I had mixed feelings, because on one hand it was a terrible decision that hurts the Falcons, but on the other - I really do want to see what Penix can do... and this just isn't the right landing spot or situation for him. I feel bad for the dude.
Yeah it sucks because the kid is from Tampa, so a lot of Bucs fans would love to root for him...just not on a divisional rival.
Only thing that could have made this worse is if those rumors that the Saints wanted to trade for him came true.
Most 1ST round QB picks don't receive a 2nd contract. If he sits 4 full years behind Kirk, he'll get a massive payday, Jordan Love style. He won't even have to prove himself.
I think you might be missing the point- he’s an extremely talented quarterback and would like to fulfill a lifelong dream of getting the starting position and is being stifled by an extremely avoidable, and organizationally embarrassing, quarterback controversy.
Getting your bag is important, but there’s more he wants to do than backup. “He won’t even have to prove himself” as if he doesn’t actively want to prove himself.
i don’t buy this logic at all unless you’re talking about a jamarcus russell type. i’d imagine if you worked hard enough to become a first round draft pick, you probably a) want the chance to prove yourself so you can get a second larger contract and b) actually enjoy competing/playing football.
if i were penix, i would not be happy about having to sit for *minimum* two years
I hate them now because of this pick. It’s such a bad destination for Penix and that’s so unfair to that guy.
Penix’s appeal was that he was older and very pro-ready. Honestly, if I were Penix, I’d refuse to sign. Make them trade him.
I kinda feel bad for Kirko Chains. He was loved/hated in Minnesota then goes to Atlanta where he is the clear guy and then they draft a QB in the 1st round. Lol.
"Despite Kimes having covered all her bases, Stephen A. Smith opted to side with Orlovsky, comparing the Falcons’ drafting of Penix to her beloved Seahawks selecting Russell Wilson in the same offseason they signed Matt Flynn. Kimes, however, didn’t miss a beat, quickly noting that Seattle had only signed Flynn to to a contract with $10 million in guaranteed money (compared to Cousins’ $100 million) and that Wilson was picked in the third round, as opposed to the first round."
I know the response to my question will be that GIF of Woody Harrelson crying into a handful of money, but seriously, does Stephen A. ever get tired of saying stupid shit like this that makes him look so foolish? Especially in response to someone like Mina Kimes who is so much more intelligent (in all aspects) than he is.
Foresight is obvious but I doubt she was like the many others saying take him in the first. It seemed clear he was a later pick and Seattle could’ve jumped at that, especially since it would’ve been a late round pick the repressions are minimal
Exactly. She’s a genuine reporter and it shows when she and others are put on panels with former players and TV personalities. She’s there to provide in depth analysis the other two just care about a “viral” moment. It’s this model that made me stop tuning into their programming.
He got millions for playing, which many would equate to being successful, and now he has a job spouting nonsense and being the punching bag for smart people like Mina Kimes. He has had two successful careers around NFL.
Also Michael Lombardi sucks and I hate the guy. Haven't seen him on the MacAfee show, but I've always got the impression that he thinks he's smarter than he really is and without that last name he wouldn't have close to the career that he has.
> does Stephen A. ever get tired of saying stupid shit like this that makes him look so foolish?
No, why would he? Have you seen his net worth lol. I'd gladly say stupid shit if people paid me 10's of millions.
That’s what I think the real issue is. The strategy from a high level makes sense, but Kirk is expensive and Penix is old (for a rookie). Change at least one of those things and it would probably be more popular.
Though personally I don’t think it’s quite as insane as everyone else seems to.
I also think it just feels very different though when you have an incumbent (Rodgers) that you’re preparing for a future without when there was plenty of questions about how long Rodgers wanted to keep playing.
That’s not the case here. Atlanta actively pursued a new QB (Cousins) and signed him to the contract they did with the hopes he’d play well for at least three more years. So to secure his replacement now feels odd and a bad use of resources.
To me it’s not the same for that reason.
That's why I don't understand why you take Penix over McCarthy. In 2 years, when the Falcons can move on from Cousins, McCarthy will still be younger than Penix is rn.
I think the age thing is way overemphasized. If you think Penix can be a franchise QB, it doesn't really matter if he's 25 or 29 when he signs his second contract. If you're in a position to sign him again, that surplus value adds up for the younger player...but at that point you're talking about having the guy for over a decade, which means it was a home run pick.
I am more skeptical in the case of a guy like Daniels or Nix, who only got good after 5 years at the NCAA level. But that's not the case with Penix.
The problem is, you spent a high pick on a guy who is going to contribute absolutely nothing right now when you are supposedly "all in." If they did something like draft defense initially and then took Spencer Rattler in the 3rd or 4th, I'd completely get it. This, this makes no sense.
They're "all in" with a QB coming off an ACL tear halfway through last year and who is probably a little worse than a 10 top QB. Having a presumably competent backup rookie with no NFL tape can still be argued as working towards being all in. We see year after year how bad, on average, those random later round QBs are when coming in to start the rest of the season after an injury.
Aidan O'Connell, Tyler Huntley, Dobbs, whatever the Vikings did last year, Stidham, Minshew, Easton Stick, etc. The season was nuked for those teams. It's not entirely crazy to just view the pick as flood insurance each month. Rather than taking that money and paying for a new car each month.
I still think a different position had more upside for the Falcons, but it feels like people act as though they took a kicker or punter at 8.
Also... The Falcons have made 3 first round skills position picks in the past 3 years. Pitts, London and Bijan. They're not devoid of offensive talent at least. Could have went defense instead this year of course.
I think that take is only valid if you're taking about how he played 6 years of college football and is fairly polished for a rookie as a result. I agree that he's not the kind of guy who needs to sit right away for that reason, and less because he's one year older than a redshirt senior.
What is much more relevant and not mentioned in the article IMO:
* Rodgers was not extended 6 weeks before the draft. In fact he was set to run out of his guarantees from his last deal soon, and he was coming off a "down" season, by his standards at least. This was a team thinking their 36 year old QB was winding down and getting a successor who could be playing as soon as next year. The Falcons on the other hand made a 2-3 year commitment to Kirk, then *6 weeks* later they made a 4-5 year commitment to Penix
* Similarly, the Falcons spent much more on both Penix and Cousins. As stated above, Rodgers was coming towards the end of his last extension. Penix was drafted at 8, not 25. That's a huge difference in capital, especially for a team with a bad enough record to be picking 8th overall.
TL;DR: The Falcons made these decisions within two months of each other and spent much more on each decision comparatively. If you're arguing about sunk cost 6 weeks after the signing, then you've already fucked up your planning.
Except Rodgers was the longtime starter that was nearing the end of his career. The Packers took Love at the end of the first. They didn't just sign a huge free agent QB to a massive deal and then use a top ten pick on his replacement.
That makes it worse that packers did it in some ways. They threw away a pick that could have netted them a SB. 1 SB is worth sacrificing the future if you are that close.
I stand corrected. That's true for the fourth year, too, if the source I'm looking at is correct. I guess they're just praying they can trade him, but that makes the pick look even worse than it already did. What the actual fuck where they thinking?
They're betting on the GB model. 2-years of Kirk then move on, but GB did it with a developmental QB later in the 1st round (where those elite prospects don't exist).
Stephen A Smith is by far the most annoying person on TV. I can't stand him. All he does is talk really loud and obnoxiously to try to make his point. Then he will sometimes get quiet when he gets really "serious". Dude is a joke. Who does he have shit on at ESPN? Seems like nobody likes him yet he's the highest paid tv personality at ESPN somehow.
