Adam Schefter details why the Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr. | NFL Live 

Micheal pennix is an elite qb

The writing is on the wall. Blank wanted Cousins and told them pay whatever. But Terry and Morris wanted there QB.

Falcons screwed the draft up lowkey it made teams rethink picks

That Achilles injury probably made them question how durable Cousins may really be going forward. So just in case he injures himself even this year, they’d have somebody like Penix to step in.

falcons should grab a back up back up qb tonight. keep the people talking about the falcons

26 to 35 yeas old is a nice career as QB in the NFL.

End of story is kirk is on essentially a 2 year deal coming off an Achilles tear

As a Bears fan, thank you for not trading out. Helped us get Rome!

The Falcons saw what the Packers did to Aaron Rodgers and they were like watch what we do

Falcons never recovers from blowing the 28-3 lead

ATL either wasted 100 Million Dollars or they Wasted a #1 Draft Pick and a Rookie QB contract

Marcus said it perfectly. Penix’s talent isn’t the issue, which outside of injuries makes him easily a top 3-4 QB. It’s how much they just paid Cousins. If they were going to use the 8th pick for a QB, the should have found a cheaper bridge QB, or gotten a younger project QB like Justin Fields, Mac Jones, or Zac Wilson as competition or a backup role for a cheap 6th rounder.

Sometimes I wonder y some people hold these titles…I don’t care how good that defenses players that they wanted falcons to take….if the qb play ain’t right u not winning or going deep in the playoffs with the potential of winning it all….and plus u hoping that yur team has a winning record in the years that u got Kirk….so u not going to be picking this high no more…so take the qb of the future….and u can always find a pass rusher…but wats hard to find is a good QB…and people always complain about not giving these QBs time to grow….now the falcon is in a perfect position….to try a good go with Kirk while letting dude learn for at least a year…now in that year if he really shows progress then I’m sure the falcons will be happy to eat cap hit…cause they legit have good talent…draft the pass rusher in the second round…and plus falcons potentially stopped raiders from getting the qb they needed…forced them to get the best player available

The best player available was a QB. You dont draft a guy thats 20th on your big board and not draft a guy that 3rd on your board. Age isn't as important at QB. And if you see yourself a QB you like then you go get them.

i feel like the conversation should totally be centered around why keep kirk cousins or why give him a 4 year term. taking penix seems like a great move regardless of whos there because hes that good of a prospect.

In 4 years when Penix is a top 10 qb for the next ten years nobody will caee

He’s probably the best quarterback in the draft. Great move by the falcons. The big joke is maye going to patriots with the third pick.

A rookie pash rusher is never the answer. Falcons history alone has shown that.

stop comparing a 21 year old Jordan Love sitting to a player who will be 24 next month, it's a difference and just like Mena said if he hypothetically plays 2 years from now, they will have a deadcap hit and will already be 2 years behind in his rookie deal. It was a bad pick because of what you paid Kirk a month ago, I like Penix but ATL is trippin on this one

Mina schooling Dan always makes my day.

Yes Atlanta it's buzzing loud!!.. this is the talk of the NFL off-season 🤔💯

Cousin informed the falcons he wants to be trade back to the Vikings 😂😂😂😂

I would bet and say Kirk will play 1yr max if that. Falcons just changed their mind and that’s fine! Penix is the 2nd best QB in this draft and more teams were interested in HIM than the media displayed. Great pick falcons.

Penix is gonna be elite. Love the player and the man off the field. But yes everyone’s in agreement, that was odd .

The atlanta falcons want penix as their future qb....whats fhe problem

This is a smart move for Atlanta. I don't care what anyone says. We going to BALL OUT with Penix Jr, Bijan, Pitts and London

Pennix Jr. to ATL was a GREAT Pick. Kirk Cousins 37 with ONE Playoff win. No one else is complaining except ESPN "Analysis" who's been terrible at this for 20 years. ATL right now has the best QB Corps in The NFL.

This is why "Best Player Available" isn't always the best move. I get that Penix was the top player left on their board. At the same time, if everything goes as planned, you have a Top 10 pick who isn't going to play a down for you for at least 2 years. Top 10 picks should be your impact players and isn't something you give away easily. I mean, Rome Odunze was there, someone I think Kirk Cousins would have loved to have. Latu was there, who could have helped that pass rush.

I ain’t gonna lie… what Ryan Clark have on is fly..

