Falcons Michael Penix Situation Just Got More INTERESTING 

Washington Husky fan here. I watched every game he played the last two years. Penix has generational talent. He also has great pocket presence. He can make every throw. Falcon fans should be excited for the future, which I think will come sooner than many people think.

Penix is a beast, everyone is gonna be looking crazy when he gets his chance and throws for 3500+ yards and don’t be suprised if he gets his chance sooner than what everyone is saying.

Rise up baby die hard falcons fan in the building!!!

Its alright, when you get the players you want it doesn't matter how you get em. Nobody remembers the opinions.

I've been a fan for over 30 years. This is by far the best moves I have seen this franchise make.. This season is going to be a good one once everything gels together. RISE UP FALCONS 🔴⚫️🔴⚫️

A+! The QB room that has Penix,Cousins, and hieneke. Penix is in no rush to start. Which only helps his transition into the NFL. It’s almost like a college philosophy where a freshman sits and learns behinds the veteran players.

I’ve been watching Penix since his Indiana days and always impressed.

They weren’t saying anything bad about Penix but saying they missed out on drafting a defender generational defender that could help them get off the field and would help Kirk Cousins to excel

The pick isn’t what’s stupid, it’s burning $100 million on Cousins. What would we have said if the Vikings resigned Cousins and drafted McCarthy?

I think that Atlanta has successfully Aaron Rogers proofed their 2024 season… imagine 10 seconds into game 1, Kirk Cousins lays on the field saying he can’t play

Draft/Sign a QB when you want to not when you have to. Penix apparently blew them away when he worked out. It was a windy day with a wet ball and he was still throwing darts.

As a Huskies Fan who's seen every snap Penix has taken for the last 2 years. This was a great pick. Right now you have a starter who's 35 and can't walk..the 1st bad game Cousins has or any slight injury..Penix gets on the field and never gives Cousins back his job.

Falcons season ticket holder here... Wanted Penix even before they picked him for exactly the reasons they did... My grade: A. Our other option was Dallas Turner, who, to me anyway, was a guy who graded out worse than Vic Beasley coming out of college. That's not what we needed. Watching the Falcons' QB play over the last 2 seasons has been beyond brutal. Having insurance for a guy coming off an ACHILLES injury is a smart move. Most Falcons fans are also Braves fans, and we saw what the achilles did to Mike Soroka. Not sure why the groupthink narrative of the media and NFL fans has been so negative.

Yo it took me 15 mins,to figure out why they made the move with Penix. And you just explained without having to say anything ... thank and now I'm a subscriber with you guys keep it... I'll be watching

The reason why this is a genius move is quite simple. The NFL and their crazed fans are in the era of non-aggressive football. The emphasis is now on building a team with plentiful QB’s, WR’s, and prime protectors on the O-Line. Sadly, the days of the defensive intimidators are a thing of the past. The headhunters on the opposite side of the ball don’t sell video games and tickets, nor does the aggressive nature attract the international audience.

I thought it was a A at the time, and it's an A a week later.

They got their insurance if Cousins gets hurt which is about 50% chance of happening. And i’m a Raider fan saying this.

A his pocket presence and mobility A arm talent is elite A Succession plan A

A+ The Media just mad because they wanted him go somewhere they wanted to go

There's an axiom: "The quality of a decision is dependent on its outcome." If Cousins brings a Lombardi Trophy to Atlanta and Penix proves to be the Quarterback-of-the-Future™ then what geniuses, what gutsy knife-fighters the people in the Falcons war room were in 2024! If Cousins and/or Penix stumble, ... Penix was on the radar of a lot of teams. That Penix was still available at pick #8 probably surprised the Falcons; it became now-or-never time. The thought that the Falcons could trade down and choose Penix later is complete nonsense. The Broncos would have undoubtedly grabbed Penix at pick #12. The Vikings at #10 seemed fixated on McCarthy, but if still on the board at that point who says they wouldn't have picked Penix? That the Falcons chose to draft a QB in the 2024 draft was not, in itself, surprising. Putting all the eggs in the Cousins basket was obviously not wise. But, the Falcons pulling the trigger in the 1st round astounded the world. I was expecting the Falcons to wait until the 2nd or 3rd rounds to pick Desmond Ridder v2.0 (a.k.a.: Bo Nix). This would be a choice which would probably doom the Falcons to, at best, mediocrity for the next 5-6 seasons. The Penix pick was high risk-high reward. Arthur Blank, at age 81, went along with it because he could see down the road that any other decision would never win a championship.

