3 NFL teams that should've drafted Jalen Carter but blew it

No. 1 NFL team who should have drafted Jalen Carter: Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons' offense would be in a world of pain without Bijan Robinson right now. He has been their best runner and best pass-catcher through three weeks, lining up all over the field and making defenders miss with his unreal shiftiness in space. The Falcons bet on Robinson with the No. 8 pick due to his potential to be more than a standard RB. He was pitched as the Christian McCaffrey-type Swiss Army knife Atlanta lacked.

So far, there's every reason to believe Robinson can live up to that billing. The question is, for how long? Backs have never been less valued in the NFL. Teams are straight-up refusing to sign the best RBs in the country to long-term deals with guaranteed money. Josh Jacobs and Saquon Barkley were unequivocally the two best pure runners in the league last season; both re-signed for roughly the franchise tag amount.

The RB shelf life is a real concern, even for freak athletes of Robinson's caliber. The Falcons also have the problem of surrounding a severely underwhelming quarterback with a ton of quality options. Desmond Ridder just does not have it. Maybe that changes — it's his second season, his first as the established signal-caller — but Ridder is bad, and until the Falcons figure out the QB issue, every offensive player will be hamstrung. Robinson included.

By nature of the modern NFL, it's much easier to project sustained, elite-level value from Jalen Carter over the next decade than it is to project the same from Robinson. The Falcons could be banking on paying Robinson less money on future contracts than Carter is likely to earn, but that's a stretch at best. The Falcons have invested in offense consistently without thinking to invest in a true high-level QB prospect. Until that happens, it doesn't really matter how great Bijan is, because the offensive machine around him won't function at the level it needs to.

Meanwhile, the Falcons are starting to gain some headway on the defensive side of the ball. That has been a problem for years, and it would be even less of a problem today with Carter — who played college ball right up the street in Athens — donning the Dirty Bird on his helmet.