Former NFL QB: 'Falcons playing chess, others playing checkers'

The Falcons made an unprecedented decision to draft Michael Penix with the 8th overall pick less than two months after signing Kirk Cousins to a lucrative $180 million free agent deal.

For a roster with holes on the defensive side of the ball, it puzzled many. The vast majority of people still haven’t come around, and it’s fair. The Falcons totally mismanaged their resources; there’s no two ways around it.

However, if everything works out like Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot believe, it’ll be the Falcons who get the last laugh. Getting a few seasons of competitive football out of Kirk Cousins and smoothly transitioning to the franchise’s next long-term signal caller who elevates the offense is the ideal scenario.

If it goes as planned, nobody will remember the Falcons’ “misallocation” of resources. It’ll be about how the Falcons zigged while everyone else zagged. Ryan Leaf is already dubbing it a success, telling Kay Adams that Atlanta is playing chess while others are playing checkers.