We’re not even 48 hours into the Baltimore Ravens’ reign as Super Bowl champions and already ESPN.com’s John Clayton has your Super Bowl favorites for next season, and the Falcons are on the list.

Clayton lists Atlanta as his No. 5 favorite team to be in next year’s Super Bowl in New York. Clayton ranks Denver, New England, Green Bay and Seattle as the four teams ahead of Atlanta.

The Falcons have a tougher schedule in 2013, with their opponents holding a .504 winning percentage, which is something Clayton believes will put the Falcons around 10 or 11 wins:

Maybe the loss in the NFC Championship Game will toughen the Falcons. They haven’t taken advantage of two top seeds in the past three years. It’s not out of the question for the Saints to win the division and the Falcons to make it as a wild card. As we’ve seen from the Giants, Ravens, Packers, Steelers and others, Super Bowls can be won the tough way as wild cards. The Falcons have to find a way to do that, which they can.

The Falcons earned their first playoff win under head coach Mike Smith this year by beating Seattle 30-28 in the NFC divisional round.

You might expect Roddy White or Julio Jones to be at the top of all wide receiver categories for the Falcons, but what you might not expect is the Falcons’ third wide receiver trumping the two stars in a big category.

According to ESPN.com NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas, Harry Douglas had the hottest hands not only for the Falcons but for the entire division.

ESPN’s catch percentage stats for the NFC South have been tallied. How they come to the final number is by dividing total receptions by receptions plus passes dropped. I don’t math, so this is all very foreign to me. Just take Yasinskas’ word for it.

Anyway, Douglas’ catch percentage tops the division at 97.4. He made 38 catches in 2012 with one drop while being targeted 56 times.

No slouches in this department, White and Jones are right at the top of the division list in the category — White at 96.8 and Jones at 90.8. White, it’s important to point out, was also targeted more than two times more than Douglas, so there’s a higher chance of drops. Still, impressive numbers for all three Falcons wideouts.

A couple of news outlets came out with their midseason reports this week and the Falcons are well represented.

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King has quarterback Matt Ryan and tight end Tony Gonzalez on his midseason All-Pro team, and he handed out his midseason MVP to Ryan and named head coach Mike Smith his midseason coach of the year.

ESPN’s John Clayton had Ryan as his All-Pro team quarterback.

Pat Yasinskas, of ESPN.com’s NFC South blog, has an All-NFC South team that’s riddled with Falcons. Yasinskas put 13 Falcons on his midseason team from the division and gave the Falcons plenty of love along the way.

On NFL.com’s midseason All-Pro team, linebacker Sean Weatherspoon earns a spot, while Ryan got snubbed for Peyton Manning.

NFL.com also ranked the Falcons as the fifth best team in the race for the Super Bowl title, ranking the Bears — who pretty much have the same strength of schedule as the Falcons and have one loss — as the Lombardi favorite. Hmmm…

ESPN.com NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas writes more draft gold today, focusing on the past players drafted at the slots of each of the NFC South teams.

The Falcons, in the No. 27 spot, have a solid chance of drafting a high caliber player if history is any indication.

Don’t want to steal any of Pat Y’s thunder, so click here if you want to see his list and analysis.

One thing I will say is that Pat brings up the idea of the Falcons taking a wide receiver with the No. 27 pick if they like the value. I have to tell you, I’m starting to really get on board with that idea.

I know I’ve written about defensive ends to death since the offseason began, but wide receiver would be a very likely option in the first round if there’s one available the Falcons think would be worth taking at No. 27. I actually can see this being so much of an option that the Falcons could even trade back if there’s nothing they like at 27 and know they can get better value in the second.

If Maryland wide receiver Torrey Smith is there, I can see him easily being the choice. If he’s not, I could see receivers like Troy’s Jerrel Jernigan, Boise State’s Titus Young, Miami’s Leonard Hankerson or Kentucky’s Randall Cobb being the pick if the Falcons trade away No. 27 and get into the early part of the second round.

I wrote before about how it generally takes three seasons before a wide receiver really starts to reach his potential, so I think Falcons fans have to be patient with whoever comes in, if the Falcons go that direction in the draft. But, as Yasinskas notes, head coach Mike Smith and general manager Thomas Dimitroff have been talking about a need to get more explosive, and taking a wide receiver who can take some pressure off Roddy White would certainly push the offense in that direction.

You know the drill. Vote below.

Now That We’re Closer To The Draft, What Are Your Thoughts On Taking A Wide Receiver Early?Market Research

Our good friend Pat Yasinskas over at ESPN.com’s NFC South blog is always providing and digging around for insightful information about the division, and he comes up with a pretty good gem today.

He detailed a five-year study of NFL drafts and how all 32 teams did during that window of time when it came to picking the right players.

The NFC South, Yasinskas writes, did pretty good for itself. The Saints rank No. 2 in the study in the past five years. The Falcons were right behind at No. 5. The Bucs came in at No. 10 and Carolina rounded out the division at No. 24, although Yasinskas points out the Panthers’ ranking might be a bit too heavily influenced by last year’s 2-14 season.

The study calls quarterback Matt Ryan the best pick of the past five years for the Falcons. No surprise there.

Of 42 picks in the past five years, 26 are still on the roster. Nine of those players are starters, putting the Falcons right near the top in that category.

Thoughts below. Pick a choice. Press “vote.” Easy as pie.

What Grade Would You Give The Falcons’ Drafts For The Past Five Years?Market Research

ESPN.com is coming out with power rankings for just about everything these days. I expect the power rankings for all-time greatest TV dad to be out within days (here’s my suggestion for No. 1).

Anyway, ESPN.com released its NFL head coach power rankings today, and Falcons head coach Mike Smith makes the top 10 at No. 9, behind a slew of great NFL coaches.

You can view ESPN’s list of top head coaches here. Four of the eight panelists here didn’t rank Smitty in the top 10 at all. Of the other four, NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas rated him the highest, at No. 6.

Personally, I think the top four are solid. Things get a little murky after that, for me. Should Tom Coughlin really be as high as No. 6? What about Sean Payton at No. 5? Rex Ryan right behind them?

Makes me wonder what the criteria was. What’s interesting is ESPN.com NFC West blogger Mike Sando’s comments about how he picked “coaches that walked into tough situations, won relatively quickly and then sustained the improvement over more than one season,” yet he didn’t rank Smith, who arguably walked into one of the most difficult situations a coach possibly could and saw immediate success.

What’s your take? Let us know below.

What Do You Think Of ESPN.com’s Rankings?Market Research