One of the fringe media sites has been pretty rough on Falcons GM Terry Fontenot, basically saying he doesn't know what he's doing in the draft because of picks like Jalen Mayfield and now Justin Shaffer. The Falcons have now released the former Georgia Bulldogs guard, who was a 6th round pick in 2022. The beef that this fringe site has with this particular draft pick is that while Shaffer has turned out to be a bust, his much more highly rated teammate OT/OG Jamaree Salyer was still on the board. They passed up the better player Salyer to take Shaffer. Salyer was scooped up by the Chargers five picks later. And as you might guess, Shaffer never saw the field for the Falcons while Salyer became a starter even as a rookie. So... it's fair to say the Falcons front office missed out on that one in a big way. And the 2021 third rounder Mayfield was a true bust, so that's two linemen where Fontenot has totally whiffed. On the plus side, he landed center Drew Dalman the round after taking Jalen Mayfield, and he traded up to snag Matthew Bergeron in the early second round last year to fill in that void at left guard. The fringe site is also failing to give Fontenot credit for other OL moves like landing backup C/G Ryan Neuzil as an undrafted free agent and swing tackle Storm Norton as an off-the-street free agent. These guys are now filling the roles that Mayfield and Shaffer might have potentially held, with no draft picks or significant cap money involved. Also noteworthy is that 18 of the 23 players he has drafted are still in the organization. Considering the team now has its third defensive coordinator in three seasons, along with its second head coach and offensive scheme, that's a pretty good retention rate. Cornerback Darren Hall was released last season under DC Ryan Nielsen after having started under the previous DC Dean Pees. Wide receiver prospect Frank Darby was released a week after head coach Arthur Smith was fired. And of course QB Desmond Ridder was traded just this past month, with the new coaching staff fully in place. So three of the five departures have been at least in part due to scheme/regime changes, with only Mayfield and now Shaffer simply washing out as true busts. Out of 23 total picks, that's certainly not worthy of saying Fontenot doesn't know how to draft. Good luck to Shaffer wherever he plays next. A change of system and coaches might be exactly what he needs.
