Following up on previous report, the Falcons announced the signing of four draft picks today including the previously reported move to get safety Kemal Ishmael under contract. Also signing were Falcons 2013 fourth round pick defensive end Malliciah Goodman, fifth round defensive end Stansly Maponga, and seventh round safety Zeke Motta. That leaves four remaining unsigned draft picks for the Falcons.

All agreed to four-year deals, although exact terms of their contracts were undisclosed. Based on deals signed by players taken in last year’s draft, Goodman’s four-year deal will likely be worth around $2.55 million with a signing bonus under $400,000. Maponga will likely sign a deal worth around $2.35 million with a signing bonus in the area of $190,000. Similar to Ishmael, Motta’s deal should be worth roughly $2.2 million with a signing bonus around $45,000.

D. Orlando Ledbetter of the AJC reports that the Falcons have agreed to terms with seventh round pick safety Kemal Ishmael. Ishmael becomes the first of the Falcons eight draft picks to agree to terms on a contract. Terms were undisclosed, but Ishmael almost certainly signed a four-year deal worth around $2.1 million. Ishmael was the first of three seventh round picks selected by the Falcons out of Central Florida. The Falcons have yet to officially announce the move.

The Falcons announced on Thursday that undrafted kicker Casey Barth and cornerback Momo Thomas had been cut by the team. It was also reported by sources that the team had signed former Alabama kicker Jeremy Shelley on Friday.

Barth and Thomas were a pair of the 24 undrafted free agents the team signed following last month’s draft. They along with 17 other undrafted players participated in the team’s rookie mini-camp along with their draft picks and a few second-year players this past weekend.

Barth finished his career at North Carolina as that school’s record holder in terms of career field goals made with 66. For his career, he connected on 80.5% of his 82 field goal attempts. Barth missed a large chunk of the 2011 season due to injury, after earning All-ACC honors the previous two seasons. His older brother, Connor, currently is the kicker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Thomas started every year at Colorado State, but had a pair of seasons (2010 and 2012) shortened by shoulder injuries. His most productive year came in 2011 as a junior, where he started all 11 games, recording 31 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 7 passes defended. For his career, he had 5 interceptions, included one returned for a touchdown, and 16 passes defended. He also was a productive punt returner for his career, returning 45 punts for an average of 8.3 yards. His real name is Gerard Santwan Thomas.

Shelley was perfect on 11 field goal tries last season at Alabama. For his career, he hit on 44 of 55 field goals (80%) during his collegiate career. He hit on 5 of 7 attempts in Alabama’s win over LSU in the BCS National Championship Game in 2011, a record for that game and for the school. He predominantly was their short-range kicker in college, and had minimal work as a kickoff specialist. His career long at Alabama was from 44 yards, and had a career record of 3 of 9 from kicks beyond 40 yards.

The Falcons finished up their 2013 NFL Draft class with three selections in the seventh round. They took a pair of safeties: UCF’s Kemal Ishmael and Notre Dame’s Zeke Motta back to back with the 243rd and 244th selections in the draft. With the 249th pick, they drafted Duke quarterback Sean Renfree. All three selections were compensatory picks. The Falcons cap off their 2013 draft class with eight picks.

Ishmael was productive at Central Florida, starting 49 consecutive games at free safety. As a senior, in 14 starts he had 124 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 3 interceptions, his most productive year. He also had 7 passes defended and 3 forced fumbles. He earned 1st team All-Conference USA honors as a senior after an honorable mention nod his junior season. The 5-11, 201-pound safety had a nice workout at his pro day, running a 40 time of 4.63 seconds, with 21 bench reps, 35.5-inch vertical, 10-foot-3-inch broad jump, and a 3-cone drill of 6.75 seconds. For his career, he had 368 tackles, 9.5 for loss, 1 sack, 6 interceptions, 19 passes defended, and 6 forced fumbles.

Motta is a tall, physical safety that drew comparisons to former teammate Harrison Smith, a first round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2012 and had a strong rookie campaign, due to his size (6-2/213) and physicality. But his stock fell when he ran a poor 40 time of 4.83 at the Combine. His 10-foot-6-inch broad jump and 6.75 second 3-cone drill were among the best at his position. He also did 11 bench reps and leapt 35.5 inches on the vertical jump. Motta was a player that was on the Falcons radar, as he visited with the team in early April. He started 29 games over his final three years at Notre Dame. He had his best season as a senior with 77 tackles, 2 for loss, and 3 pass breakups. His prior two seasons, he combined for 90 tackles, 1.5 for loss, 2 interceptions, 6 breakups, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery which he took to the house for a score.

