The Atlanta Falcons shocked a lot of people when they selected Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 pick in the NFL Draft, just after signing Kirk Cousins in free agency. Falcons owner Arthur Blank was in the draft room when the pick was made, and he's standing ten toes on why it was the best selection for the team.
“We’re actually very independent thinkers,” Blank said to the media. “And the decision about Penix, in this case, at number eight – I’ll go back a little bit and say that we’ve made it clear to Kirk and others that we probably were going to draft a quarterback during this draft. As it turned out, Michael Penix, for our coaching staff and our personnel department, graded extraordinarily high.”
After Penix was drafted, J.J. McCarthy was taken with the No. 10 pick by the Minnesota Vikings, and Bo Nix was taken with the No. 12 pick by the Denver Broncos. Before Penix was drafted, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye were taken off the board simultaneously with the first three picks.
This goes to show that the Falcons knew that the quarterback position was in high demand in the draft, and they were in a good position to get the player they wanted.
The Atlanta Falcons see Michael Penix Jr. as their future quarterback
For the past two seasons, the Atlanta Falcons have not been able to garner consistent quarterback play. With new head coach Raheem Morris in place, it was important for the Falcons to not have that problem again, so they signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million deal as soon as free agency started.
The Falcons also wanted a backup plan to succeed Cousins, and Michael Penix Jr. was the guy that they had their eyes set on. Even though they picked Penix, Blank knows that Cousins is the franchise quarterback while he's here.
“Michael was going to be available at number eight. They saw an extraordinary talent. Kirk Cousins is our franchise quarterback, is our starting quarterback and he seems to be doing great from a medical standpoint,” Blank said. “His attitude, his leadership, culturally, personally, with our players, with the coaching staff, has been nothing short of outstanding. So, we couldn’t be happier with that situation.”
So far, both Penix and Cousins have looked good in training camp. Cousins is not supposed to play in any preseason games, according to Daniel Flick of Sports Illustrated, even though he was medically cleared after recovering from a torn Achilles last season.
“I want to play, but I think that ask fell on deaf ears,” Cousins said after practice. “Raheem's motto is, ‘You're not playing. That's just not how we're going to do things.'”
That means Penix will see a lot of time on the field and looking to prove why he was the right pick for the Falcons.
With the Falcons having two capable quarterbacks, they should not have to worry about what the next step should be when it comes to the most important position in football for years to come.
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