The selection of University of Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. by the Atlanta Falcons with the No. 8 pick in Thursday night’s NFL draft was the round’s biggest shocker.
On its face, the decision appears perplexing. The Falcons had just committed to veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins on a four-year, $180 million deal, including $100 million guaranteed, only a month prior. Penix, who turns 24 soon, isn’t considered a typical developmental quarterback prospect.
ESPN’s Mina Kimes criticized the Falcons’ choice on First Take, questioning the strategy both for the team and for Penix.
“I could not disagree more. And I find the justification to be somewhat logically incoherent,” Kimes said. “I’ll start here: you said they’re going to be good. They’re not going to be in a position to get a quarterback. If you think you’re going to be good, which is why you pay Kirk Cousins $100 million guaranteed, you’re doing your team a disservice by not making your team better so that you can compete now. Offensively, they’re set. Defensively, they haven’t had a solid pass-rushing option since, frankly, John Abraham.”
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Kimes also expressed concerns about the implications for Penix. “In Penix, they get a quarterback who is not a developmental prospect,” she noted. “They mentioned the Jordan Love model. Jordan Love was 21 when the Packers took him. Michael Penix is about to turn 24 years old… Maybe he sits for a couple years. If he doesn’t, something has gone horribly wrong in the Kirk Cousins contract, which is a huge waste, by the way, he’s going to be 26 years old. So you will have wasted most of his rookie contract, it’s a quarterback who should have probably played right away, and the track record of quarterbacks who do start at that age in the NFL for the first time…is not good. …It just doesn’t add up. It doesn’t add up for the team or the player. I wish he had landed somewhere else because I don’t think this was a good destination for Penix either.”
The decision remains controversial and time will reveal the long-term impact of this unexpected draft pick on Penix’s career and the Falcons’ fortunes.