A+ With Kirk cousins and the winning that comes with him They would have never been this high again

If I have Penix on my team I want him playing soon. I don't want to sit him for 2 years. One year might make some sense. Of course there are things he can work on. But this guy's arm is a weapon I want deployed on the battlefield.

This is a good pick. Trust the process.

By all accounts , Penix is ready to play now . If the Falcons wanted to develop their guy it would have made more sense to take Mc Carthy with that pick. They could have also signed Russel Willson on a min Vet deal and take advantage of his deal with the Broncos and also draft his replacement. The puzzling issue is why did the guarantee 100 m on Kirk Cousins and waste 2 years of Penix's career? This selection also doesn't mirror others mentioned. Jordan Love was a late 1st rounder. Alex Smith was on the last year of his deal when the Chiefs selected Mahomes. Jalen Hurts was selected in the bottom 3rd of the 2nd round. When Wentz was traded to the Colts they took on his remaining salary and gave the Eagels a 1st and 3rd for him

I’ve never hated the pick yeah I was caught off guard but now I like it even more

You must understand that most of the analysts have never played and if the did was at best water boys and trainers, I have been with this team 53 yrs this year and will be with them 53 more, I didn't care what they said then and I don't care what they say now, if it's not about Atlanta then it's not about nothing. I seen Dave Archer, Ol Bobby from the N.O. Steve the Man Matty Ice so I seen the good nad the Bad sorry Ridder, and Taylor and let's not forget Marcus. This is a great pick ask Texas

Drafting Penix was a good move with no real down side unless he's a failure. 1 look at the jets ,Rogers down and no real replacement, this same scenario happens almost every year. .

What 5th round QB started a game in the last 10 years?

At first I felt it was crazy. I am excited about Cousins, competition is healthy. Excited to see how this plays out. We are definitely in a better place.

This shows that they really hated that the Falcons pick him😅😂

Regardless of what the media or the fan base feels about the pick. I think that it is a rock solid move….first you get the top veteran quarterback out there that gives you a chance to win now with the weapons that you currently have. We know that we can win with the roster we had prior to the draft because we won and we’re in all of the games without an elite processor at the helm. Then we get our franchise quarterback next which is pure genius. It’s genius because of the fact that if, God forbid something were to happen to Cousins then you have the franchise quarterback to come in and take over…that alone should shut everyone up seeing that the other quarterback that they kept wasn’t a viable piece of our puzzle last year. The only reason he is still here is because he was a little more seasoned than Ritter and we didn’t have to pay him much to keep him in case we didn’t get an opportunity to get our franchise quarterback like we did!

I’m glad ATL signed Kirk. Got him off my Vikings roster! Also, glad you got Penix. It’s a slight to Kirk and it Kept him from the Saints! The Saints who had a bounty on Favre and kept us out of the Super Bowl. Thank you!!!

Thank you guys for posting this; very well thought out and explained. Definitely Falcons fan here, and everyone can have their opinions, but I just feel that the media is extremely slated to say it was a bad move. Cool, in your opinion, but there are two sides. You can argue every point, money, Penix's age, blah blah. But none of us have a crystal ball, you don't know what's going to happen. In that vein, you have coverage either way. You targeted the best QB in free agency at the time, who if he didn't get hurt was on in the MVP running (who else was out there? Russell Wilson? I wanted Justin Fields too, but Cousins was a better QB for winning now). But again, IF something happens (I AM NOT putting it out there) but Penix becomes insurance. AS a Falcon fan, you saw what happened, the past years, you couldn't trot out Ridder (wasn't his fault he wasn't developed, but give him a fresh start), an Heinecke is alright, but again we saw what he did. You needed to add to the QB room. So you get the next best pro ready prospect in Penix. He may be 26-27, WHO cares?????? Check the stats on Steve Young, he might have been 26-27 when he was finally able to play after Joe Montana. (Not comparing, just saying). But in the end, everyone is upset over ONE PLAYER, saying an EDGE is the key!!! OMG the sky is falling!!! We didn't take a EDGE!!!!! IF you don't have a QB, YOU ARE NOT GOING NOWHERE! Hell look the the past year with the JETS, they had an AMAZING defense, but who was their QB after Aaron Rodgers got hurt????? ZACH WILSON and a bunch of other dudes!!! You coach up the players, in this draft, we finally got some trench help, and GUESS what? 2025 is DEEP draft for EDGE, not some much QB (Carson Beck, Ewers, and a few will rise), but you set yourself up to get a better EDGE or two next year, and if you don't address corner or safety in free agency, you can address that and RT as well. It baffles me how everyone wants to put all your eggs in one basket, and then if it goes bad to talk shit... we are covering bases and sick of the media acting like it was the WORST decision, pick in the history of the NFL.. get over it. We shall see, but at least they have a plan.

