Back in 2011, the Atlanta Falcons gave up a bevy of picks to move up from No. 27 to No. 6 and select Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones, by all accounts the best wide receiver in the draft. 

Seven years later, the Falcons have drafted an Alabama receiver yet again, this time sitting tight at No. 26 overall and watching Calvin Ridley fall into their laps. He doesn't have monster stats because Alabama prefers to run the ball and plays such good defense that it never really airs it out with any sort of consistency, but Ridley still went through most of the draft process considered the best receiver in this class. 

A subpar combine performance led to him sliding to the back half of the first round and Maryland's D.J. Moore coming off the board before him; but in the end, things worked out as well as possible for Ridley, as he found the perfect landing spot in Atlanta. 

Ridley is well-known at this point as a superior technician. He runs the best routes of any receiver in the class, and when he hits his break he is able to quickly motor down and explode out, creating separation at the catch point, making it easy for his quarterback to deliver on time and on schedule. 

The one minor concern about Ridley, given his relative lack of athleticism (he ranked in the 7.7th percentile among NFL wide receivers in SPARQ, a popular athleticism metric), was the ability to create separation on release, and especially against coverage rolled to his side of the field. In Atlanta, he will almost never have to worry about that. Julio Jones is going to draw all the extra attention, all the time. Teams will also have to worry about Mohamed Sanu in the slot, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman coming out of the backfield, and tight end Austin Hooper over the middle. 

Matt Ryan was at his best in 2016 when he was spreading the ball around to a bunch of different targets, and now the Falcons just replaced Taylor Gabriel's role in that offense with a player that isn't quite as fast, but is taller, stouter, and far more precise. If there's anyone that can take advantage of all the open space afforded to non-Julio pass-catching targets on the Falcons, it's the guy that has perfect technique and timing. Matt Ryan is going to love this guy, and Ridley is going to love getting to play in this offense.