Atlanta traded up to select LSU wide receiver Russell Gage, prompting several questions from the Falcons faithful. First - why the obsession with these relatively inexperienced LSU players? In just the Dan Quinn era, we've had Jalen Collins, Duke Riley and now Gage. Second, why trade up for Gage? Was the trade necessary or worth it? I'll start with the trade. Atlanta gave up their final pick, which was also the final pick of the entire draft. So it's guaranteed that they at least had a shot at signing any player they might have taken with that pick. The price tag was, quite literally, minimal. If Oluokun and Gage were the two specific players they most wanted, then giving up the Mr. Irrelevant pick to make sure they got their top choices with their two other picks was a solid move. The speculation among Atlanta fans is that the traded pick might have gone towards selecting Dmitri Flowers, nailing down the fullback position. If they intended to sign Flowers as an undrafted free agent, then yes, they missed out. But note that they did sign Boise State tight end and H-back Jake Roh, Stanford fullback Daniel Marx, and Nebraska fullback Luke McNitt. All three ranked in Draft Scout's top 20 fullback prospects. Since then they have signed Ricky Ortiz, a 2017 prospect from Oregon State who spent most of last season on Baltimore's practice squad. On the first question, I'll note that taking LSU players is nothing new for Atlanta. It does seem odd that we've been jumping at guys without much experience at their alleged primary positions. Collins only had a handful of starts in his college career, and Riley wasn't a starter until his final year. And as a wideout, Gage had only 26 career receptions. So Atlanta fans can certainly be forgiven for asking why the team was so hot to get him that they traded up for him, even after drafting Alabama star receiver Calvin Ridley in the first round. The answer is that Gage really isn't here to be our next start wideout. He's a special teams ace. He was drafted for kickoff coverage and to play gunner, jammer, and perhaps even compete for the return role. Gage drew raves from scouts for his special teams play. It was sure to be a top drawing card for whatever team eventually selected him. In Atlanta's case, his lack of production as a wide receiver didn't matter at all. A few years ago the team added WR prospect C.J. Goodwin to the practice squad and converted him to cornerback. They did the same with undrafted WR prospect Deonte Burton last year. Gage is 6'0" with a 39" vertical, and he put in a 7.03 cone drill at his pro day. Throw in the physical play and his tackling ability on special teams, and this just screams cornerback in Dan Quinn's system. Sure enough, the team has already had him splitting time between WR and CB in rookie minicamp. The team's other sixth rounder, Yale linebacker Foye Oluokun, has also made it clear in interviews that he knows special teams will be his primary role as a rookie. Oluokun played against lower level competition in college and will have to adapt to the scheme as well as the the speed of the game at the NFL level. He'll need time before he can be a major contributor as a linebacker (or as a safety - he has the physical attributes to shift to either safety position if needed). But he has a dogged persistence on special teams that has already impressed the coaching staff. And the opening is certainly there. The Falcons had let linebacker Nate Stupar depart via free agency last year, signing Laroy Reynolds to a one year deal to fill that role. One year later Reynolds has also departed, so the door is wide open for Oluokun.
