2011 NFL Mock Draft: Atlanta Falcons Should Select WR Jerrel Jernigan

Last season, the Atlanta Falcons rode the passing combination of QB Matt Ryan and WR Roddy White all the way to a 13-3 record and a No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

The team quickly found out though that they weren’t ready to compete for a championship, as they watched QB Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers tear them apart on their own field in the first round.

Hopefully, the Falcons learned a valuable lesson from the devastating loss.

The Packers demonstrated that when you a have competent quarterback and multiple threats at the WR position, you’re offense has a chance to explode at any given time.

Right now, Atlanta certainly has a competent quarterback in Matt Ryan, one of the best young signal callers in the league. But as we saw throughout last year, their lack of depth at the receiver position is a problem that needs to be addressed before the start of the upcoming season.

Roddy White is one of the most dangerous receivers in the NFL today but the team needs to find a proper counterpart to help take some of the heat off of him.

Harry Douglas and Michael Jenkins are two capable pro receivers, however, neither is equipped to handle being the legitimate No. 2 target for an NFL offense.

TE Tony Gonzalez, one of the best to ever play the position, handles that duty for Atlanta right now as Matt Ryan’s second option. But Gonzalez’s age is showing and he’s now in the final year of his contract.

What the Falcons must do is assess and decide what type of priority they place on drafting a receiver this year.

This year’s WR class has two standout top ten caliber prospects, Alabama’s Julio Jones and Georgia’s A.J. Green, but outside of them there is no other guaranteed first round pick in the group.

The second tier of receiver prospects includes players such as Boise State’s Titus Young, Troy’s Jerrel Jernigan, Kentucky’s Randall Cobb, Maryland’s Torrey Smith and Pittsburgh’s Jonathan Baldwin.

All of them are widely considered to be second round values but if the Falcons ultimately deem their receiver need dire enough, they could think about selecting one of them with the 27th pick.

The one receiver out of the bunch that the team has shown considerable interest in is Jerel Jernigan of Troy.

Atlanta has conducted personal workouts and interviews with Jernigan on multiple occasions over the last few months.

The interest makes sense considering Jernigan would make a great No. 2 receiver in the NFL.

At 5‘9'' 185 lbs., he may lack the desired size you would look for in an NFL receiver but Jernigan has the type of raw speed to stretch the field and hold a defense’s attention.

Jernigan proved to be a highly productive player in college, finishing his career at Troy with 262 catches for over 3,100 yards and 25 total touchdowns.

He might be considered a minor reach at pick No. 27 but Jernigan could be worth the payoff and end up being exactly the type of piece that the Atlanta offense needs.