The 2015 regular season is over, and that means it's time for legit 2016 NFL Draft analysis and predictions for the top 20 picks, which are now set. Picking No. 17 overall are the Atlanta Falcons, and they had one of the more disappointing ends to the season of any team in the league. A major issue was getting after the quarterback, and that's why Oklahoma State (OSU) DE Emmanuel Ogbah would be a great choice.
Atlanta started the year with high hopes. Coming off of a down year in 2014, the Falcons had Julio Jones back and healthy, and the offense was supposed to take off as they contended for a wild-card spot.
Everything started great, winning five games in a row to start the season, and sitting pretty at 6-1 heading into Week 8.
Then it all fell apart.
The Falcons' deficiencies shone bright as the defense started playing better competition, and Matt Ryan's averageness was exposed. While Matty Ice has been a productive quarterback in this league before, he's regressed the past couple of seasons for whatever reason. That's been a big issue for this team, and the other units simply aren't good enough to make up for it -- especially the defense.
Yes, the defense ranked dead last in the league in sacks in 2015. Only 19 -- barely one per game -- as the unit couldn't get after the quarterback to save their own skin time and time again. The sack leader was Vic Beasley, who had a miserable four sacks. Woo...
Ultimately, that led to a lot of drives ending in points for the opposing teams, and they ended up finishing the year a brutal 2-7.
Bringing in a player like Emmanuel Ogbah could potentially prove to be the best move of this offseason. And the good news is that he'll be available as he's currently being overlooked by more people than you'd expect for how productive he was in college, and his prototypical 4-3 DE frame.
In the past two seasons as a Cowboy, Ogbah was an absolute beast, and was an All-Pac-12 defensive end. He racked up a monstrous 113 tackles, 29.5 tackles for a loss and 22.5 sacks in 26 games. Those are simply incredibly productive numbers.
At 6-foot-4 and 270 pounds, he's got the ideal size for the position, and his non-stop motor will be a great trait for translating his skill to the next level. Ogbah could be exactly what the Falcons so desperately need as they try to rebuild a defense that's suffered over the past few seasons.
If he can come in and get double-digit sacks for them, this team could finally fulfill some of its promise and reach the postseason in 2016.
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