The Atlanta Falcons 2024 NFL Draft began with controversy, with the team selecting Michael Penix Jr. 8th overall a mere weeks after handing Kirk Cousins a four-year, $180 million contract.
It was a process that was heavily criticized, and it should have been. There was essentially a zero percent chance that both quarterbacks worked out in Atlanta, and it limited the team’s ceiling. If Kirk Cousins played well, not using that first-round pick on a player that could help the team now would have ultimately prevented the Falcons from being the best they can be.
Of course, that’s not what happened. Kirk Cousins turned out to be a shell of the player he once was and was benched after just 14 games for Michael Penix Jr. His $180 million contract now looks like a disaster, but the Falcons will do everything possible to try and take attention away from that disaster, because they may have stumbled into something great with Michael Penix Jr.
The headliner of the Falcons 2024 draft class did not disappoint in his first three starts. In fact, he thrived and looked every bit of a franchise quarterback. Michael Penix Jr. has the opportunity to save the entire franchise, even if the process the Falcons took last offseason to get here was incredibly flawed.
But not only will the Penix selection allow many to overlook the fact that the Falcons gave Kirk Cousins $100 million for 14 games, it will also force some to overlook another dreadful draft class by Terry Fontenot.
Atlanta traded up into the second-round to select Ruke Orhorhoro, which many people thought was a reach at the time, and there’s no question about that today. The Clemson product appeared in just eight games and recorded 11 combined tackles with no sacks.
The Falcons third-round selection of Bralen Trice gets a pass for now because he tore his ACL in the preseason, but their fourth-round pick, Brandon Dorlus, essentially sat out the season. In the fifth-round, the Falcons took JD Bertrand, who did see some run this season because of injuries at the linebacker position, but his play was far from inspiring.
After that, the Falcons three selections in the sixth round — Jase McClellan, Casey Washington, and Zion Logue — did not see the field.
I almost can’t even wrap my head around that. The Falcons had seven picks outside of the first round, and not a single one of them made an ounce of a positive impact. That’s almost impressively horrendous drafting, a trend in Atlanta since Terry Fontenot took over as general manager.
Of course, few people will talk about this because of the selection of Michael Penix Jr., just like people will quickly forget about the Kirk Cousins debacle if Penix succeeds next season. A great quarterback can mask a lot of blemishes. With Penix under center, the Falcons will come into each season with a chance at being competitive, but they’ll never truly have a chance at being elite with the way they continue to waste their resources.
Terry Fontenot has proven he has absolutely no clue what he’s doing in the draft, and as long as he’s involved in calling the shots, the Falcons chances of maximizing Penix’s talents are close to zero.
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Photographer: John Byrum/Icon Sportswire
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