The NFL Draft is usually filled with promise. Teams and fans are excited about their first-round picks even though half of them go on to be busts, and disappointment is commonplace. But one fan base — the Atlanta Falcons — is left with nothing.
Washington QB Michael Penix Jr. is a good player for sure. A Heisman finalist this past season, he put up 4,900 yards and 36 TDs. He’s arguably the most accurate passer in the draft when he’s on his spot. But he’s also had a long injury history (torn ACL on the same knee twice, shoulder, and so on), and he’s 23 years old. Add in that he’s a lefty — very few of those Southpaws have great success in the NFL — and you can see he’s a fringe round-one guy.
However, the NFL is QB desperate, and what we saw Thursday evening was a great example. Six QBs in what I think is a vastly overrated QB class went in the top 12 picks. And they range from the expected — Caleb Williams to Chicago, Jayden Daniels to Washington, Drake Maye to New England — to the surprising, like Bo Nix to Denver. But Penix Jr. was stunning.
Why? Obviously, if you’re reading this, you know why. Atlanta signed free agent QB Kirk Cousins this off-season to be their QB1 for the next 3-4 years — and he needs help. A huge need like edge rusher or CB could have been addressed at No. 8, and the Falcons blew it. This isn’t Jordan Love at No. 26 for Green Bay in 2020. This is worse. Cousins isn’t as good as Aaron Rodgers, but he’s younger, and Rodgers was continually unhappy every Green Bay off-season. Cousins is a good guy, a team guy and Atlanta was likely his last stop and ride or die. A QB of the future was not needed — not at No. 8.
Atlanta GM Terry Fontenot and new head coach Raheem Morris are both ignorant here. Fontenot says Penix Jr. is the future, and if he doesn’t play for 4-5 years, that means they are in great shape at the position. Morris reportedly fell in love with Penix Jr. even though Atlanta didn’t scout him much in person leading up to the draft and never had him on a top-30 visit. This was arguably the best example of wasted asset I’ve seen at the draft — ever.
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So now what? Penix Jr. will likely sit for years as Love did and have to wait his time, barring an injury. Cousins will be looking over his shoulder on a team that should be his. And Atlanta, a team that could have won their division, will be missing a key player on the field for the next 3-4 seasons. Dallas Turner? Terrion Arnold? Rome Odunze? Olu Fashanu? Nope. They took a clipboard holder at No. 8.
It’s inexplicable, it’s dumb, and it will cost them their jobs — Fontenot likely sooner than later as owner Arthur Blank didn’t look happy and will need to explain this over and over again.
The first round of the NFL Draft was fun, exciting, and enticing for most teams. And for Atlanta, a city constantly snake-bitten in pro sports, it was simply stupid.