Both Ishmael and Motta are likely to compete for reserve spots with the Falcons and on special teams. Motta’s size has some projecting him to possibly be converted to a linebacker down the road a la former Falcon player Coy Wire.

Renfree did not win a lot of games, but showed leadership as he helped lead Duke to their first bowl appearance since 1994 in his final year there. He started 35 games over his career, leading the Blue Devils to a 11-24 record. Despite the lack of talent around him, he managed to be productive completing nearly 65-percent of 1,389 pass attempts during his career. He also passed for 9,465 yards, 51 touchdowns, and 40 interceptions during his Blue Devil career. He saved his best for last, completing 67.3% of 441 attempts for 3,113 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions as a senior. In his final game of his Duke career against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the Belk Bowl, he injured his throwing shoulder which affected his draft stock. He was unable to work out at Duke’s pro day at the end of March The 6-3, 219-pound quarterback has a live arm and was a 3-time Academic All-ACC selection. His college coach David Cutcliffe is considered a good developer of quarterbacks, having coached four former 1st round picks in college in Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Brady Quinn, and Heath Shuler.

Renfree will push Dominique Davis for the Falcons top backup position behind Matt Ryan.

The Falcons parted ways with their lone tradeable asset, a non-compensatory seventh round pick, to move up ten spots in the fifth round to select TCU defensive end Stansly Maponga with the 153rd overall pick. Maponga was a productive player at Texas Christian, having a strong sophomore season in 2011. A leg injury nagged him as a junior, forcing him to miss a pair of games and his production dropped. But he made the decision to declare early for the draft regardless.

The Zimbabwe-native was asked to step in to replace Jerry Hughes as a redshirt freshman in 2010, starting 12 games and recording 32 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, and 2.5 sacks. He broke out as a sophomore, starting 13 games and tallying 55 tackles, 13.5 for loss, 9 sacks, and 5 forced fumbles. His production dipped to 26 tackles, 6.5 for loss, 4 sacks, and a pair of forced fumbles as a junior. But he still managed to earn 1st team All-Big 12 conference honors. Maponga stands 6-2, 251 pounds with 34-inch arms. He did 30 bench reps at the Combine, and ran a 4.81 40 at his pro day.

Maponga is an edge player that could potentially be developed to play either end or linebacker in Mike Nolan’s hybrid scheme.

The Falcons held two picks at the end of the fourth round, using the 127th overall selection on Clemson defensive Malliciah Goodman, and the 133rd overall pick on Stanford tight end Levine Toilolo.

Goodman has intriguing size and athleticism, measuring at 6-4, 276 pounds at the Combine. He has lanky 36-inch arms with large powerful 11-inch hands. Goodman clocked a 40 time of 4.87 seconds and did 26 bench reps of 225 pounds while at Indianapolis. He is coming off his best season at Clemson, tallying 7 sacks, 9.5 tackles for loss, and 4 forced fumbles this past fall. He saved his best performance for last, recording 3 sacks in a bowl game vs. LSU. He earned a starting spot as a junior, tallying 49 tackles, 4 for loss, and 2 sacks. Like the Falcons previous two picks Trufant and Alford, Goodman shined at the Senior Bowl practices this past January. Goodman will bolster the Falcons defensive line rotation with the ability to play inside and outside with the versatility to play in either a 3-4 or 4-3. That gives him added versatility for Mike Nolan’s scheme, which mixes principles of both schemes.

Toilolo another physical specimen, measuring in at 6-8, 260 pounds. Expected to break out this past year alongside Zach Ertz, Toilolo’s production didn’t make a huge jump despite increased production without Coby Fleener on the roster. As a junior, Toilolo caught 25 passes for 343 yards (13.7 avg) and 6 touchdowns. As a senior, his production hovered with 24 catches, 393 yards (16.4 avg) and 4 touchdowns. He possesses a long frame and speed (4.86 second 40 time) with upside to improve as a blocker and receiver. His potential in the redzone is off the charts. He’ll be tutored by Tony Gonzalez, who is expected to retire after this upcoming season.

