{"id":829536,"date":"2025-02-25T02:12:14","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T08:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/25\/falcons-projected-to-add-missing-wr-piece-early-in-2025-nfl-draft\/"},"modified":"2025-02-25T02:12:14","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T08:12:14","slug":"falcons-projected-to-add-missing-wr-piece-early-in-2025-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/25\/falcons-projected-to-add-missing-wr-piece-early-in-2025-nfl-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"Falcons Projected to Add ‘Missing’ WR Piece Early in 2025 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Football <\/p>\n

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The Atlanta Falcons<\/a> have added skilled position players in the top 10 of the NFL Draft each of the past four years. Pro Football & Sports Network’s Joe DeLeone sees the Falcons selecting another wide receiver early in 2025, but in the second round rather than the first.<\/p>\n

In his latest NFL mock draft released on Feb. 22, DeLeone predicted the Falcons to select Miami Hurricanes wideout Xavier Restrepo at No. 46 overall.<\/p>\n

“Xavier Restrepo was a technician as a route runner this year for Miami, constantly getting open for Cam Ward to find him for huge chunk plays. His skillset in the slot is a missing piece for this Falcons receiving unit,” wrote DeLeone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our staff agrees that adding a receiver on Day 2 of the draft makes a lot of sense for the Falcons. SI on Falcons’ Terrance Biggs called<\/a> wideout a “sneaky Day 2 need” for Atlanta.<\/p>\n

DeLeone’s analyst suggested Restrepo could give the Falcons something the offense was lacking in 2024 while Biggs argued adding a receiver on Day 2 would be a more proactive move for 2026. Veteran slot receiver Ray-Ray McCloud and tight end Kyle Pitts are set to be free agents next year.<\/a><\/p>\n

Both takes could be true at the same time. Restrepo has the tools to potentially contribute immediate as a depth receiver. He could also eventually start opposite Drake London.<\/p>\n

That is essentially the summary of Restrepo’s draft profile at NFL.com. Analyst Lance Zierlein placed the Miami receiver in the “good backup with the potential to develop into a starter’ tier.<\/p>\n

“Feisty slot-only target who has maximized his talent and honed his craft,” Zierlein wrote<\/a>. “Restrepo is a route chef who reeks of urgency and plays much faster than the stopwatch is likely to time him. <\/p>\n

“Subpar length and average measurables could create some hesitation for NFL evaluators but the play and football demeanor feel translatable as a future starting slot.”<\/p>\n

Restrepo led the ACC with 1,127 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns during 2024. Over a five-year career at Miami, he registered 200 receptions for 2,844 receiving yards with 11 touchdowns.<\/p>\n

He averaged 16.3 yards per catch in 2024. But in the NFL, Restrepo is likely to be back around his 12.8 yards per reception average from 2023.<\/p>\n

The Falcons are returning their top five pass catchers in terms of yards from the 2024 season. London led the group with 100 catches, 1,271 yards and nine touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Darnell Mooney just missed the 1,000-yard plateau with 992 receiving yards and five touchdowns. He led the Falcons with a 15.5 yards per catch average.<\/p>\n

But the third year in Mooney’s contract is not guaranteed, so he could also depart from Atlanta next offseason. Adding a receiver such as Restrepo on Day 2 will help prevent quarterback Michael Penix Jr. from having a nearly completely different receiver room a year from now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a> Dave Holcomb<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Atlanta Falcons have added skilled position players in the top 10 of the NFL Draft each of the past four years. Pro Football & Sports Network’s Joe DeLeone sees the Falcons selecting another wide receiver early in 2025, but in the second round rather than the first. In his latest NFL mock draft released<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":829537,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22408,3790,35146],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-829536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-falcons","8":"category-football","9":"category-projected"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}