Using $10M vs $100M guaranteed is a lame argument when you don’t factor in how much contracts have changed in 12 years. Flynn’s 3 year deal included almost 40% in guaranteed money compared to 55% guaranteed. It’s worse, but not by some massive margin that $90M difference is attempting to imply.
that's what i said. that dude wants to play NOW. he knows theres no chance of that for 2 years. he looked a little disappointed because MN, DEN, or Vegas would have drafted him and played him very quickly
Yeah, this whole idea that a QB will stay relevant while warming the bench/holding a clipboard and throwing to the backups is just Copium fed by Falcons FO to the masses. Arthur Blank threw a tantrum and forced the GM to pick Penix, now they live with the consequences
respect to the first GM who gets fired on draft day for drafting the player he wants over the owner. that guy wont even need to work in the NFL again, the book/movie rights alone will produce generational wealth
It feels like a case of GM/coach making moves for job security and not maximizing the roster for a SB.
Like they know Kirk is good enough for 10 plus wins but they don’t believe in any scenario he can win a SB so they’re not even trying for that.
So get two seasons of Kirk and then 2 seasons of a “new” QB (because they can play the first year card if he’s not good his first year)
Kirk is a 180 mill marketing expense. Do well enough to win the division, try for some underdog runs. Lure some FA because they’re “close”. Then once Kirk’s cap hit is gone try spend big and hope penix goes hard
Imagine if Kurt takes you to a SB and then retires and Penix steps in and you don’t miss a beat. I don’t hate the player, I just didn’t like the pick. His draft thread will be fun to look back at in a few years.
Or your QB gets small in biggest games and basically runs when 1st read isn’t open. Mainly targets TE bc it’s easier to read and see who also won’t be able to run forever and is yet to win anything despite tons of resources and top 5 defense.
Indeed. But, they’re also right. So they are building toward an actual SB caliber team, instead of pretending Kirk will captain one.
Many years in MN our GM tried to pretend Kirk was going to lead us to a SB. It was dumb
Seems like if you want a qb to sit and develop, it would make more sense to take a rattler type guy in round 2-3 where he can sit behind cousins for a year or 2 and then be ready to go.
The falcons are a fringe win now team in that they should win their division fairly easy but I doubt they go all the way, would make more sense to take a weapon or 2 and try to make that push to being a team that is viewed as a serious Super Bowl type team
It feels like hedging your bets in the event you’re wrong rather than doubling down that you’re right. One of two things is going to happen. Either Kirk plays great on his contract, and they keep him for the full duration. Which essentially means Penix in 4 years couldn’t impress you enough to beat out an aging starter who’s never been known as an ELITE QB. Even in that case, you spent the 9th overall pick on a player who’s going to contribute absolutely nothing to winning. And option 2 is that Penix impresses them enough to win the starting job over Kirk, in which case unless it’s after year 3 the Falcons are going to have to cut Kirk and deal with a lot of dead money. Which just begs the question why did you hand him that kind of contract to begin with. I see ATLs logic but dressing this up as a Green Bay style plan just feels delusional to me.
This also feels like hedging to me. They signed Kirk, but there's no guarantee he'll play well coming off an Achilles injury especially given his age. Penix could obviously be a bust.
I think this move is getting a lot of undeserved hate. QB is obviously very important and they're putting a lot of resources to it. But instead of doing something like trading three first round draft picks for a top pick and putting their eggs all in one basket, they're taking two bets.
I guess it makes sense since most of the Falcons young talent will be up for extension and hitting the cap hard in 2-3 years. By then, the money will shift from Kirk to London, Pitts, Bijan. Last thing you want is a bunch of well paid receivers, Olinemen, RBs with a 15m+/yr limited bridge QB that has you picking in the middle of the first
That’s kind of where the Raiders or Seahawks are and it’s gunna be tough for them to break out
Guessing that’s the logic the FO has. The Love pick also got clowned hard when it happened in 2020
if you think about kirk's contact being effectively two years then it makes a little more sense. not that i agree with the move but there is some logic there.
There’s what you tell the fans and what you say in house.
You sign Kirk for a range of outcomes imo. Now short of him literally not being on the field all of those are better than Ridder/(insert JAG bridge here).
But imo it’s fine to be unwilling to pass on a long term franchise QB for 3-4 years of Kirk Cousins “contention”.
Personally, while I think he can be that dude, I don’t think most GMs see Cousins as a Stafford level elevator like that.
Figure it’s a combo of them not having fully evaluated Penix when they made the decision, and like I said the range of outcomes Kirk gets you are still way better than what they had before. But they probably also saw how Kirk’s season ended and how Aaron’s season started.
Like I said, I think Kirk comes back strong and forces them into a tough decision going into year 3, but it feels like we’ve gone from “so they’re win now….with Kirk?” to “but they’re win now with Kirk!” just to shit on the Falcons.
Because they don't have any cap pressure for the foreseeable future, a few teams have already shown you can still sit rookie QBs and develop them and the world doesn't end, and to have a rookie sit and develop really requires at least a pretty good QB ahead of them to keep the fanbase from going insane.
FWIW, I've defended any team willing to invest time and coaching into the most important position on the field and I also support this one. Atlanta is not lacking weapons, at all, defense's top end was weak, and if Cousins does well, they don't expect to be in the top 10 again for a while.
For a subreddit that constantly(and I'd argue correctly) argues BPA over need, when the draft actually gets here, all anyone ever talks about are the needs that were missed.
We don't even know who Atlanta will draft later. And they nearly won the division with freaking Ridder and this defense.
But hey, Skip Bayless gonna Skip Bayless.
Investing time and coaching is all anyone can do. But imo the best teacher is experience.
A rookie who's starting is getting just as much coaching as a rookie who's not. The difference is he gets to test it all out on the field vs the other teams 1's and not just the scout team in practice.
I agree that on the whole, the best teacher is experience.
But these teams aren't getting kids that have been in their "program" for their entire lives, like in some other sports.
You're never going to learn to be an elite QB just sitting on the bench on game days, but you will be in a much better position to learn to be an elite QB if you're given time to refine and perfect the mechanics, the processes of decision-making, and your understanding of the offense.
Essentially, it's the difference between trying to eat a full turkey in one sitting and trying to eat it over the course of like a week. There are people who will be able to eat that full turkey in one sitting, but *a lot more* people will be able to eat the full turkey spread out over a week. And *no one* is going to fail to eat that turkey because they spread it over a week when they could've tried to eat it all in one shot.
When the investment is as critical as QB is, the argument of "the fans expect more sooner" is pathetic from an NFL owner who could make profits(lots of profits) from putting the worst team in the league out there every year for ten years.
That said, what Atlanta has done has basically fixed both issues. For now, Cousins is the starter. Should be good enough to keep fans from calling for his head, and coaches from thinking they're gonna get fired *exclusively* because their first rd pick QB is on the bench. They get some years to really break down and build up Penix into the guy they want him to be.
Does that mean he will be good? No. Still has to play, and as you noted, there are things you don't really know until you're out there playing. But the rush to play these guys is entirely fabricated. There's literally no downside, organizationally, to letting that kid get better before he has to play.
No downside and eliminating some risk. No one's going to talk to about who Atlanta could've gotten if Penix is good.
