Falcons take OT Skoronski

Mock draft before combine a time-waster, as Bulldog Jalen Carter’s fall shows.

It’s prudent FLOWERY BRANCH — to wait until after the combine to craft Mock Draft 1.0 and cast it out into the football metaverse.

Those mocks before the combine generally are a waste of time and should be frowned upon.

Everyone had Georgia’s Jalen Carter in the top 10 and Florida’s Anthony Richardson outside of the top 10 before last week’s scouting combine.

No one knew Carter would be arrested and accused of leaving the scene of a fatal crash until The Atlanta-Journal Constitution broke the story March 1. Carter had to leave Indianapolis to turn himself in to authorities in Athens. He returned on an early morning flight out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Thursday to interview with teams.

Now, teams who preach brotherhood and team unity want to know if, and how, Carter would leave the scene with two teammates and two staffers in an accident.

Carter, who some had ranked as the No. 1 player in the draft, clearly had the worst combine, while Richardson had the best. He moved into the top 10 and has solidified a spot as one of the top quarterbacks in the draft behind Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud and Kentucky’s Will Levis.

The Falcons hold the eighth overall pick and will have several good options, just like last season

in the same position.

After it was reported that the Falcons will not get into the Lamar Jackson derby, we have to work under the premise that the Falcons plan to build out their ros

ter and drop in the quarterback later, like the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers did.

The Chiefs built their team, drafted Patrick Mahomes and then traded Alex Smith when he was ready. The 49ers built their team and have been trying to drop Trey Lance in there at QB for the past two seasons. They were wise to keep Jimmy Garoppolo around and lucky that they hit on seventh-round pick Brock Purdy as a game manager.

While he was with the Saints, Falcons general manger Terry Fontenot was part of building stout defensive and offensive lines. That project is expected to continue in free agency and the draft.

Northwestern offensive tackle Peter Skoronski is a keeper. His grandfather played for Vince Lombardi with the Green Bay Packers and was a five-time NFL champion.

While we have Carter dropping to the Jets at 13, there are five players from the Bulldogs projected to go in the first round.

Note: There are only 31 picks this year because the Dolphins had to forfeit their pick for violating integrity-of-the-game rules.

DARRON CUMMINGS/AP Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski runs the 40-yard dash March 5 at the NFL combine in Indianapolis. His grandfather played for Vince Lombardi with the Packers and was a five-time NFL champion.