Great move

Grade A without Cousins, Grade C with Cousins.

He is not a sit behind kind of qb...penix overcomes adversity, and you don't want him to get cousin's bad habits ....in short you're going to cripple him....

I can’t fault them for getting Penix. I wanted him to go to Seattle who also has a seasoned older QB. Key word “older”. No one knows if or how Cousins’ injury will affect his play. And really, if Penix can beat him out and get to a Superbowl who cares?

Falcons went old school. Just in the last 10 yrs have fans been use to draft picks playing immediately. Everything has to be a win now! This pick showed me 2 things! 1.We won't be this high in the draft for a minimum 3 -4 yrs. What QB has anybody seen in the next two drafts, that gonna be game changing? Besides S.Sanders. If Kirk balls out good. If Kirk goes down, not a problem. 2.They are planning on having the offense out the way, to continue to build this quiet top 10 defense. They have been Offense focused the last 2 yrs.( Arthur Smith) Now with a Defensive guy(Morris) , we gonna get back to that! Think Dan Quinn era and how those drafts went! Next year's draft, a little o-line, but rest D!

As a falcon's fan I give the Penix pic a B, he looks like a great player and I'm glad we are setup for the future, but I was looking for a pick that would immediately play.

The reason why we Picked Penix Jr...We not trying to be picking in top 10 anymore, meaning we trying to make it to playoffs..

A plus

Even if hes good then that means the cousins contract was stupid. And when falcons are a pass rusher away from winning the division i hope everyone brings this up again

A+

look , if all plans go as expected with cousins the org doesn't plan on picking that high in the next couple years. They totally plan on winning the division, and dropping much lower in the next draft or two/ three. They got their future this year , smart move actually

Why TF did what he did. With Cousins and Penix. 1. The Falcons would have made the playoffs last year if they had a decent QB. QB last year gave away 3-4 games min. Would they be better with a Rookie Edge Rusher? Yea but not a lot better. 2. Cousins is a pro and just went to the bank ($100mil). I doubt it's going to affect his play the next two years. He won't be looking over his shoulder. If he does then he hasn't been good and the GM will look like a wise man for drafting Penix. 3. Because of the above statement and the moves they made, they expect to be in the playoffs next year. Guess we'll see. 4. K Cousins will not be on this roster after 2 years UNLESS we make a deep run in '25. If they do, then they'll have a decision to make. (this scenario isn't very likely honestly but again we'll see) 5. Penix steps in after, healthy, 26 yo and on the third year of his rookie deal. They obviously think he was the one. These are the reasons... right or wrong. As a Falcons fan, I was disgusted at first. After I thought about it... at least we're taking a swing. For now and later. If it was a bad decision, we'll be the same team we have been for the last few years and we'll have new coaches and a new GM. Going to be interesting though, that's for sure.

Neither of them has taken a snap for the Falcons. Slow your roll. We will see if this is a good move in a year or two. I get, it’s a good story to talk about.

A+++🔴⚫️

"A"

49er moved up to get lance nobody said that was dumb

He a 1st yr starter ..he will not want to just sit on the bench watch..he will want to move around

When did the Falcons hire Cuba Gooding Jr. as a GM? Did he need a new gig after all the puffy daddy scandal stuff?

Atlanta's Falcon Penix.

Thank you for your astute observation.

2024 good move will prove to be GREAT bye 2028! Rise UP & grab that elusive LOMBARDI finally ‼️ 😲🤔🏈🏈

Yeah they said that NOT thinking about him going to Atlanta!! Some other team could use him this yr!! NOT in 3-4 yrs from now!! I'd give them an F++++for the pick.

The reality of moves like this is that some people in charge (doesn’t matter what it is whether sports, military, business) is that a guy with ego thinks he is smarter than everyone else and magically recognizes hidden value, talent, or opportunity. Has to prove to be the smartest guy in the room This is what the Bears did several years back. They traded away multiple players and current/future draft picks to move up one spot to get Mitch Trubisky. Utter failure and it ruined the team for years. Then they hired the obscure savant of the north, Tresman as the head coach because Ryan Pace had to be the wisest person to ever run a football team. Disaster New Bears GM reversed it and did the same thing to the Panthers. Now they’re in the same spot the Bears were. Marginal quarterback, no draft picks. Can’t mortgage your entire team on one unproven player. It’s a team sport

I'm a Vikings fan, not a Falcon fan. Michael Penix Jr. was one of the four QBs in the 2024 draft I wanted to end up a Viking. Drafting Penix was a good move for Atlanta, though not from Kirk Cousins' point of view. If Cousins knew Atlanta would pick a QB at pick 8 overall, I wonder if he would have stayed in Minnesota. But, Cousins is set financially, so I don't feel too sorry for him. Atlanta should be set at QB for years to come.

