Finally, the final first-round rookie QB in the 2024 NFL Draft has started a regular season football game.
of atlanta falcons He turned Sunday against rookie QB Michael Penix Jr. new york giantsIn the midst of a close playoff race against. tampa bay buccaneers. After QB Kirk Cousins' play left many uninspired, replacing Penix Jr. felt like a necessity to salvage any postseason hopes the Falcons had.
result? His efficient performance gave the Falcons a lot of encouragement. Penix Jr. went 18-27 for 202 yards, no touchdowns and a pick off tight end Kyle Pitts, the best performance in Atlanta Falcons history. Penix finished with a 53% success rate, which is incredibly good for a rookie quarterback making his first career start, and he was able to impress his head coach. About the Atlanta Falcons by SI's Daniel Flick:
“The plan was a little earlier, but the kid was ready,” Morris said after the game. “We spent a lot of time developing him, and he did a great job himself. [of] You're growing yourself and preparing yourself for those moments when it's not that big.
So what was it about Penix Jr.'s performance that caught our attention? Let's dig in.
It wasn't a performance full of fireworks, but I think it was actually the little things Penix Jr. did that impressed me the most. Despite what the raw numbers tell us, the rookie looked calm and collected throughout the game, performing at a level you don't expect from many rookies in their first career start. Yes, it was against the New York Giants, but there were some really encouraging things from both Penix Jr. and the Falcons.
First, there was a lot more play action and piracy in this offense than when Cousins was under center. Due to both his age and his recovery from an Achilles injury, Cousins has not been able to move at the level needed to run this offense. So while Penix was able to run this offense similar to McVay's offense (Zack Robinson came from the Rams and McVay), the work is essential to their success. In fact, the first play of the game was play-action, with WR Drake Rondon peeling back to help protect and doing a little half-roll to Penix Jr.'s left.
Penix Jr. gets banged up when he releases this ball, but you can see the amount of rotation he puts on the ball. McLeod needs to push this, but it's a good throw that shows how different the offense can be in terms of targets and heatmaps, trading away some of Kirk's best value in the middle of the field. You can get more variance. On the outside with a more powerfully armed Penix Jr.
This is another shot that shows off Penix Jr.'s great skill. In a deep play-action drop with seven-man protection, WR Darnell Mooney runs a deep out route and WR Drake Rondon has a dig route to the backside. Penix took a drop after a play fake and fired an absolute laser at Mooney over the outstretched hands of the defender below. You have to have a lot of confidence in both your arm and your timing to get this ball up and down before Mooney gets to the sideline and Penix Jr. fires it there to move the chains.
It's a dangerous pitch, to be sure, but explosiveness outside of the numbers is something the Falcons lacked with Cousins under center.
This might be his best throw of the day. Another play-action attempt with the classic go route/post/whatever to nail the corner look combined with a deep over route from the opposite side. What I like about this pass is that it showcases Penix Jr.'s advanced knowledge of leverage and timing. He throws this ball behind the receiver, but it's not an inaccurate pass. Rather, it's a way to protect the receiver from the defender below trying to get back into the play.
If Penix Jr. leads on this ball, the receiver could get crushed by this defender and the play could result in a pass breakup or interception. What impressed me most was all this really great, high IQ stuff that Penix Jr. was doing on Sunday.
What really impressed me with his high IQ and sense of the game was his standard dropback maneuver. The Giants tried to speed him up and heat him up with pressure, but he seemed much more ready for that area of the game than I expected and was a great addition to this offense. The ceiling is now even higher than before. Penix was pressured 14 times on Sunday but didn't get a sack. This shows how well he was able to defeat the blitz with his skill and mind. The first time New York tried to pressure him, both linebackers stood in the A-gap and looked robbed. When CB Deonte Banks moved in with Mooney, Penix Jr. acknowledged it was man coverage, but noted his handling from the end zone angle. This blitz will feature both linebackers, so he knows there will be no holeless defenders.
Penix Jr. quickly IDed a no-hole defender in man coverage and turned his head to attack London with this in-breaker. Moves smoothly and efficiently in your pocket.
The Giants try to fool him again with a mugging look, but this time they bring in a nickel, dropping a backside edge and a linebacker. Penix sees the nickel blitz and knows that the fallen linebacker must replace where the blitz came from, so he throws the ball where the fallen linebacker was. The speed with which he processed things Sunday was impressive and a testament to the preparation he and the Falcons' offensive brain trust put in.
Even the subtle understanding of leverage and space for these pressures was very impressive. We know the Giants are in zone coverage by spreading the nickel in Pitts' motion on this play, but that leaves the robbed linebacker on the backside one-on-one with RB Bijan Robinson. Become. He immediately passed the ball to Robinson, and the Falcons almost scored on that play. It's small, but these little things the Falcons were missing prevented the offense from operating at an efficient level. Penix brought his efficiency to raise the floor, but he also showed off his arm strength outside of the numbers and raised his ceiling.
This throw to Mooney is also done with very good timing and pace. Penix uses motion to ID man coverage, but this time he has a hole defender. He holds the hole defender to the right long enough to open Mooney's window, then whips back to the left and throws a dart. The simple little things he did in his debut film were really impressive and excited me.
Of course, you can't play against the Giants every week, but what Penix Jr. showed Sunday was very encouraging. The arm strength and action was fun, but it was his high-pressure work that really got me excited to see how far this would go. As the Falcons make their final push toward postseason play, it will be interesting to see how much more they give Penix Jr. in terms of downfield passing to strengthen him.
As far as debut grades go, I'd give it an A. It was an efficient day with not many fireworks, but that efficiency would keep the attack on schedule while adding explosives later on.
