The Atlanta Falcons will continue to say they’re going to draft the best player available, as Terry Fontenot did, but that will likely look different under a new regime. More to the point, the Falcons have to weigh the idealized BPA (which would be truly position-agnostic) versus the realities of their situation (significant roster holes and limited draft capital).

In remarks to the media Monday, Ian Cunningham and Kevin Stefanski didn’t tip their hand, but they did talk a little bit about how they view this class in a way that should help us calibrate our expectations.

Falcons GM Ian Cunningham reasserts he is a firm believer in best player available but also adds that he has to "take into account where some of those positional cliffs are" and possibly take a prospect a little bit higher if that cliff is about to hit.

Here are a few worthwhile notes from that press conference.

The Falcons have been widely linked to some of the more well-known receivers in the class, including Georgia’s Zachariah Branch and Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion, who might be available at the top of the second round. They also have a fairly acute need on the edge, where James Pearce Jr.‘s legal troubles could put his season and/or his Falcons career in jeopardy. Fortunately for the team, both groups seem pretty deep.

Tori McElhaney with the Falcons notes that Cunningham was enthusiastic about the receiver depth, and the number of archetypes in there that allow the Falcons to pick the type of player they’re after.

“You have guys that fit certain flavors, whether they are big, physical, possession-type guys, or those slots who can get in and out of breaks and get open and move the chains,” Cunningham explained. “It’s really a pick-your-flavor position, I think.”

In the case of both groups, the depth might allow Atlanta to wait and snag a player they view as a legitimate contributor as late as the third day of the draft. That might allow them to focus on shallower groups in rounds two and three, like the suddenly-needed tackle group on offense and a top-heavy defensive tackle group.

As Garrett Chapman at Falcons SI writes, the fact that the Falcons acknowledge that the interior of the defensive line class is top-heavy suggests they might prioritize it in the draft’s second day. That’s no sure thing, but if it is viewed as a major need after the team traded for Maason Smith and signed both Da’Shawn Hand and Chris Williams, the Falcons might have to prioritize defensive tackle if another prospect isn’t light years ahead of the best DT on their board.

With no first round pick, a BPA mindset, and an itch to add more selections going forward, you wouldn’t have expected the Falcons to trade up. Cunningham all but confirmed that Monday.

With no first round pick, Falcons GM Ian Cunningham said he is "comfortable sitting and waiting" when Thursday night's NFL Draft comes around. pic.twitter.com/C6FjLcbsy1

That means the first night of the draft will be very low-stakes for us—and maybe even boring, depending on how much you enjoy the draft generally—but it also means the Falcons aren’t going to make any foolish, risky moves that costs them needed resources for 2027 and beyond.

It likely helps, to give Kevin Stefanski the final word here, that this draft is one where “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” This is not thought to be a particularly strong class, which gives teams with patience and savvy the best chance to come out of it with useful players.

Falcons HC Kevin Stefanski says a player's success can be "dependent upon the structure" around them when they come to the NFL. He says this is a draft where the beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that they've had a lot of healthy debates in recent weeks to reach consensus.