Andreas Knappe signs with Atlanta Falcons; 1st Dane in NFL since Morten Andersen

| 2017 NFL Draft | 04/30/2017

Giant Danish tackle Andreas Knappe has signed to play football with the Atlanta Falcons. Although he was not drafted, not long after the end of the 2017 NFL Draft Knappe confirmed that he had been picked up by the Falcons, the team that apparently had been seriously considering drafting him.

The 25-year-old offensive tackle was not chosen in the seven rounds of the NFL Draft, although several experts had considered him as a likely late selection in the draft. It did not take him long to find a home in NFL though only minutes after the end of the draft.

As an undrafted free agent, Knappe was free to choose between different teams. The choice fell to the defending NFC champions Atlanta Falcons, where the Dane will now be blocking for NFL MVP quarterback Matt Ryan.

Knappe told Claus Elming from Denmark’s GuldKlud.dk that if he was not drafted he would accept the offer from the NFC champions.

Atlanta has two solid starting tackles in Jake Matthews and Ryan Schraeder, but the team’s depth at the tackle position is not impressive, so the Dane should have a real chance of making the final 53 man roster.

The Falcons allegedly wanted to have drafted Knappe, but they had no picks in either the 6th or 7th round, so they hoped he was not chosen by another team.

The   6’8″, 325 lb Knappe played college-football for the University of Connecticut Huskies. According to GuldKlud.dk, his biggest strength is blocking in the run game  where his impressive physique drives the opponents backwards. Conversely, they say that his huge size gives him some challenges when he is going to block in the throwing game.


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