The Atlanta Falcons’ fan base is torn on Leonard Floyd

Atlanta Falcons: Reasons For Optimism in 2016 by Eric Robinson

Our Blogging Dirty twitter account ran a poll two days ago and asked a very simple question. Do you want the Atlanta Falcons to draft UGA's Leonard Floyd with the seventh overall pick in the 2016 draft?

The answer we received wasn't very surprising.

With just six votes shy of 500, 53 percent of the fan base selected no while 47 percent voted yes. With the amount of votes so high and the percentages so close, it's a virtual washout.

While our main objective was to just get an idea of what percentage of the fan base want's him and doesn't want him, we had some pretty interesting responses to go along with it.

We got a little bit of everything. We got the diehard "No" responses, we got the in between folks and we got the people who are 100 percent for it.

Let's try to figure out why the fan base is so torn on Floyd. Here are the three most common statements that non Floyd fans like to make:

He's too small

He plays for UGA

It's too early to draft him at 17

Those are all valid points. If he wants to play the outside linebacker position, he will need to add some weight. The Falcons have never drafted a member of UGA in the first round and you could also argue that 17 would be a slight reach.

Now let's take a look at the top three responses we get from Floyd fans.

He's a tremendous pass rusher

He's really fast

His potential is extremely high

Again, all three of these are valid points. Floyd is viewed as one of the best edge rushers in this years' draft. Some believe he's the absolute best. Yes, he is really fast. He can cover a lot of ground and that's something that Dan Quinn is looking for. And yes, his potential is extremely high. He may not be ready to kill it as a rookie, but in two years, he could be a really good NFL player.

The one thing that amazes me the most about the torn fan base is the fact that we drafted Vic Beasley a season ago and everyone was all for it. If you think about it, Beasley and Floyd are a lot alike. Many experts believe that Beasley was a reach at pick 8. One could argue that the Falcons could have traded down to pick 14 or 15 and still gotten Beasley if they wanted too so what's the big deal with drafting Floyd at 17? Sure, he may be a slight reach, but the risk becomes much higher to try to trade back and hope that he's still around in the mid 20's.

Everyone knew that Beasley wasn't going to be a rock star as a rookie. He had four sacks. Woopty do. To think that Floyd couldn't come out and get four sacks as a rookie in 16 isn't all that far-fetched of an idea. The Falcons need more pass rushing help and that's what Floyd would bring to the table.

If you don't like him, fine. But don't write him off as a player that the Falcons won't strongly consider as their first-round pick. It's a very real possibility.

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