How old was kurt warner?

whys noone saying that they are just tryna not make the jets mistake.. kirk coming off an acl injury he can easily get reinjurned so they have a back up that they believe in 🤷🏻‍♂️

After last year, everybody should understand that one qb is not enough. Especially when that one qb is coming off of an ACL.

Lol they put pressure on Kirk before OTAs even start. Every interception, missed throw, bad sack taken, last drive failure will be magnified closely.

Cousins is the bridge QB.

Mina times saying "pink elephant" was such a killer line lmao. I'm sorry, idk whocthe dude in pink is, but that was ballgame lol.

I think a point they all totally missed was that they could have drafted odunze to play across from drake london. And let the 2 midgets play 3rd wr ..darnell mooney and rondale moore. They did invest in the defense with trice, ruke ororho, and brandon dorlus with later picks. Getting odunze instead of the 1st def end off the board (because you felt the def ends did not warrant a high pick)..but at least getting odunze spells out we want to win now. At the very least they could have somewhatjustified the penix pick if they moved back and gained extra picks. But penix still doesnt make a lot of sense from a timeline aspect with the kirk signing.

I’m glad we picked Penix. Kirk was never the answer. 50 mill get you a mid QB.. 0:47

If you need a pass rusher and the best one is at 20 and on your board, you trade back and accumulate more picks.

All the NFL Pundits forget Wash drafted Cousins when there starting QB was RGIII

Who cares what Cousins thinks? He got a fat contract and will come out ahead. Who knows how well Penix will do? But how Cousins feels about the pick shouldn't matter. If Penix turns out to give them 5-10 good years, it was well worth it.

People say why didn't they trade back? The Raiders were gonna take him

Terry is so good at keeping his picks a secret he will always fool the nfl and the fans they didn’t tell Kirk because he would have tip the league off

I love the Penix pick. It’s a QB driven league folks.

them saying the Falcons didn't get pass rush help is disingenuous, they only drafted 3dts , edge rusher and LB. but sure lets overdraft one at 8 just because that what's on your mock.

Penix will start at some point this year. QB controversy will destroy that locker room. They need to find a way to move Kirk to Raiders

Why did we sign Cousins! Dammit!!

I love the pick what troubles me is doing it after giving 100m guaranteed to a qb

Dan stressing JD as the best qb in the draft

ESPN needs to get away from unqualified people talking football

Falcons decision was correct. The Falcons will not be selecting so low again. They will be a high win team.

I appreciate the Falcons for shooting their shot on Penix, and taking him off the board at 8, so we could take the best player available in Brock Bowers at 13. I was never fully sold on Penix that early, anyway.

It’s where they took after signing somebody like Cousins, also the serious injury history.

Haunted by the fact that when they moved on from Matt Ryan, they "never had a quarterback to step in"? He's been gone two years.

Thanks you Falcons. Help my lions get the #1 DB in the draft.

Lol all it takes is 1 injury to Cousins for this pick to look good

It doesn’t make any sense at all because why would you do that because Kirk cousins always gonna believe that somebody’s gonna be over his shoulder all the time and Michael pennants and Michael pennants is 24 years old so that doesn’t make any sense so you gonna let them sit for two years I highly doubt it so if cousins doesn’t do well this year, it’s basically a one and done deal and then he’ll be gone or he’ll end up asking for a trade at the end of this year or after 2024 it really doesn’t make any sense what the Falcons did there I would’ve had more protection for himand Taylor on the roster that would’ve been the smart play

They asked Ryan Pace his thoughts on Penix "I have no opinion honestly"

Dan is speaking big facts.

All the NFL Pundits forget Wash drafted Cousins when there starting QB was RGIII Double Standards

These analyst cap so much when they say it hasn’t happen before. It literally happened with Aaron Rodgers

I fast forward through nearly every word Nina Khines says every single time

They Drafted A Highly Rated QB For The Future Because The QB They Signed In Kirk Cousins Can Help Them Win Right Now And The Team With A Kirk Cousins Type QB Can Do Just That , And Help Develop The Young Stars They Have In Mooney , London , Robinson And Pitts .. The Falcons Did Not Want Another Matt Ryan Situation Not Having A QB For The Future And Can Not Afford To Keep Picking Developmentally Type QBs Like Ridder Or Fill Ins Like Mariota With These Type Of Pieces Surrounding Them , By Time Penix Gets The Starting Job The Weapons Around Him Will Be Way Better And He’ll Had Time To Develop … Great Pick 👍🏿

I think pennix Jr was 2nd best QB in the draft besides Jalen Daniels

I don’t have a problem w/ the Falcons drafting MPJ. They know that they won’t have another top 10 pick for awhile, which means they won’t be in position to draft another QB of MPJ’s caliber, so they went ahead & drafted their future QB & he can learn from Kirk like Mahomes learned from Smith. & let’s not act like K. Cousins is a top tier QB. He’s ok, but he’s older, he hasn’t won in the playoffs, & his contract is only guaranteed in the 1st 2 years. If he isn’t getting it done by the time his 2nd year is done, get him outta there & focus on the future.

