Finding late round steals in the NFL Draft often owes as much to perspiration as it does inspiration.

Working a little bit harder to find a player to fill out an important need on the roster certainly isn’t as glamorous as picking a first round blue-chipper, but can be just as important in terms of overall team building.

Of course, many notable success stories have been made out of Day 3 selections, but no one needs to be reminded of Tom Brady the Hall of Fame 6th-round sensation for the millionth time.

The Atlanta Falcons had just one pick in the final-three rounds of the draft, but Chad Reuter of NFL.com believes that Terry Fontenot and the Atlanta Falcons might have just unearthed his next starting tackle in 7th-round pick Jack Nelson from Wisconsin. 

In fact, Reuter feels Nelson would be good enough to slot into his “starting 22” players on a hypothetical new rookie team. 

“OK, so Nelson probably would have preferred to be drafted earlier, but I love his fit in Atlanta,” wrote Reuter on NFL.com. “His body type (6-7, 314) is similar to that of Falcons starting right tackle Kaleb McGary (6-6, 306), and Nelson’s experience at left tackle gives him a shot to be the third tackle in Year 1. McGary’s a free agent after the season, so a strong first campaign could help Nelson win a job in 2026.”

Nelson being the 3rd tackle on the 2025 roster offers pretty serious bang for the Falcons 7th-round buck.

At Wisconsin, Nelson started 50 total games for the Badgers, which broke down to 37 at left tackle and 13 at right guard.

All of which points to advanced levels of both flexibility and durability; Nelson has also proved capable of playing inside and outside and on either side of the center. 

That could prove ideal for slotting in as the Falcons swing tackle as a rookie, and as Reuter points out, replacing incumbent starter Kaleb McGary might crystallize as being the more long term plan at hand.

As with any fairly raw late round pick, and especially a tackle, Nelson will need some polishing before he’s going to be entrusted with protecting prized second year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. in the heat of battle.

Nevertheless, the Falcons can allow themselves to pour the required time and patience into a more long term development project as it relates to Nelson.

In the shorter term, Nelson’s 6-foot-7 and 314-pound frame ticks plenty of boxes when it comes to the attributes needed to play tackle in the NFL, and he can hopefully play a little if the Falcons get put in a pinch along the way.

Given the overbearing need which existed for Fontenot and Co. to address the holes on the defensive side of the ball first and foremost, it’s reassuring that protecting Penix Jr. wasn’t completely forgotten.

Nobody is projecting Nelson to suddenly start, but a decent lump of clay to mold just landed on the Falcons potters wheel.