The Falcons have only interviewed two candidates for their vacant general manager position thus far, and former Texans GM Rick Smith appears to be near the top of their list. Smith had a long and noteworthy tenure in Houston, as he traded for the legendary Matt Schaub, drafted stars like Deshaun Watson, J.J. Watt, and DeAndre Hopkins, and scooped up plenty of interesting contributors late in the draft and after the draft.
That experience makes him a strong and worthy candidate, in my humble opinion, but there are legitimate concerns about how closely his draft track record mirrors Thomas Dimitroff’s (first round hits with plenty of early-to-mid round misses), the Brock Osweiler disaster, and the team’s inability to get over the hump in his tenure, as they topped out as Divisional Game losers three times from 2007-2017.