The reason they took Penix Jr was so that other teams in their division couldn’t draft him.

Cousins probably feels disgusted because the Falcons drafted his backup but anyways if Cousins is the starter in Atlanta here are his stats in 2024 5,600 yards 45 TD 5 INT 120.0 Rating 7-10 record

They talking like a mf was gone come un a produce 15 sacks his 1st year

Kirk made sure his money was fully guaranteed. But forgot to add a no trade clause 😂

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

So Pennix would also be a 1 round pick trade value if he just wasn't happy sitting. TF made a good choice.

If they were gonna do everything to how Ryan Clark said they would, why wouldn’t they draft JJ McCarthy the guy who’s 21 years old and who has a lot of talent but needs to sit and develop. Why go for Michael Penix Jr who is already fully developed and is 24 years old?

Bishop Ryan H. Clark 😂

Why the falcons didnt draft defense is wild😮😮😮😮

All I will say to Falcons fans is keep these receipts.

Raheem Morris lost his TB HC job because he tried being HC and DC at the same time. Dont blame Josh Freeman. Josh Freeman had the skills, but lacked the maturity needed to be QB1.

Y’all crazy. He’s athletic but doesn’t get the penetration pass rushers should.

Hopefully he takes number 15....... Aka pen15

4 teams tried to trade up to get Penix. Trading down would not have worked. At 27, there are QBs that play into their 40s. Suppose he only gets you to three super bowls in ten years. Bad pick? Steve Young, Aaron Rogers, and Cousins himself are examples of good backups that turned out to be good decisions. Cousins has not done well in the playoffs. It's not a bad move.

Dan just gotta be different for the attention always

She really thinks that Dallas Turner or Latu would secure the NFC South for the Falcons whew 😂😂😂

If Atlanta had of drafted McCarthy, or Bo Nix… I promise they wouldn’t have said 💩!! SOUNDS LIKE SOME HATERS TO ME!! 🤦🏾‍♂️

Dan Orlovsky doesn’t understand how drafting works…best rated player at a position of need available…you should probably take them. How many franchise quarterbacks does a team need during a window in which they want to sniff the playoffs?

This is the kind of decision that gets GMs and coaches fired.

Dude i'm sorry but what value does Mina Kimes bring? I genuinely wonder why she is on tv constantly.

Dan....they need pass rusher sure. They didnt jave to draft them at 8. They could've went bowers. They could've grabbed rome. Maybe quinyon. Anywhere else essentially. It was a dumb pick. And it doesnt have a good justification. I like what ryan said. This was a trauma move. That explains it pretty nicely.

Cousins coming off surgery and an OG! This will work out eventually but 💰

Chris Weinke was like 28

Gonna bookmark this vid. Hoping they prove Mina wrong.

Alot of people miss the nfc South is not that good and the Qb they have suck young,carr, Mayfield

They paid Kirk cousins $90m just to be a smoke screen lol

Penix fit better in Minnesota

Mina is Wrong Yo.. did you know!!! All the NFL Pundits forgot Wash drafted Cousins when there starting QB was RGIII Double Standards

It was the decsion think if kirk cousin do wat he supposed to do we want be picking top 10 anyway

What if Cousins is product of Coach O’Connell and JJ?

I think the Falcons should be forced to ride little buses to the field. Secret Base needs to do another chapter to their Falcons episode just to cover this.

Why Don’t Sports Pundit Do Any Research!!!!! Yo.. did you know!!! All the NFL Pundits forgot Wash drafted Cousins when there starting QB was RGIII Double Standards

All the haters think Cousins will stay healthy for 2 years 🤔

Mina, You may never know what is going to happen this fall.

People are acting like ATL just used tax payers $ . Lol who gives af! Kirk has no reason to complain. He’s crippled with no SB rings and still signed 100mil. He won that deal

They just didn’t thing they were gonna get a good QB in the draft. So they signed cousins to fast out of desperation without thinking and was surprised Penix was available and took it that’s what happened 🤭