INDIANAPOLIS -- If the Atlanta Falcons come down to Buffalo's Khalil Mack and UCLA's Anthony Barr for the No. 6 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, look for Mack to be the one to get the call. That's the way plugged-in Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist D. Orlando Ledbetter hears it, and it makes sense on multiple fronts as the NFL Scouting Combine comes to a close.
Consider:
- Mack is regarded as the better pass rusher of the two, and the Falcons are in desperate need of a pass-rushing presence. NFL Media analyst Mike Mayock went so far as to suggest Mack is the draft's second-best pass-rushing prospect, behind South Carolina's Jadeveon Clowney, prior to the combine.
- Mack outperformed Barr at the combine. Although they ran roughly the same 40-yard dash (Mack 4.65, Barr 4.66), Mack recorded 23 bench press reps to Barr's 15, a 40-inch vertical leap to Barr's 34.5, and bested the former Bruins star in every other event except the 3-cone drill.
As for the Falcons' options at the No. 6 spot, Mack and Barr could easily be the choice facing general manager Thomas Dimitroff, particularly if Clowney and the draft's top three quarterbacks all fall among the five picks ahead of the Falcons. And that's exactly the way Bucky Brooks has things playing out in his most recent mock draft.
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