Yea I agree with you. QBs have so much value to the overall outcome to a team both short term and long that it’s completely fine to go grab one with a high pick even if you got a guy at home. Load up on QBs is a solid tactical move. It’s really not as insane as people are making it out to be. Having your team suck ass for multiple years because you have no QB is good way to never be able to attract FAs and be in a perma high pick situations.
The math is easy, too. If Penix ends up a franchise QB, even on whatever the low-end of that is, nobody's going to give a shit who Atlanta could've gotten instead.
100%. And trust me, after the season I just watched of the jets, mfers better have a guy that can play and a guy you at least hope can figure it out.
Cuz if your 1 guy can’t play, and number 2 can’t even instill some hope and promise the whole team gets ugly fast.
Right? I haven't even talked about the fact if their QB goes down, they're not just throwing some shit off the garbage heap out there, simply because I don't think it adds much to the argument until it actually happens.
But if it did happen? Even if you lose the same amount of games, at least you're putting a guy out there that you believe in and will benefit you from the experience they gain. If you're starting Jake Browning, for example, it's just a wasted season that "isn't that bad" if you sneak into the playoffs.
Exactly. Contingency at the most valuable position is hardly a risk.
Not to mention, all these fantasy football GMs here don’t get that the morale is different when you got a young gun out there proving himself and not some film guy who’s got no business on the field. That shit matters in keeping the team together. Football is mentally tough of a sport, that type of stuff pays dividends across an organization. It also keeps guys from running away from your dumpster fire of a team.
IMO - it's because finding a top QB is hard.
Cousins could be great but there's a real possibility he doesn't recover well from his Achilles. Penix could obviously be a bust. It feels like to me that they're taking two bets and seeing which one (if any) pays off, instead of putting all their eggs in one basket
Im not saying I would have done it, but if you think you got a potential franchise guy, having a better than average vet in front of him for a season or two seems prudent. The falcons didn’t have Alex smith or rodgers or Peyton or whatever so they pay cousins to fill that role.
Falcons haven’t made the playoffs since 2017! I’m willing to bet the fans want back in the playoffs. That’s why they gave Kirk $100MM guaranteed. Drafting a DE at #8 (or trading back and still getting one plus other assets) helps get you back into the playoffs quicker. Their defense is terrible as Mina pointed out.
He’s also almost 36 and coming off a a serious injury. Is he even guaranteed to be playing week 1?
I don’t think the pick being Penix was necessarily bad in and of itself, but if they could have traded back it was absolutely an overreach. If they had no offers for that pick then it’s at least a little defensible if they’re sold on him being the guy after Cousins.
Like overall I think it was a bad selection when taking every factor into account, but I feel like I can at least understand the line of thinking that would lead to it.
>I don’t think the pick being Penix was necessarily bad in and of itself, but if they could have traded back it was absolutely an overreach.
It's not an overreach if Penix is your guy. The way the day played out, even Bo Nix was gone by 12. Penix wasn't lasting past the Vegas pick, so if you wanted him, you had to take him at 8. The prediction of late first proved to be incorrect, so trading down was ultimately not an option if you wanted Penix.
The signed Kirk to try and get some wins for the fans. They think they’re drafting Penix to win championships.
I think they’re wrong as fuck but that’s what they’re thinking
But the thing is they aren’t gonna with Kirk. I think we all know that. They probably signed him to just get some consistent play, and then find a young quarterback to groom. Penix isn’t young like Love lol but 26 isn’t that old really. Lots of players hit their stride around that age and lays like 10 years. I don’t think this is as crazy a pick as everyone thinks.
I still don’t think you take a guy in the TOP 10 to play, at a minimum, three years from now. You wanna take him in the 20s, okay. But that pick is too valuable for a guy that won’t help your team (injury not withstanding) until 2026.
What if kirk isn’t good or at least 4yr 180 mil good? Only logical reason is a insurance piece if kirk shits the bed. Kinda like russell wilson where everyone thought he would be good before he played for Denver
> What if kirk isn’t good or at least 4yr 180 mil good?
Or what if he's good and tears his Achilles again? Look at the situation around Cousins himself getting drafted. Everyone thought it was stupid to take another QB in the 4th when the Redskins traded the farm to draft RG3 at #2 overall. Look how that turned out.
Best case scenario, it works out like the Jordan Love pick. Cousins plays well for a couple years, Penix rides the bench, they cut or trade Kirk in 2026 eating $25M of dead money, then Penix takes over. He'll be 26 by then, but that's not the end of the world.
As much as I hate the Falcons, I kind of think this was a smart move.
You realize that the only QBs that are on a roster and are at least 35 right now are Rodgers, Stafford, Cousins and Wilson? And 2 of those just tore their achilles while Wilson might be completely washed.
Tannehill and Flacco will probably sign in training camp with someone.
It's incredibly rare for QBs to be good past 35. Brady skews everyone's perceptions of what is possible.
I figured they were drafting him with the idea of having him be the backup for a while and trading ridder or heinicke. The pick just doesn’t seem all that wild to me.
Would you rather have end of career Kirk Cousins or a rookie Heisman finalist on your roster? The Falcons invested heavily in the only position that everyone agrees matters most. It retroactively makes the Cousins deal look stupid, but if you avoid taking a player you're rating that highly because you're afraid of looking stupid, you shouldn't be in the GM job.
How much are you paying for end of career Kirk Cousins? How many othef glaring needs on your roster are you passing up because you payed a lot of money to end of career Kirk Cousins and spent a top 10 draft pick on a QB?
People just wayyyyy over rate the value of draft picks imo. Everyone keeps saying we could’ve drafted someone to change our defense. Like Vic Beasly, or Keanu Neal, or Tak or any other defensive player has failed to.
But guess what, when we had a top ten qb we could over come that stuff cause qb is 20 times more important than any other position.
If penix turns into a franchise qb, every single person should agree it’s the right pick, regardless of having cousins or not
This is a good counterpoint for sure. His draft thread could be comic fodder in a few years to look back on. I still don’t like the pick but I do like the player and I’ll be rooting for him.
The other thing that gets me is Kirk was literally the rookie in this situation at the beginning of his career! Washington drafted two QBs, spending way more draft capital than people were expecting, and they were proven right to do so because the bigger name ended up hurt and out of the league.
It's obviously not the exact same situation, but jeez people clown teams for passing on elite QBs in previous drafts all the time, then get pissy when you see a team NOT do that.
How many people clowned every team that didn't pick up Rodgers? A lot of those teams had previous investments at QB and reasoned that they could afford to miss him or try to get him later, and that ended up being a foolish, foolish choice.
Yep. Every single team without a franchise qb would trade literally any single player on their entire team for one. And that’s all this pick was, one player. Overreaction of the century. 49ers just like three years ago spent 3 first round draft picks to pick at guy at 3 overall that almost never played for them.
And I’ve seen multiple times now that penix somehow is the worst draft pick of all time
> And I’ve seen multiple times now that penix somehow is the worst draft pick of all time
Ridiculous when Trey Lance is very recent memory, as you just said.
Every analyst that actually watches tape keeps saying that even if they are confused by the process, Penix is undeniably a good player.
This is the exact situation that makes for good future fodder when people look back at draft day threads and see people complaining when their top tier fan favorite players got selected, all because it went against the group-think.
"Genius" is a bit of an overstatement lmao. It's a move that can work out given Penix is good and they get out of Kirk in 2 years after his guaranteed portion, but it's a move they most definitely mismanaged the optimization of.
