Arthur Smith was clear recently that he expects more or less across the board improvement for the 2021 Falcons draft class, from Kyle Pitts to Frank Darby and everyone in between. That got me thinking, though: Who is the most likely to make the leap, becoming a player this team relies on?
The man Smith called out would be my pick. Richie Grant played sparingly on defense in his rookie season, though he was a major special teams cog, and figures to have a straightforward path to a starting job at safety in 2022 if he’s made significant strides.