquiring a nickel option to replace Dee Alford, who struggled mightily, may well be in the offing, but this is a group that could use high-end talent.
Enter Daniel Jeremiah, the esteemed draft analyst, who awards the Atlanta Falcons Michigan cornerback Will Johnson in his first mock draft. Here’s what he had to say:
Johnson is a polarizing player around the league. He provides size and production, but some questions emerged about his tackling and top speed in 2024.
Pro Football Network’s Dalton Miller also had the Falcons landing Johnson, so we should get used to seeing this. Widely viewed as the second-best cornerback in this league behind Colorado’s Travis Hunter, Johnson is a 6’2” defender lauded for his ball skills and work in coverage. Pairing him with A.J. Terrell would give the Falcons a formidable starting tandem, and Johnson seems plenty ready to play and play at a high level right away. This would put pressure on Atlanta to find more pass rush help later in the draft and/or in free agency, but if we’re being realistic, that’s probably the case even if they draft one in the first. Johnson seems like a perfectly legitimate, high-upside pick.
We’ll have to wait a few months to see which direct the Falcons go in, but we’ll get plenty of mocks in the meantime. Would you go for a Johnson selection?