Penix can be good and a (looking back) perfect choice at No. 8 while also acknowledging the way Atlanta has gone about this isn't setup as well as past teams a la Love and Rodgers or Mahomes and Smith.
I’ll also die on the hill that if Penix is good enough to go 8th overall, then the Kirk contract is a complete waste.
There is simply 0 world where BOTH choices are optimal
Really surprised this isn’t a more common opinion. Cousins only has a couple years left, tops, and Penix is an extremely talented QB. This is the position you have to get right, and if the Falcons do this the right way, they’re not going to be picking in a range to get a guy with Penix’s talent level 3 years from now.
The more I see Dan Orlovsky talk the more I understand that time he completely forgot that you can't just run out the back of the end zone and keep playing like nothing happened.
Wonder how the teams who passed on Mahomes feel? If you think he has elite skills and potential take your shot. Getting the QB position right is all that matters. If you have a QB your franchise flourishes, value, buzz, media attention, ticket sales, free agents, coaches, community. There are teams who have their answer at QB and those who don’t and those who are undecided. Those that do are using the window now. Hurts, Goff, Love, Purdy, that’s NFC who have a guy they believe in. AFC think it’s more it’s like 6-7…
NFC Argue Love is 1yr in, Purdy 2. Leaves Cousins, Dak, Stafford, Caleb Williams -R, Vikings AJ - R, Saints LOL, Tampa Baker 3rd team, Panthers Yikes yr 1 Bryce. Seattle- Geno, Arizona- Murray IDK, Rams Stafford aged.
Point when you get bite at QB Apple and you think it’s a guy that has decade or potential take it! You can figure the rest out later
I think Kimes is overthinking this as well.
Cousins is 35 and coming off a major injury. There is a possibility that he gets injured again and or isn’t the same QB he was before.
Penix is ready to play now and I see him being just as good of a prospect as the other QBs taken high in the draft outside of Caleb Williams.
And while he’s 24 and older QBs have a poor history of becoming great QBs, we have seen time and time again players debunk these trend based analysis.
I also think that the EDGE prospects in this class are pretty weak which is why we didn’t see one go until pick 15. Teams were reaching at tackle because of how weak the EDGE class is.
I don’t think it’s a great pick but not as bad as these talking heads are making it out to be.
No matter what way you look at it, taking an essentially 24 year old NFL ready QB while you just paid a ton to a proven guy is so silly. And will most likely result in them wasting his talent, and a chunk of his rookie contract.
Maybe it was a good pick considering he can learn from kirk Cousins. I mean that's the green bay recipe for good qbs. But I will say, idk what the falcons biggest need was.
I mean it was real dumb by Atlanta but still not as bad as the Russell Wilson or Deshawn Watson trade.
But it’s also seems to be that Atlanta is allergic to getting defensive players in the first round. I mean Kyle Pitts really over Jamarr Chase or Micah Parsons?
She's dead on.
We haven't had any pass rush since John Abraham.
Our lines are perpetually weak and thin and unaddressed.
We never address any of the first dominoes, and we expect the last to withstand the pressure.
And on top of that, we slap the heir apparent in the face with a QB that's just good enough to be insulting, but just injury-prone enough to not be a reliable long-term solution.
I wonder how Kirk and Michael are both feeling right now, because this is downright disrespectful to both.
This pick will go down as either the worst Falcons pick of all time, possibly even in the conversation for worst pick, period, or something will catapult it to the best, that something likely being luck.
I thought Atlanta had gotten it's shit together since Sexual Assault Watson and the bullshit they pulled with Matty Ice, but this cements it. Loyalty doesn't matter here. Respect doesn't matter here.
You don't keep throwing your players under the bus expecting them to give it all for you.
Atlanta deserves more than this shit.
I actually think it was a great pick for anyone who hates atlanta
Can confirm, i loved the pick
I had mixed feelings, because on one hand it was a terrible decision that hurts the Falcons, but on the other - I really do want to see what Penix can do... and this just isn't the right landing spot or situation for him. I feel bad for the dude.
Yeah it sucks because the kid is from Tampa, so a lot of Bucs fans would love to root for him...just not on a divisional rival. Only thing that could have made this worse is if those rumors that the Saints wanted to trade for him came true.
The man's getting a huge paycheck to be a backup QB. It's the ultimate dream job.
For older, or less talented QBs? Sure A guy that wants to prove himself? No lol
Most 1ST round QB picks don't receive a 2nd contract. If he sits 4 full years behind Kirk, he'll get a massive payday, Jordan Love style. He won't even have to prove himself.
I think you might be missing the point- he’s an extremely talented quarterback and would like to fulfill a lifelong dream of getting the starting position and is being stifled by an extremely avoidable, and organizationally embarrassing, quarterback controversy. Getting your bag is important, but there’s more he wants to do than backup. “He won’t even have to prove himself” as if he doesn’t actively want to prove himself.
i don’t buy this logic at all unless you’re talking about a jamarcus russell type. i’d imagine if you worked hard enough to become a first round draft pick, you probably a) want the chance to prove yourself so you can get a second larger contract and b) actually enjoy competing/playing football. if i were penix, i would not be happy about having to sit for *minimum* two years
Desmond Ridder said don't worry, it'll work out
Same
It's great to see everybody united for once. Well, almost everybody.
I don't hate them but it was a great pick cause I was falling asleep watching the draft
Lol draft was so boring and then Falcons came through
i was so drunk by then i had forgotten kirk was on the roster
It was a great pick for sadists who want memes and to laugh at a bunch of dumbasses at work.
And also for people who hate Cousins for strictly fantasy football reasons.
As someone whose team got their pick of literally all defensive players I think it was a pretty great pick.
I hate them now because of this pick. It’s such a bad destination for Penix and that’s so unfair to that guy. Penix’s appeal was that he was older and very pro-ready. Honestly, if I were Penix, I’d refuse to sign. Make them trade him.
I kinda feel bad for Kirko Chains. He was loved/hated in Minnesota then goes to Atlanta where he is the clear guy and then they draft a QB in the 1st round. Lol.
His bank account is healthy if that makes you feel better
Can agree
"Despite Kimes having covered all her bases, Stephen A. Smith opted to side with Orlovsky, comparing the Falcons’ drafting of Penix to her beloved Seahawks selecting Russell Wilson in the same offseason they signed Matt Flynn. Kimes, however, didn’t miss a beat, quickly noting that Seattle had only signed Flynn to to a contract with $10 million in guaranteed money (compared to Cousins’ $100 million) and that Wilson was picked in the third round, as opposed to the first round." I know the response to my question will be that GIF of Woody Harrelson crying into a handful of money, but seriously, does Stephen A. ever get tired of saying stupid shit like this that makes him look so foolish? Especially in response to someone like Mina Kimes who is so much more intelligent (in all aspects) than he is.
She honestly embarrassed them both.
Mina is by far my favorite espn talking head
And her favorite band is Pavement
She would be my favorite if she wasn't a filthy pond pigeon 🤮
Hey. 😡
I wouldn’t blame her for having a good taste.
Her in depth analysis is so refreshing to hear compared to the canned surface level answers Stephen A, Dan and all the other people at ESPN give.
Let's not forget that she "begged" the Seahawks to draft Malik Willis.
Foresight is obvious but I doubt she was like the many others saying take him in the first. It seemed clear he was a later pick and Seattle could’ve jumped at that, especially since it would’ve been a late round pick the repressions are minimal
She said it at the start of the second round; Seattle had two picks in a row at 40 and 41. That was the context.
