Before today, the Atlanta Falcons front office had not drafted a player from the University of Georgia since 2011 when they selected linebacker Akeem Dent in the third round (91st overall).
However, the Falcons broke that decade-long drought and closed out their 2022 NFL Draft in style by selecting two former Bulldogs: guard Justin Shaffer at No. 190 overall and tight end John FitzPatrick with their final pick at No. 213 overall.
UGA ➡️ ATL
We have selected OL Justin Shaffer with the 190th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft!
Shaffer played five seasons (2017-21) at Georgia where he appeared in 51 games with 27 starts. for the Dawgs. In 2021, the 6-foot-4, 314-pound offensive lineman started all 15 games at left guard for a national championship offense that averaged 190.9 rushing yards a game and earned himself second-team All-SEC honors.
Shaffer is a solid addition to a Falcons’ weak offensive line––especially at left guard––which allowed Matt Ryan to get sacked 40 times last season.
An interesting and fun fact about Shaffer is that he joins his first cousin and former Western Kentucky outside linebacker, DeAngelo Malone, in Atlanta, who was drafted on day 2 by Atlanta.
Staying in the red and black‼️
We have selected TE John FitzPatrick with the 213th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
As for FitzPatrick, he fills the void left by Lee Smith––a former blocking tight end for the Falcons last season.
FitzPatrick will be the new guy that will be expected to open up opportunities for tight end Kyle Pitts when the Falcons run a two-tight end formation.
“A force in the run game,” FitzPatrick said of himself, via AltantaFalcons.com. “If you’re looking to advance your run game, I’m the guy. And I’m going to do it as soon as I step into the building.”
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Falcons Twitter Goes Crazy
Naturally, Atlanta Falcons fans, who waited a long time for this moment, and outsiders had a lot to say about the Falcons’ final two picks.
Okay, your point?
Nothing worse then Georgia Bulldogs fans during the draft. They want the falcons to draft a bulldog in every round 🥴
Were the Falcons smart or dumb for waiting “too” long to nab a pair of 2022 national champs?
It only took 10 years.
Falcons finally draft a Georgia player
As always, Falcons fans are hard to please.
Falcons finally draft a Dawg for y’all, but now it ain’t the right Dawg? Falcons fans are wild
“Oh-em-gee” is right!
Falcons draft a dawg! Omg
Absolutely mindblowing…
Falcons draft a DAWG 🤯 Justin Shaffer #GoDAWGS WOOF
How to make Falcons fans happy 101:
Falcons could just take Georgia players the rest of the draft and everybody would be happy.
UGA also made history by having the most players selected in an NFL draft during the 7th round with 15 to come off the board.
So what the draft is telling me is that Georgia should’ve just been in the NFL last year over the Falcons. 🤷🏽♀️
Cheers to no more complaining!
Terry Fontenot after he finally drafts a player from Georgia #Falcons
Falcons 2022 NFL Draft Picks
The Falcons had a total of nine draft picks ahead of the 2022 NFL Draft, but ended up trading away picks No. 43 and No. 141 to the New York Giants in exchange for an earlier second-round pick in order to snag a stud edge at No. 38:
Round 1 – Pick 8 (8 overall): Southern California wide receiver Drake London
Round 2-Pick 7 (38 overall): Penn State defensive end Arnold Ebiketie
Round 2 – Pick 11 (43 overall): Traded to the New York Giants
Round 2 – Pick 26 (58 overall) from the Tennessee Titans: Montana State linebacker Troy Andersen
Round 3 – Pick 10 (74 overall): Cincinnati Quarterback Desmond Ridder
Round 3 – Pick 18 (82 overall) from the Indianapolis Colts: Western Kentucky outside linebacker DeAngelo Malone
Round 4 – Pick 9 (114 overall): Traded to the New York Giants
Round 5 – Pick 8 (151 overall): BYU running back Tyler Allgeier
Round 6 – Pick 11 (190 overall): Georgia guard Justin Shaffer
Round 6 – Pick 35 (213 overall): Georgia tight end John FitzPatrick
The Falcons acquired No. 58 overall in the second round of this year’s draft from their Julio Jones trade with the Tennesee Titans last offseason and No. 82 overall in the third after sending longtime quarterback Matt Ryan to Indianapolis in March.
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Best Twitter Reactions to Falcons Drafting 2 Georgia Bulldogs