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FOX 5 Exclusive: Ken Rodriguez one-on-one with Dimitroff on draft day

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Published  April 23, 2020 4:52pm EDT
Sports
FOX 5 Atlanta

ATLANTA - FOX 5 Sports was the only one to catch up with Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff on draft day before the all-virtual event kicks off at 8 p.m.

FOX 5 Exclusive – Ken Rodriguez one-on-one with Falcons GM on draft day

FOX 5 Sports was the only one to catch up with Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff on draft day before the all-virtual event kicks off at 8 p.m.

K-Rod asked Dimitroff about reports that the Falcons tried to move up to the second overall pick for defensive end Chase Young.

"The reality on any of these in any draft that you ever have me around here is we will be inquiring on every pick virtually, and that's my job to make sure I inquire," Dimitroff said. "And quite honestly, an inquiry isn’t necessarily the offer for a trade, and I'll just leave it at that."

Dimitroff also expects trade action around the league "to be the same" tonight as a typical draft.

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Dimitroff said "there literally are probably five guys, a handful of guys who we're focused in on at pick 16" in the first round tonight. He also mentioned while free agency has altered a bit the positions of greatest need, the Falcons will need to make strong selections on the defensive side of the ball during this draft.

"You have to look at where your needs are when you're looking to put together a team year to year. We made three moves in free agency basically with the trade with Hayden Hurst as well and Todd Gurley as well as Dante Fowler. We feel really good going into the draft with those positions," Dimitroff said. "Looking for them to contribute significantly. Now we go into the draft and start looking at these other positions. The reality is you can improve your defense in a number of different ways, and we continue to need to improve in a number of different areas there we think. And we think it can be at a lot of different positions, not just at the front. We think there are other opportunities, too, to bolster this defense."

He said he's done a bit more pre-draft prep than he typically is used to, just to make sure the Falcons are ready for the first-ever virtual draft.

Prospects on the interior -- defensive and offensive tackles -- are plentiful in this draft, Dimitroff said, but "we think that it's a strong corner draft."