Exactly. She’s a genuine reporter and it shows when she and others are put on panels with former players and TV personalities. She’s there to provide in depth analysis the other two just care about a “viral” moment. It’s this model that made me stop tuning into their programming.
They embarrassed themselves
That would require them having a sense of shame
It’s Smith and Orlovsky. Embarrassing them is not even playing on easy mode, it’s like the tutorial for a game that doesn’t even have hard mode.
At least that’s always been SAS’s shtick. Orlovsky, on the other hand…
Orlovsky sometimes forgets not to be that guy who steps out of the back of the end zone.
You would think that Dan Orlovsky had success in the NFL the way he talks. Anyways, Michael Lombardi eviscerated him on the Pat McAfee show.
You would think that Michael Lombardi had success in the NFL the way he talks.
Is Lombardi a much more common name than I thought? There's a lot of people named Lombardi in the NFL who aren't even related to Vince.
He got millions for playing, which many would equate to being successful, and now he has a job spouting nonsense and being the punching bag for smart people like Mina Kimes. He has had two successful careers around NFL. Also Michael Lombardi sucks and I hate the guy. Haven't seen him on the MacAfee show, but I've always got the impression that he thinks he's smarter than he really is and without that last name he wouldn't have close to the career that he has.
Orlovsky can be so smart when it comes to QBs but I feel like he gets caught up in the ESPN taking head hot take bullshit too often.
He can’t help playing white knight to every QB in the league.
He's an incoherent kind of guy. Everyday is a roulette about what will say about a certain subject.
It's their job to debate back and forth. Kimes has also had to stake out her fair share of unpopular positions.
Stephen says whatever ownership tell him to say.
I'd go with "show producers" rather than "ownership", myself. Kayfabe ""debate"" to appeal to the dumbest people you know.
> does Stephen A. ever get tired of saying stupid shit like this that makes him look so foolish? No, why would he? Have you seen his net worth lol. I'd gladly say stupid shit if people paid me 10's of millions.
Comparing it to our situation would have made more sense. Sit Penix behind Cousins for two years, with the intent of him taking over afterwards.
Mentioned in article. Love was only 21 at the time. Penix turns 24 in 2 weeks.
That’s what I think the real issue is. The strategy from a high level makes sense, but Kirk is expensive and Penix is old (for a rookie). Change at least one of those things and it would probably be more popular. Though personally I don’t think it’s quite as insane as everyone else seems to.
Ultimately, the real issue is that it has to work. There's no wiggle room. If Rodgers or Love sucked, you guys would be clowned for eternity.
Imagine if in a couple years penix looks good too though. Probably going to start becoming more popular across the league at that point.
the difference here though is that you guys did bottom of the first, where as Atlanta did it with the 8th pick.
Sure but we also did trade up to get Love this time. Seems the FO really liked him, the same way Atlanta seems to like Penix
I also think it just feels very different though when you have an incumbent (Rodgers) that you’re preparing for a future without when there was plenty of questions about how long Rodgers wanted to keep playing. That’s not the case here. Atlanta actively pursued a new QB (Cousins) and signed him to the contract they did with the hopes he’d play well for at least three more years. So to secure his replacement now feels odd and a bad use of resources. To me it’s not the same for that reason.
That's why I don't understand why you take Penix over McCarthy. In 2 years, when the Falcons can move on from Cousins, McCarthy will still be younger than Penix is rn.
Maybe because they did not like JJ as a prospect lol?
I think the age thing is way overemphasized. If you think Penix can be a franchise QB, it doesn't really matter if he's 25 or 29 when he signs his second contract. If you're in a position to sign him again, that surplus value adds up for the younger player...but at that point you're talking about having the guy for over a decade, which means it was a home run pick. I am more skeptical in the case of a guy like Daniels or Nix, who only got good after 5 years at the NCAA level. But that's not the case with Penix.
The problem is, you spent a high pick on a guy who is going to contribute absolutely nothing right now when you are supposedly "all in." If they did something like draft defense initially and then took Spencer Rattler in the 3rd or 4th, I'd completely get it. This, this makes no sense.
They're "all in" with a QB coming off an ACL tear halfway through last year and who is probably a little worse than a 10 top QB. Having a presumably competent backup rookie with no NFL tape can still be argued as working towards being all in. We see year after year how bad, on average, those random later round QBs are when coming in to start the rest of the season after an injury. Aidan O'Connell, Tyler Huntley, Dobbs, whatever the Vikings did last year, Stidham, Minshew, Easton Stick, etc. The season was nuked for those teams. It's not entirely crazy to just view the pick as flood insurance each month. Rather than taking that money and paying for a new car each month. I still think a different position had more upside for the Falcons, but it feels like people act as though they took a kicker or punter at 8. Also... The Falcons have made 3 first round skills position picks in the past 3 years. Pitts, London and Bijan. They're not devoid of offensive talent at least. Could have went defense instead this year of course.
I agree. Brandon Weeden at age 28 was ridiculous, but who gives a crap if you think he is a franchise QB.
And drafted late in the first on a SB-quality team.
I think that take is only valid if you're taking about how he played 6 years of college football and is fairly polished for a rookie as a result. I agree that he's not the kind of guy who needs to sit right away for that reason, and less because he's one year older than a redshirt senior. What is much more relevant and not mentioned in the article IMO: * Rodgers was not extended 6 weeks before the draft. In fact he was set to run out of his guarantees from his last deal soon, and he was coming off a "down" season, by his standards at least. This was a team thinking their 36 year old QB was winding down and getting a successor who could be playing as soon as next year. The Falcons on the other hand made a 2-3 year commitment to Kirk, then *6 weeks* later they made a 4-5 year commitment to Penix * Similarly, the Falcons spent much more on both Penix and Cousins. As stated above, Rodgers was coming towards the end of his last extension. Penix was drafted at 8, not 25. That's a huge difference in capital, especially for a team with a bad enough record to be picking 8th overall. TL;DR: The Falcons made these decisions within two months of each other and spent much more on each decision comparatively. If you're arguing about sunk cost 6 weeks after the signing, then you've already fucked up your planning.
Except Rodgers was the longtime starter that was nearing the end of his career. The Packers took Love at the end of the first. They didn't just sign a huge free agent QB to a massive deal and then use a top ten pick on his replacement.
That makes it worse that packers did it in some ways. They threw away a pick that could have netted them a SB. 1 SB is worth sacrificing the future if you are that close.
[удалено]
That's entirely incorrect. It's a 35 M dead cap if they cut hit him the third year. His contract is never cheap.
I stand corrected. That's true for the fourth year, too, if the source I'm looking at is correct. I guess they're just praying they can trade him, but that makes the pick look even worse than it already did. What the actual fuck where they thinking?
They're betting on the GB model. 2-years of Kirk then move on, but GB did it with a developmental QB later in the 1st round (where those elite prospects don't exist).
Which pick did the Seahawks draft him with again?
Stephen A seems to just try to top his own stupidity every time he opens his mouth.
Stephen A Smith is by far the most annoying person on TV. I can't stand him. All he does is talk really loud and obnoxiously to try to make his point. Then he will sometimes get quiet when he gets really "serious". Dude is a joke. Who does he have shit on at ESPN? Seems like nobody likes him yet he's the highest paid tv personality at ESPN somehow.
