The No. 8 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft will become a legendary case study in football history. A first-round pick hit as soon as it was leaked that Atlanta was drafting Michael Penix Jr., and after signing Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract in free agency, why quarterback Falcons leaders were scrambling to justify the acquisition. .
At best, it was a decision made out of hubris. In the worst case scenario, a team in dire need of defensive help decides to flush a top-10 pick down the toilet for no reason. The unfortunate side effect is that none of this is Penix Jr.’s fault, and he may have to wait as long as five years before he sees the field in a meaningful capacity while the football world laughs at his choices. That means no.
We have to dig deeper into just how strange this choice really was, because all the elements that make up this decision are so astonishingly strange.
Kirk Cousins was blindsided by that pick.
Cousins took a very real and significant risk by signing with the Falcons. The safe and predictable choice is to remain in Minnesota with an offensive weapon that he knows can win, combined with Brian Flores’ defense to get a full injury-free season and get the team back on track to being competitive again. That was to be expected.
Money was a major part of the decision to move to Atlanta, but that doesn’t mean there were no risks here either. The fact is, Cousins acted boldly with conviction to turn around a struggling team that wanted to win now, with the shocking result that the team ultimately acquired his replacement. This means that he was rewarded for it.
There was always an expectation that the Falcons would acquire a QB. at some point During Cousins’ tenure, however, that was not the case in his first year. Especially not in his first year, and he knows that if the NFL were to punish him after the draft, he would lose at least one top pick for cheating on Cousins.
The Falcons’ team is trying to put lipstick on this pig, but things are only going to get worse.
It’s one thing to see Penix as part of some noble future plan, it’s another to fully admit that you might not see this field until you’re 28, while pretending “actually, that’s a good thing”. Thing.
Fontenot on Penix: If he sits for four or five years, that’s a big problem. Because we are doing very well in that position. #Falcons
— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) April 26, 2024
Their argument is essentially, “We’re going to win a lot from now on, so this nomination doesn’t matter!” This is a very bold approach in a situation where nothing has been won yet. This isn’t about the Packers taking Jordan Love at No. 24 and starting Aaron Rodgers.It’s a team Hope They could be a mainstay in the playoffs and use their draft picks as if they had already arrived when there are big holes that need to be addressed.
The best-case scenario is for the Falcons to cook for 2-3 years and then have a seamless QB transition plan. Worst case scenario is this blows up and everyone gets fired.
The Falcons couldn’t even deal with Penix before the draft.
Perhaps the funniest thing about this entire pick is that, despite professing their love for Penix and starting talking about him as “too good to pass up” in their post-draft presser, the Falcons really didn’t fully consider him. There is not much evidence that he was scouted.
Michael Penix Jr. did not visit Flowery Branch, which was in the top 30. The Falcons only participated in 45 minutes of practice and met with him at the combine.
It’s almost unheard of for a QB taken in the first round not to be in the team’s top 30.
In the end, ATL was satisfied with their work.— Diana Russini (@DMRussini) April 26, 2024
Maybe this was a 4D chess move by the intergalactic brains, to make sure no one in the league knew the Falcons were trying to steal Penix, but being a smart football organization We have reached the point where we cannot cheat at the expense of While it’s possible to learn a lot about a prospect through film and short meetings, the Falcons draft-prepared Penix more quickly than the average team would for a first-round quarterback. It is clear that it is much less.
this is all About the pick, not the player.
We can be fiercely critical of how and why the Falcons did this without dragging Michael Penix. Yes, there are some concerns about his durability due to his injury history, but when healthy, he’s a phenomenal passer worthy of a first-round pick.
The hard part is reconciling that with a scenario where he won’t see an NFL field for years. Penix is one of the most NFL-ready quarterbacks in this class, but he’ll be forced to sit on the bench for years as if he’s a player who needs a complete overhaul. right.
These are all elements in one of the strangest picks in recent memory. I didn’t understand the meaning and had doubts about my prior thinking and execution. Even if this is a huge failure, it won’t spell doom for the Falcons, but not being able to sign an impact player at this point will hurt their ability to win in the near term.
