On Thursday evening, the Atlanta Falcons sent shockwaves throughout the NFL landscape when they selected quarterback Michael Penix Jr. out of Washington with the number eight overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft despite just having signed quarterback Kirk Cousins to a hefty multiple year contract earlier this offseason. Penix just finished leading the Washington Huskies all the way to the National Championship Game but was not projected to go as high as the Falcons’ number eight selection due to some injury concerns as well as the overall depth of this year’s quarterback class, led by Caleb Williams, who went number one overall to the Chicago Bears courtesy of the Carolina Panthers.
Needless to say, the good folks over on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter, were a bit shocked at the puzzling selection, to say the least.
One user likened it to the situation with the Green Bay Packers, who selected Jordan Love only to have him sit out a couple of years behind Aaron Rodgers before finally starting in 2023.
“The Falcons are gonna Jordan Love Michael Penix Jr.” they wrote.
Others were more surprised than excited about the selection.
“The Falcons picked Michael Penix??? In the first round??? The top 10??? After they gave Kirk Cousins a huge extension???” wondered another user.
Some speculated that a trade could be on the horizon for the Falcons, as one user noted, “What?!?! Michael Penix Jr to the Falcons… the soon to be 24-year-old will backup Kirk Cousins who they just gave a 4 year deal too with 100 million guaranteed I do not get this at all. Unless… trade?”
Meanwhile, writer Bill Connelly of ESPN was among those shocked by the pick.
“Falcons picking Penix is cool as hell and also, um, the product of a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very questionable thought process,” wrote Connelly.
A shocking decision
Most pundits expected that the Falcons would pick a defensive player with their first round selection. The team’s defense improved as a whole during the 2023 season but still struggled with the pass rush, which has been a theme for the organization for decades now. Furthermore, the relative lack of elite quarterbacks that the Falcons faced in 2023 called into question just how much of the team’s defensive success could be contributed to, well, its defense.
There’s been some speculation that the Falcons could have selected Penix as far back as the second round due to some of the injury concerns surrounding the quarterback, or at least traded down somewhat from their number one overall pick in order to extract some more value even if their plan was still to draft him.
In any case, Penix figures to sit and watch for at least one season behind Kirk Cousins, who the team lured in from the Minnesota Vikings during this past free agency period, and who is expected to be ready to go at the start of the season despite an Achilles injury this past year.
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