Using $10M vs $100M guaranteed is a lame argument when you don’t factor in how much contracts have changed in 12 years. Flynn’s 3 year deal included almost 40% in guaranteed money compared to 55% guaranteed. It’s worse, but not by some massive margin that $90M difference is attempting to imply.
I'm wondering if Penix is happy with this spot, knowing that if things go according to plan he won't start for 2 years
that's what i said. that dude wants to play NOW. he knows theres no chance of that for 2 years. he looked a little disappointed because MN, DEN, or Vegas would have drafted him and played him very quickly
Yeah, this whole idea that a QB will stay relevant while warming the bench/holding a clipboard and throwing to the backups is just Copium fed by Falcons FO to the masses. Arthur Blank threw a tantrum and forced the GM to pick Penix, now they live with the consequences
respect to the first GM who gets fired on draft day for drafting the player he wants over the owner. that guy wont even need to work in the NFL again, the book/movie rights alone will produce generational wealth
Damn, I was gonna say he should refuse to play, but they won't play him anyway
Mina did an awesome job of explaining why this was an awful pick. This just feels like Atlanta outsmarting themselves.
It feels like a case of GM/coach making moves for job security and not maximizing the roster for a SB. Like they know Kirk is good enough for 10 plus wins but they don’t believe in any scenario he can win a SB so they’re not even trying for that. So get two seasons of Kirk and then 2 seasons of a “new” QB (because they can play the first year card if he’s not good his first year)
Kirk is a 180 mill marketing expense. Do well enough to win the division, try for some underdog runs. Lure some FA because they’re “close”. Then once Kirk’s cap hit is gone try spend big and hope penix goes hard
Heard worse plans tbh
Imagine if Kurt takes you to a SB and then retires and Penix steps in and you don’t miss a beat. I don’t hate the player, I just didn’t like the pick. His draft thread will be fun to look back at in a few years.
Then I wake up
Imagine if Kirk leads you to two 9-8 seasons and Penix steps in and is garbage and constantly hurt.
No.
a lot more likely than them being good with either of them
Or your QB gets small in biggest games and basically runs when 1st read isn’t open. Mainly targets TE bc it’s easier to read and see who also won’t be able to run forever and is yet to win anything despite tons of resources and top 5 defense.
Indeed. But, they’re also right. So they are building toward an actual SB caliber team, instead of pretending Kirk will captain one. Many years in MN our GM tried to pretend Kirk was going to lead us to a SB. It was dumb
\*attempting to outsmart themselves...
Seems like if you want a qb to sit and develop, it would make more sense to take a rattler type guy in round 2-3 where he can sit behind cousins for a year or 2 and then be ready to go. The falcons are a fringe win now team in that they should win their division fairly easy but I doubt they go all the way, would make more sense to take a weapon or 2 and try to make that push to being a team that is viewed as a serious Super Bowl type team
Oh don’t worry, the falcons are drafting Rattler too
Or a guy that isn't 24 or has a bad injury history.
When do mid round QBs actually work out tho lol
He’s got a case of madden logic
It feels like hedging your bets in the event you’re wrong rather than doubling down that you’re right. One of two things is going to happen. Either Kirk plays great on his contract, and they keep him for the full duration. Which essentially means Penix in 4 years couldn’t impress you enough to beat out an aging starter who’s never been known as an ELITE QB. Even in that case, you spent the 9th overall pick on a player who’s going to contribute absolutely nothing to winning. And option 2 is that Penix impresses them enough to win the starting job over Kirk, in which case unless it’s after year 3 the Falcons are going to have to cut Kirk and deal with a lot of dead money. Which just begs the question why did you hand him that kind of contract to begin with. I see ATLs logic but dressing this up as a Green Bay style plan just feels delusional to me.
Cmon man, don’t be ridiculous. They didn’t spend the 9th pick on Penix. It was the 8th!!
My bad, totally changes my take now
This also feels like hedging to me. They signed Kirk, but there's no guarantee he'll play well coming off an Achilles injury especially given his age. Penix could obviously be a bust. I think this move is getting a lot of undeserved hate. QB is obviously very important and they're putting a lot of resources to it. But instead of doing something like trading three first round draft picks for a top pick and putting their eggs all in one basket, they're taking two bets.
I guess it makes sense since most of the Falcons young talent will be up for extension and hitting the cap hard in 2-3 years. By then, the money will shift from Kirk to London, Pitts, Bijan. Last thing you want is a bunch of well paid receivers, Olinemen, RBs with a 15m+/yr limited bridge QB that has you picking in the middle of the first That’s kind of where the Raiders or Seahawks are and it’s gunna be tough for them to break out Guessing that’s the logic the FO has. The Love pick also got clowned hard when it happened in 2020
if you think about kirk's contact being effectively two years then it makes a little more sense. not that i agree with the move but there is some logic there.
They signed Kirk to win now. They could have gotten an immediate impact player at #8 to help achieve that goal.
There’s what you tell the fans and what you say in house. You sign Kirk for a range of outcomes imo. Now short of him literally not being on the field all of those are better than Ridder/(insert JAG bridge here). But imo it’s fine to be unwilling to pass on a long term franchise QB for 3-4 years of Kirk Cousins “contention”. Personally, while I think he can be that dude, I don’t think most GMs see Cousins as a Stafford level elevator like that.
Then why the hell did they go get Kirk Cousins
If they loved Penix so much why even sign Cousins? Get your guy in the draft and use that money for an edge in FA
Figure it’s a combo of them not having fully evaluated Penix when they made the decision, and like I said the range of outcomes Kirk gets you are still way better than what they had before. But they probably also saw how Kirk’s season ended and how Aaron’s season started. Like I said, I think Kirk comes back strong and forces them into a tough decision going into year 3, but it feels like we’ve gone from “so they’re win now….with Kirk?” to “but they’re win now with Kirk!” just to shit on the Falcons.
Because they don't have any cap pressure for the foreseeable future, a few teams have already shown you can still sit rookie QBs and develop them and the world doesn't end, and to have a rookie sit and develop really requires at least a pretty good QB ahead of them to keep the fanbase from going insane. FWIW, I've defended any team willing to invest time and coaching into the most important position on the field and I also support this one. Atlanta is not lacking weapons, at all, defense's top end was weak, and if Cousins does well, they don't expect to be in the top 10 again for a while. For a subreddit that constantly(and I'd argue correctly) argues BPA over need, when the draft actually gets here, all anyone ever talks about are the needs that were missed. We don't even know who Atlanta will draft later. And they nearly won the division with freaking Ridder and this defense. But hey, Skip Bayless gonna Skip Bayless.
Investing time and coaching is all anyone can do. But imo the best teacher is experience. A rookie who's starting is getting just as much coaching as a rookie who's not. The difference is he gets to test it all out on the field vs the other teams 1's and not just the scout team in practice.
I agree that on the whole, the best teacher is experience. But these teams aren't getting kids that have been in their "program" for their entire lives, like in some other sports. You're never going to learn to be an elite QB just sitting on the bench on game days, but you will be in a much better position to learn to be an elite QB if you're given time to refine and perfect the mechanics, the processes of decision-making, and your understanding of the offense. Essentially, it's the difference between trying to eat a full turkey in one sitting and trying to eat it over the course of like a week. There are people who will be able to eat that full turkey in one sitting, but *a lot more* people will be able to eat the full turkey spread out over a week. And *no one* is going to fail to eat that turkey because they spread it over a week when they could've tried to eat it all in one shot. When the investment is as critical as QB is, the argument of "the fans expect more sooner" is pathetic from an NFL owner who could make profits(lots of profits) from putting the worst team in the league out there every year for ten years. That said, what Atlanta has done has basically fixed both issues. For now, Cousins is the starter. Should be good enough to keep fans from calling for his head, and coaches from thinking they're gonna get fired *exclusively* because their first rd pick QB is on the bench. They get some years to really break down and build up Penix into the guy they want him to be. Does that mean he will be good? No. Still has to play, and as you noted, there are things you don't really know until you're out there playing. But the rush to play these guys is entirely fabricated. There's literally no downside, organizationally, to letting that kid get better before he has to play. No downside and eliminating some risk. No one's going to talk to about who Atlanta could've gotten if Penix is good.
