With final grades and awards given out, it’s now time to turn our attention to next season.

As we take that journey through Indianapolis for the combine up until draft day on April 22, we will have plenty of time to talk about who the Atlanta Falcons will nab with the No. 19 pick. But we must begin with a look at what the team's most pressing needs are. Here are the top five this offseason.

1) Safety -- Atlanta’s safeties have a tendency to get lit up like a Christmas tree. It wasn’t pretty for Atlanta’s defensive backs, who allowed 3,873 yards in the air last season, fifth-worst in the NFL.

If the Falcons hope to take that next leap, they will be best suited adding help to the secondary, primarily at the safety position. Thomas DeCoud showed some flashes that he could stick around the league for a while and second-round pick William Moore will hopefully contribute a bit if he can solve his injury woes next season.

But if Atlanta wants to improve upon its terrible 2009 numbers, they are going to need someone other than DeCoud, Moore and Erik Coleman contributing in center field next season.

Atlanta needs to bring in some safety help to aid a unit that was too often clinging to life this season, much like Thomas DeCoud was here to Pierre Thomas. DeCoud showed some promise, but Atlanta would be smart to get him assistance.

2) Defensive Lineman -- It’s really a tossup whether the Falcons should address their needs on the D-line or at safety first. Both units could use a bunch of help going into next season.

When you drill into the numbers, the D-line was also terrible, notching just 28 sacks last season, also fifth-worst in the league. However, first-round pick Peria Jerry got hurt, and John Abraham had a very un-Abraham-like season, recording just 5.5 sacks.

The line’s numbers should be better next season with a healthy Jerry. And Abraham, despite his “advanced” age of 31, is too good to be that bad again.

Nevertheless, some thought should be given to using the No. 1 pick to nab someone to replace Jamaal Anderson, he of the half a sack last season.

3) Cornerback -- Yes, this flock of Falcons showed some improvement as the year went on. And Brent Grimes was a nice surprise for the Dirty Birds, coming down with six picks.

But let’s face it. This unit is vastly undersized. Not a single CB is over 6 feet tall in a league in which the wide receivers they are covering are almost always a few inches taller. Atlanta could conceivably do some shopping in the big and tall store to add an athletic cornerback to equalize the height disadvantage and shore up the pass defense.

4) Linebacker -- One can see a theme emerging here: The Falcons need defense, defense and more defense. And truth be told, Atlanta’s linebackers were not terrible last season. However, the unit could be much, much better.

A high-impact player on either end of Atlanta’s 4-3 scheme would work wonders to shore up both the pass and run defense.

5) No. 2 wide receiver -- This is not the biggest of priorities for the Falcons, who have a defacto No. 1B receiver in tight end Tony Gonzalez. However, Michael Jenkins underperformed as Atlanta’s No. 2 guy last season. Fifty whopping receptions for 635 yards and one touchdown is not exactly the type of performance you expect from your second wide receiver.

Any slight upgrade, perhaps even the return of Harry Douglas, who missed the season with a knee injury, would vastly improve this unit.

-- PHIL FOLEY