The Falcons took Southeastern Louisiana cornerback Robert Alford with their second round pick, the 60th overall selection. Alford is a fairly raw corner that is still developing the mental aspects of the game according to his former coaches. But his athletic upside attracted the Falcons, possibly as well as his return skills. Alford was one of the stars of the Combine, ranking among the best with his 40 time (4.39 seconds), bench press (17 reps), vertical jump (40 inches), and broad jump (11 feet). He stands 5-11, 188, and shined in the 400-meters during his high school career.

Alford will be a 25-year old rookie this year for the Falcons. He first played as a sophomore in 2009, started 9 of 10 games that year with 46 tackles, 1 interception, 6 pass breakups, and 2 fumble recoveries. He missed the following season with a shoulder injury, and got a medical redshirt. He came back in 2011 as a junior to earn 2nd team All-Southland Conference honors with 52 tackles, 5 interceptions, 2 breakups, a forced fumble and a recovery. As a senior, he had 39 tackles, 5 for loss, 4 interceptions, and 8 breakups to earn first team All-conference honors. During his career, he returned 9 punts for 104 yards (11.6 avg) with a 75-yard touchdown as a senior. He also had 4 career kickoffs for an average of 15.3 yards, all of which came as a senior.

Alford’s older brother, cornerback Fred Booker played briefly with the New Orleans Saints in 2005. He joins first round pick Desmond Trufant as the second Falcons pick with NFL bloodlines. He was recently diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, which has afflicted past NFL players like Matt Light and David Garrard. Likely the second day of the draft is done for the Falcons, as they parted with their third round pick to move up to get Trufant.

As many have reported, the Falcons made a trade up the board with the St. Louis Rams to select Washington cornerback Desmond Trufant with the 22nd overall pick. The Falcons dealt their first round pick (30th) overall, third round pick (92nd), and sixth round picks (198th overall) to swap with the Rams for their first round pick (22nd) and acquired a seventh round pick in 2015.

Trufant was a productive four-year starter at Washington, tallying 195 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 6 interceptions, and 38 pass breakups during his stint there. As a freshman, he also returned a fumble recovery for a touchdown. Trufant has good NFL bloodlines, with two older brothers in the NFL, both corners: Marcus and Isaiah. Marcus is currently a free agent that has spent the past 10 years with the Seattle Seahawks. Isaiah has played the past three seasons with the New York Jets. Trufant earned 1st team All-Pac 12 honors as a senior, after honorable mention honors as a freshman and junior.

Trufant will be expected to fill the starting right cornerback position for the Falcons, vacated by Dunta Robinson and Brent Grimes this off-season.

The Falcons announced that wide receiver Kerry Meier was waived today. Meier spent this past season on injured reserve with an undisclosed leg injury. It was the second time Meier spent time on the injured reserve, after suffering a torn ACL in his first training camp in 2010. Meier was a fifth round pick by the Falcons that same year out of Kansas.

Meier began his college career as a quarterback before moving to wide receiver. He finished his career at Kansas as a highly productive wideout in their spread attack, breaking their single season record for receptions with 102 as a senior. Meier’s only action with the Falcons came in 12 games in 2011 where he played predominantly on special teams, without recording a tackle.

Last week, I promised that I would go over the Falcons Day 3 draft plans. But of course news and rumors picked up steam that the Falcons were planning on moving up via trade in the draft. I do think the two issues are somewhat related, which I will delve into later. But for now, let’s talk about the Falcons potential third day draft possibilities.

The meat of the Falcons draft lies on the third day of the draft, where rounds four through seven will be selected. The Falcons hold eight of their eleven total picks during this stretch of the draft. The third day of the draft is typically where teams try to build their depth. A few players will emerge as starters, but they are few and far between.

Using previously discussed draft grades, only 14 of the 153 players selected in the final four rounds in 2008 earned C grades or higher (i.e. became solid starters after five seasons). That number is 22 out of 156 players from the 2007 class. In 2008, five of those 14 starters were fourth rounders, while that number was 12 in 2007.

Because the Falcons draft for need, they are going to lean towards targeting players that have a high probability of making the roster. Basically operating under a simple principle that there’s no way you can help the team if you don’t make it. So to determine what areas and positions the Falcons might target on the third day of the draft, you have to take a closer look at the team’s current roster. Here’s a quick breakdown position by position, with the number in parentheses indicating the current number of players at the position that have a strong probability of making the final roster:
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