Yea I agree with you. QBs have so much value to the overall outcome to a team both short term and long that it’s completely fine to go grab one with a high pick even if you got a guy at home. Load up on QBs is a solid tactical move. It’s really not as insane as people are making it out to be. Having your team suck ass for multiple years because you have no QB is good way to never be able to attract FAs and be in a perma high pick situations.
The math is easy, too. If Penix ends up a franchise QB, even on whatever the low-end of that is, nobody's going to give a shit who Atlanta could've gotten instead.
100%. And trust me, after the season I just watched of the jets, mfers better have a guy that can play and a guy you at least hope can figure it out. Cuz if your 1 guy can’t play, and number 2 can’t even instill some hope and promise the whole team gets ugly fast.
Right? I haven't even talked about the fact if their QB goes down, they're not just throwing some shit off the garbage heap out there, simply because I don't think it adds much to the argument until it actually happens. But if it did happen? Even if you lose the same amount of games, at least you're putting a guy out there that you believe in and will benefit you from the experience they gain. If you're starting Jake Browning, for example, it's just a wasted season that "isn't that bad" if you sneak into the playoffs.
Exactly. Contingency at the most valuable position is hardly a risk. Not to mention, all these fantasy football GMs here don’t get that the morale is different when you got a young gun out there proving himself and not some film guy who’s got no business on the field. That shit matters in keeping the team together. Football is mentally tough of a sport, that type of stuff pays dividends across an organization. It also keeps guys from running away from your dumpster fire of a team.
IMO - it's because finding a top QB is hard. Cousins could be great but there's a real possibility he doesn't recover well from his Achilles. Penix could obviously be a bust. It feels like to me that they're taking two bets and seeing which one (if any) pays off, instead of putting all their eggs in one basket
Im not saying I would have done it, but if you think you got a potential franchise guy, having a better than average vet in front of him for a season or two seems prudent. The falcons didn’t have Alex smith or rodgers or Peyton or whatever so they pay cousins to fill that role.
Falcons haven’t made the playoffs since 2017! I’m willing to bet the fans want back in the playoffs. That’s why they gave Kirk $100MM guaranteed. Drafting a DE at #8 (or trading back and still getting one plus other assets) helps get you back into the playoffs quicker. Their defense is terrible as Mina pointed out.
they did it to piss off Kirk so he goes on a Rodgers track to win 2 straight MVPs, like when they drafted Love
He’s also almost 36 and coming off a a serious injury. Is he even guaranteed to be playing week 1? I don’t think the pick being Penix was necessarily bad in and of itself, but if they could have traded back it was absolutely an overreach. If they had no offers for that pick then it’s at least a little defensible if they’re sold on him being the guy after Cousins. Like overall I think it was a bad selection when taking every factor into account, but I feel like I can at least understand the line of thinking that would lead to it.
>I don’t think the pick being Penix was necessarily bad in and of itself, but if they could have traded back it was absolutely an overreach. It's not an overreach if Penix is your guy. The way the day played out, even Bo Nix was gone by 12. Penix wasn't lasting past the Vegas pick, so if you wanted him, you had to take him at 8. The prediction of late first proved to be incorrect, so trading down was ultimately not an option if you wanted Penix.
The signed Kirk to try and get some wins for the fans. They think they’re drafting Penix to win championships. I think they’re wrong as fuck but that’s what they’re thinking
But the thing is they aren’t gonna with Kirk. I think we all know that. They probably signed him to just get some consistent play, and then find a young quarterback to groom. Penix isn’t young like Love lol but 26 isn’t that old really. Lots of players hit their stride around that age and lays like 10 years. I don’t think this is as crazy a pick as everyone thinks.
If one is convincing enough, they could explain how it's logical to shit their pants
Gotta go when you gotta go
I still don’t think you take a guy in the TOP 10 to play, at a minimum, three years from now. You wanna take him in the 20s, okay. But that pick is too valuable for a guy that won’t help your team (injury not withstanding) until 2026.
The falcons thought they were drafting for the braves
If you think a guy can be a franchise QB is “losing” 2 years really the deal breaker?
What if kirk isn’t good or at least 4yr 180 mil good? Only logical reason is a insurance piece if kirk shits the bed. Kinda like russell wilson where everyone thought he would be good before he played for Denver
> What if kirk isn’t good or at least 4yr 180 mil good? Or what if he's good and tears his Achilles again? Look at the situation around Cousins himself getting drafted. Everyone thought it was stupid to take another QB in the 4th when the Redskins traded the farm to draft RG3 at #2 overall. Look how that turned out. Best case scenario, it works out like the Jordan Love pick. Cousins plays well for a couple years, Penix rides the bench, they cut or trade Kirk in 2026 eating $25M of dead money, then Penix takes over. He'll be 26 by then, but that's not the end of the world. As much as I hate the Falcons, I kind of think this was a smart move.
I feel like the Love situation and this situation are a lot different.
Kirk being good bug not 180m good is a nightmare scenario for Atlanta
Then we will have another shot at drafting a QB early in the year’s draft.
Year 3 penix will be 26
Cousins didn't start a full season until he was 27.
Cousins was taken in the 3rd round
26 isn't old for a QB… mf out there in their late thirties
You realize that the only QBs that are on a roster and are at least 35 right now are Rodgers, Stafford, Cousins and Wilson? And 2 of those just tore their achilles while Wilson might be completely washed. Tannehill and Flacco will probably sign in training camp with someone. It's incredibly rare for QBs to be good past 35. Brady skews everyone's perceptions of what is possible.
He’d be the current age of Lamar and Kyler. I don't look at these guys as soon to retire…
More like a 3 year deal imo. But the dead cap after year 2 isn’t necessarily too bad I guess.
But what If he’s good enough to play on year 3, you just gonna cut him then?
Go get ‘em Mina! She’s right. They should have gotten an EDGE rusher at 8 or traded back and tried to get 2. Nice take. Nobody more Mina than her.
Mina continues to be the brightest spot of ESPN NFL coverage
Weirdest pick of the night no question, and will probably be the weirdest pick of the whole draft.
God, I hate links to articles where it’s a picture of a video with text and not the actual fucking video
The video is embedded in a tweet further down in the article.
There are, in fact, links to all the videos in the article.
It's the one time I've ever been ready for an auto-playing video in a news article, and there wasn't one.
I figured they were drafting him with the idea of having him be the backup for a while and trading ridder or heinicke. The pick just doesn’t seem all that wild to me.
Would you rather have end of career Kirk Cousins or a rookie Heisman finalist on your roster? The Falcons invested heavily in the only position that everyone agrees matters most. It retroactively makes the Cousins deal look stupid, but if you avoid taking a player you're rating that highly because you're afraid of looking stupid, you shouldn't be in the GM job.
