Apr 26, 2024, 01:30 ET
Falcons surprised by taking the quarterback with the eighth pick of the first round
Los Atlanta Falcons they left the biggest surprise of the first round of the draft NFL Thursday night, choosing the quarterback of Washington, Michael Penix Jr., with the eighth selection. And that feeling of awe extended to the starting quarterback as well. Kirk Cousins.
Los Falcons they made the choice despite signing veteran quarterback Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract last month in free agency.
The agent of Kirk Cousins, Mike McCartneyhe told Pete Thamel of ESPN that the Falcons notified the QB that they would select Penix when they were already on their turn. McCartney said there is frustration and confusion on Cousins’ part because Atlanta he didn’t use his first-round pick to upgrade the team for 2024.
Michael Penix Jr. was unexpectedly selected by the Falcons with the eighth overall pick. Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images
Instead, the Falcons they used their pick on Cousins’ apparent successor before the veteran QB played a game for the team. McCartney clarified that Cousins understands the business and is ready to move forward, but there was indeed surprise about the decision of the Falcons.
The general manager of the Falcons, Terry Fontenot, and the coach Raheem Morris They noted that Cousins’ reaction would remain private.
“He was called during the shift, obviously because of the sensitive timing with the issues of what’s going on,” Morris said. “It’s never the right time to talk to a quarterback about those things. And reactions will always be private when it comes to those things, unless Kirk decides to tell you some of those things, whatever that may be. But he’s a competitor, like all of us. And you can always hope that things turn out the way you think.”
Raheem Morris said that they believe that Falcons They are set up to win, meaning they wouldn’t have another chance to draft a quarterback of the future this high in the draft again.
“These are not easy decisions, they are difficult decisions,” Fontenot explained. “But that’s what we’re thinking about. We’re thinking about the fans, we’re thinking about this organization. We’re going to build a sustained winning team. We’re going to win for a long time.”
Own Michael Penix He said he was surprised when he received the call notifying him that he would be chosen.
“I’m not going to say I knew this was going to happen,” Penix accepted. “But I knew once the call came.”
Michael Penix Jr., The 23-year-old emphasized that he is preparing to learn from Cousins, a four-time Pro Bowler.
“It’s been there (NFL) for a while. He has played a lot of American football. I feel like I’m going to go in and learn. “I’m going to learn from him.”
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Penix was a Heisman Trophy runner-up last year and won the Maxwell Award after leading Washington to a 14-1 record and an appearance in the national championship game, in which the Huskies lost to Michigan.
The left-handed Penix led the entire FBS with 4,903 passing yards in 2023 and was second in the FBS in 2022 (4,641). He is the first player with 4,500 passing yards or more in two consecutive seasons since Patrick Mahomes He did it in 2015 and 2016 for Texas Tech.
The numbers were excellent and so was the film on Penix, who arguably had the best arm of any quarterback in the entire draft. But his injury history made him a big question mark for teams in the league. NFL. The player raised in Florida recovered from four separate season-ending injuries in his college career. Penix tore his right ACL in 2018, dislocated his shoulder in 2019, tore his right ACL again in 2020, and separated his shoulder joint in 2021.
Those injuries and his age were red flags heading into the draft, where he ended up being the fourth quarterback selected overall, after Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels y Drake Maye, and one of six selected in the first round, tying a draft record.
Los Falcons They said they have no qualms about Penix’s past injuries.
“We spent a lot of time with our trainers and doctors during that process,” he said. Terry Fontenot. “And it means a lot that he’s played well these last two years. Obviously that’s something we’re always thinking about in terms of doing everything we can to prevent injuries. But we feel good about it.”
Kirk Cousins, who comes from a tear in the Achilles tendon, will be the owner of Atlanta for the foreseeable future, another reason why Penix’s selection was a surprise. But Cousins is also 35 years old, and the bosses of the Falcons They spent quite a bit of time with Penix recently, including a visit attended by the general manager Terry Fontenot and the new coach Raheem Morris.
Penix stressed that at Falcons They liked how he threw the ball during the visit and added that he thought it was a “great performance.”
Los Falcons They clearly believed they had the quarterback of the future and didn’t want to pass him up.
“We have a lot of faith in the player and we know that he can be a future franchise player,” Fontenot emphasized. “And that’s why we made the decision to do it right now.”
2024-04-26 05:30:00
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