Thomas Dimitroff: Kendall Sheffield has makings of a No. 1 cornerback

[Freddie Falcon]

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In Monday’s edition of Football Morning in America, Peter King reported that the worst-kept secret in this year’s draft is that the Falcons want to trade up in order to take one of the top cornerbacks in this year’s class.

There’s been plenty of other chatter about the Falcons’ desire to move up, which supports the idea that the team hasn’t been doing much to disguise their intentions about picking higher than No. 16 on Thursday night. General Manager Thomas Dimitroff may have been trying to disguise their desire for a cornerback on Monday, however.

Dimitroff said during a conference call, via Mike Conti of 92.9 The Game, that the team believes Kendall Sheffield has the makings of a No. 1 cornerback. The 2019 fourth-round pick started 11 of the 16 games he played as a rookie and recorded 46 tackles and a forced fumble.

Whatever their feelings about Sheffield, the Falcons are going to need more than one cornerback to help get their defense where they want it to be. That should keep eyes on C.J. Henderson or Jeff Okudah if the Falcons do move up while either of those players remains available.