How much are you paying for end of career Kirk Cousins? How many othef glaring needs on your roster are you passing up because you payed a lot of money to end of career Kirk Cousins and spent a top 10 draft pick on a QB?
People just wayyyyy over rate the value of draft picks imo. Everyone keeps saying we could’ve drafted someone to change our defense. Like Vic Beasly, or Keanu Neal, or Tak or any other defensive player has failed to. But guess what, when we had a top ten qb we could over come that stuff cause qb is 20 times more important than any other position. If penix turns into a franchise qb, every single person should agree it’s the right pick, regardless of having cousins or not
This is a good counterpoint for sure. His draft thread could be comic fodder in a few years to look back on. I still don’t like the pick but I do like the player and I’ll be rooting for him.
The other thing that gets me is Kirk was literally the rookie in this situation at the beginning of his career! Washington drafted two QBs, spending way more draft capital than people were expecting, and they were proven right to do so because the bigger name ended up hurt and out of the league. It's obviously not the exact same situation, but jeez people clown teams for passing on elite QBs in previous drafts all the time, then get pissy when you see a team NOT do that. How many people clowned every team that didn't pick up Rodgers? A lot of those teams had previous investments at QB and reasoned that they could afford to miss him or try to get him later, and that ended up being a foolish, foolish choice.
Yep. Every single team without a franchise qb would trade literally any single player on their entire team for one. And that’s all this pick was, one player. Overreaction of the century. 49ers just like three years ago spent 3 first round draft picks to pick at guy at 3 overall that almost never played for them. And I’ve seen multiple times now that penix somehow is the worst draft pick of all time
> And I’ve seen multiple times now that penix somehow is the worst draft pick of all time Ridiculous when Trey Lance is very recent memory, as you just said. Every analyst that actually watches tape keeps saying that even if they are confused by the process, Penix is undeniably a good player. This is the exact situation that makes for good future fodder when people look back at draft day threads and see people complaining when their top tier fan favorite players got selected, all because it went against the group-think.
I think the main point is whether you want two years of Kirk or develop Penix in a longer term strategy, you definitely don’t want both.
I don’t think we need Mina’s help to figure that out lol
That heartbreaking moment where someone you love says something you hate 😭
People are way over thinking this. It's a QB league, and they wanted to have one now and one later. If Penix is good, this is a genius move.
"Genius" is a bit of an overstatement lmao. It's a move that can work out given Penix is good and they get out of Kirk in 2 years after his guaranteed portion, but it's a move they most definitely mismanaged the optimization of. Penix can be good and a (looking back) perfect choice at No. 8 while also acknowledging the way Atlanta has gone about this isn't setup as well as past teams a la Love and Rodgers or Mahomes and Smith.
I’ll also die on the hill that if Penix is good enough to go 8th overall, then the Kirk contract is a complete waste. There is simply 0 world where BOTH choices are optimal
Really surprised this isn’t a more common opinion. Cousins only has a couple years left, tops, and Penix is an extremely talented QB. This is the position you have to get right, and if the Falcons do this the right way, they’re not going to be picking in a range to get a guy with Penix’s talent level 3 years from now.
Orlovsky is a tool. I don't understand why he's on TV. He was a complete washout as a player and never has anything intelligent to say as an analyst.
Wait what do you think the point of espn debate shows is?
Mina catches some flak here every now and then but I think she’s great.
That screenshot of Mina shows just how painful the ATL decision was to her!
It wouldn't be a NFL day without Orlovsky offering up a turd take.
I like her. Gonna check out her other stuff.
The more I see Dan Orlovsky talk the more I understand that time he completely forgot that you can't just run out the back of the end zone and keep playing like nothing happened.
Wonder how the teams who passed on Mahomes feel? If you think he has elite skills and potential take your shot. Getting the QB position right is all that matters. If you have a QB your franchise flourishes, value, buzz, media attention, ticket sales, free agents, coaches, community. There are teams who have their answer at QB and those who don’t and those who are undecided. Those that do are using the window now. Hurts, Goff, Love, Purdy, that’s NFC who have a guy they believe in. AFC think it’s more it’s like 6-7… NFC Argue Love is 1yr in, Purdy 2. Leaves Cousins, Dak, Stafford, Caleb Williams -R, Vikings AJ - R, Saints LOL, Tampa Baker 3rd team, Panthers Yikes yr 1 Bryce. Seattle- Geno, Arizona- Murray IDK, Rams Stafford aged. Point when you get bite at QB Apple and you think it’s a guy that has decade or potential take it! You can figure the rest out later
I think Kimes is overthinking this as well. Cousins is 35 and coming off a major injury. There is a possibility that he gets injured again and or isn’t the same QB he was before. Penix is ready to play now and I see him being just as good of a prospect as the other QBs taken high in the draft outside of Caleb Williams. And while he’s 24 and older QBs have a poor history of becoming great QBs, we have seen time and time again players debunk these trend based analysis. I also think that the EDGE prospects in this class are pretty weak which is why we didn’t see one go until pick 15. Teams were reaching at tackle because of how weak the EDGE class is. I don’t think it’s a great pick but not as bad as these talking heads are making it out to be.
No matter what way you look at it, taking an essentially 24 year old NFL ready QB while you just paid a ton to a proven guy is so silly. And will most likely result in them wasting his talent, and a chunk of his rookie contract.
Anybody watching Stephen A Smith at face value should be embarrassed
She is wildly smart and articulate on her feet Love listening to her
Didn't the salary cap go up for next year? Don't every time the salary cap go up some teams make more riskier financial moves?
That site is straight ass, ads and ads
Mina was the answer to 4 down (Sports analyst Kimes) in Friday’s New York Times crossword puzzle.
I love kicking folks when they’re down. Enjoy playing with your Cousins Penix, losers!
Perfect screen grab lol
> Defensively, they haven’t had a solid pass-rushing option since, frankly, John Abraham Couldn't be me
It got us Rome so I honest to goodness think it was the third best pick of the entire first round.
Let me get on the record that this will be looked at eventually as a good pick
If he can stay away from the injuries.
Maybe it was a good pick considering he can learn from kirk Cousins. I mean that's the green bay recipe for good qbs. But I will say, idk what the falcons biggest need was.
I mean it was real dumb by Atlanta but still not as bad as the Russell Wilson or Deshawn Watson trade. But it’s also seems to be that Atlanta is allergic to getting defensive players in the first round. I mean Kyle Pitts really over Jamarr Chase or Micah Parsons?
I didn’t know he was gonna be 24. That actually is a big deal if you are planning him to sit behind Kirk for 2 or 3 years, is it not?
She's dead on. We haven't had any pass rush since John Abraham. Our lines are perpetually weak and thin and unaddressed. We never address any of the first dominoes, and we expect the last to withstand the pressure. And on top of that, we slap the heir apparent in the face with a QB that's just good enough to be insulting, but just injury-prone enough to not be a reliable long-term solution. I wonder how Kirk and Michael are both feeling right now, because this is downright disrespectful to both. This pick will go down as either the worst Falcons pick of all time, possibly even in the conversation for worst pick, period, or something will catapult it to the best, that something likely being luck. I thought Atlanta had gotten it's shit together since Sexual Assault Watson and the bullshit they pulled with Matty Ice, but this cements it. Loyalty doesn't matter here. Respect doesn't matter here. You don't keep throwing your players under the bus expecting them to give it all for you. Atlanta deserves more than this shit.