The problem is if the falcons went ahead and signed someone like Andy Dalton for cheaper and they weren't able to get Michael Penix at 8. Then they're reaching for someone like Bo Nix. Meanwhile you get to watch Michael Penix do his thing with another team Ask Dan Lanning who's the better quarterback he'll tell you.

If he turns out to be the second coming of Mahomes. The experts will be singing a different tune. They'll be claiming they knew it all along.

I dont’ think ANYONE saw Penix being drafted at #8. No one. If you even had an INKLING of drafting a QB in the first round, particularly Penix (just because he was targeted by most NOT to go top 10) why in the WORLD would you go after Cousins and pay him that type of money? THAT, is DUMB. I don’t question Penix’s talent at all - I watched him play all year, he is better than he was being credited for. I just think Atlanta did some piss poor strategizing pre draft.

This sounds like the Lamar Jackson draft year.😂

A+ and I agreed with picking him form the beginning .. rise up 🏹

Grade A

A

Don't forget the Falcons are getting a draft pick taken away next year. This was a disaster

Kirk Cousins is coming off an injury and getting older. No way to know if he plays another injury free season.

F now you have a qb controversy

And so how did it just get more interesting? Feels like click bait?

I think it's great, and an inspired move from the Falcons, to draft Penix. It mean't that Rome Odunze was still on the board when my Bears picked again. What a result 👍👏

Grade of Michael penix B+

This had better work, or the coach and GM are done...

This is a business and Penix is a valuable commodity. The Falcons could always move him and recoup almost all of their investment if they wanted. In that respect, it isn't a bad decision. They could hold an open auction. Create a bidding war. Make it public and set a new precedent in post draft player transactions. Remove the "You are on the clock" draft pressure and allow teams to think it through ahead of time. Perhaps get even more value than the original investment.

You bring up all those veteran QBs, but last I checked, they were all on the team before they drafted their new franchise QB. Cousins hasn’t even played 1 snap and they already chose his replacement. Why waste the money? That’s the difference.

B+

The Falcons had so much time to determine if Penix was their guy, yet they threw so much money at Cousins to play for them. Why? They could've spent less money on other options and achieved similar results. Cousins is recovering from an ACL yet even before that, he was already an injury riddled QB. The y should've just gone after Gardner Minshew or Sam Darnold if all they were looking for was a bridge QB. All the money they saved could've then been spent on shoring up their defense through free agency. By doing what they did, they've mired themselves in mediocrity, not a terrible team, but just limited to contending in their division and probably winning a playoff game or two, but never truly being a championship contender. Something like what the Bucs are right now

I give a B. Because Penix hasn't played one down. After all everyone is getting paid to play.

Initially I did not like the move. The more I consider it the more I like the move. Of Kirko Chainz goes down it’s not over for us. I think in the long run we will like this move.

The reason it was a very bad decision to draft Penix is because the Falcons can’t benefit from Penix rookie deal by having him on the bench. Signing Cousins is a complete waste of resources. In doing so, they created a problem in the locker room before the season even began. The players and fans will want to see Penix so bad the pressure will cause Cousins to lash out at the coaching staff as he feels disrespected by the entire organization.

Supposably. Jfc.

Picking Pennix wasn't stupid... signing an injured QB (with a no trade clause) for $100mil, when looking for a QB, was stupid. In addition, the Cousins contract may stop them from being able to keep some of the players they wanted to keep (cap wise). If Kirk isn't healthy at the beginning of the season, & Pennix starts well, Kirk may never play.

The comparisons you made don’t come close to matching what Atlanta did. You know that and are misleading or you aren’t very knowledgeable.

F. Period

On draft day I was screaming F.... but like you said after a week to digest I now give the move a solid B+. Although there was some mismanagement with the Heinke contract.

Falcons were going to draft a QB sometime before 2027. This is as high as they were likely going to be able to pick anytime before then without trading up. They now have all of those picks they were likely going to have to trade to get anyone close to Penix. I would not be surprised if they trade a 2025 second or third rounder if a corner or edge they like is available after June 1.

You guys don't know Kirko like the Vikes fans know him. He has a fragile ego. Doesn't want competition .

B

I was scratching my head more with the Cousins deal than the Penix draft.

Thanks for making sense. Cousins can now be traded for value at the end of this season. I think Penix sits for a year, that's it. People forget that the Falcons had a 1000+ yard rookie RB in 2022 and drafted a RB in top 10 picks in 2023. More value > Less Value.

Honestly, Penix is the only pick that I liked. I would give that pick A. PS, for those who believe that the Falcons wasted the pick, which one player in this draft or any other draft would make the Falcons a championship caliber team? Will Anderson, a more polished pass rusher than his Alabama teammate had 7 sacks last year. It was a good pick. It just looks odd because of Cousins but it actually makes a lot of sense.

Atlanta not winning anything with Cousins. You misled him at signing, causing bad blood, young offense players will all want Penix, disfunction coming. Penix doesn't operate well under pressure, see champ. game, You will end up paying Cousins to leave. LOL Falcons fans trying to paint a rosy picture.

The funniest thing is that the falcons missed the playoffs the next two years lol. That would be the funniest thing The falcons are so stupid. I also think it's going to be funny when the GM and the head coach are both fired before mpj actually gets to start because that's more likely than him actually becoming a stark quarterback LOL. GM's and head coaches get fired all the time and if they miss the playoffs this year they're probably going to get fired

Not really a Falcons fan, but thought it was a smart pick. Cousins is 36 and only played eight games last season. Everyone seems to say it is a disrespect to Kirk Cousins, but those same people are like crickets when Russell Wilson was disrespected by Denver, and Cousins never won a Super Bowl, let alone played in one twice… 🤔

You guys keep trying to spin this. Fun fact...you could have drafted Penix without tampering with and overpaying Kirk Cousins. Vikings signed Sam Darnold to a 1 year, $10 mil contract, so their rookie QB can sit behind him for a year. Falcons gave Kirk $100 mil guaranteed and are going to lose a draft pick for tampering...to get a 36 YO QB coming off a torn achillies. They created a QB controversy. They could have used that money to get a big time defensive player, like Danielle Hunter. Had they signed Hunter, Darnold, and drafted Penix, everyone would be praising them.

GREAT FACTS

A++

It's a dumb move by Falcons and Penix Jr. to be on a team who just signed Cousins 180 million for 4 years. No matter how you slice when Cousins contract is up its a least two years before Penix starts on Falcons unless Cousins goes down injury. Falcons knows Penix born May 8, 2000 that makes him 24 then Penix needs to start this coming season to start his career at QB at 25. so now Penix could start much older like 27 or 28 or 29 or 30 that's not good good for Penix or Falcons. if I was Penix I ask to be traded before sitting on bench all those years wasted.

To me it is about 2 things >> 1 months ago when before team doctors and player personnel people had a medical grade on Penix they could not pound the table for him. They may have liked the tape. But after the draft process and the interviews and pro day and medical came back good. Then it turned into "We know we got Kirk Cousins. But this is a chance to have a 10 year window not a 3 year window.". And a window with Kirk Cousins wasn't a wide open window it was a simi cracked open window. >> 2 Kirk Cousins, a 36 year old QB coming off a ruptured achilles. ... A career record of 78 wins and 70 losses 2 ties... with a record of 16 and 47 vs teams above .500... with 1 playoff win in 12 years..... Falcons brass signed him months ago thinking "he may not be joe Montana but if we can get to a respectable 9 and 8 maybe sneak the division title who knows". ... Because we have NO idea if a QB we like drops to 8. Then draft comes around and Penix Drops to 8. Oh it isn't over, Kirk Cousins may not be ready for OTA and parts of Training camp. May miss all of the preseason. Mean While Micheal Penix jr will be getting all the reps. A experienced big arm QB who can make "wow throws" look easy. Now as he is slinging it around, and kirk is watching. What do you think happens when he is dropping dimes in practice... or heaven forbid he is slinging it in preseason. ... and Kirk has let to take a practice team snap. I literally had the same injury a few days before Aaron Rodgers. Going up and down stairs aint easy still. Running not even a possibility yet. Legit takes 10 months if you are FAST healing... normally 12 months to "heal" ... but about 18 months to really get back to the way i was and i rehab 2 days a week and everyday at home... If Kirk heals 8 months earlier than all that Just too get into training camp.

Terry Fontenot took two top 10 picks two years in a row and made bad picks. You had a rookie RB with 1000 yards and averaging 5.0 ypc and drafted Bijon Robinson. You put Cousins on guaranteed money for at least 2 years and draft a 24-year-old QB who is NFL-ready. These moves don't make sense to me. Much more need to make the team better. All these QB comparisons to the Penix draft is not even similar.

Good move. They have their QB solution for 6 years now. Cousins to blend out as Penix blends in.

Should have manipulated psyche and traded with the Raiders. Swap picks and somehow force them to give us Crosby. Feasible? Or fantasy?