What is the Falcons plan at QB after the most surprising pick in the NFL Draft?

Flower Branch, Ga. – Michael Penix Jr. is good at being “the future” at quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, although no one knows when that future will start.

“I’m here to do everything I can to help this team win football games,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing for me. I’m a team player and I like to win.”

Atlanta’s University of Washington quarterback selection was easily the most surprising NFL draft pick with the No. 8 pick in the draft, and the Falcons looked to be the new model, hoping to develop a succession plan at quarterback. Around the league. But first they need to know how it works.

The Falcons selected Penix 44 days after giving free agent Kirk Cousins ​​a four-year contract worth at least $100 million and up to $180 million. That kind of investment — the largest total value free agency deal in NFL history — appears to preclude the possibility of Atlanta adding a quarterback early in the draft. At least for everyone except the Falcons.

“You want to put yourself in position to get a guy,” first-year head coach Raheem Morris said of the team’s unorthodox mentality.

Cousins ​​will be Atlanta’s quarterback in what Morris described as a “short term.” Although in this case the word “short” is not defined. Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said Penix would be fine as a backup for “four or five years.” Morris G.M.

“Nothing makes me feel better than watching the Kirk Cousins ​​play for the next four years,” Morris said. “That means some good things are happening.”

That means Penix will spend at least 80 percent of his rookie contract on the bench. That’s not how NFL teams usually land top-10 quarterback picks. at all.

Forty quarterbacks have been selected in the top 10 drafts since 2000. All have started at least one game in their rookie season. According to TruMedia, Thirty-One has started 10 or more games. Of the 59 quarterbacks taken in the first round since 2000, 36 have started 10 or more games in their first season.

The general response to Atlanta’s plan can be described as a torch and a torch. Above all, it’s the fact that Cousins ​​wasn’t a fan of the pick or wasn’t told about it moments before it happened, a league source said. The athletics.

“Obviously, the mood (Thursday) night was a little tepid, but that’s the nature of our beast, the nature of our business, competitive things,” Morris said. But I’m mad about my quarterbacks, all of them.

Pennix made his first trip to the Falcons’ facility a day after being selected, flying with his parents and grandparents on owner Arthur Badon’s private jet, and said the prospect of not actually starting his pro career didn’t dampen his excitement about joining the competition. group.

“I have no control over what anyone thinks about the decision,” he said. All I can control is what I bring to this team, and I know I’m going to be a great leader not only on the field, but off the field, and I’m going to be a great person and a great teammate. all right. I’m very happy to be able to do this.”

The Falcons’ decision to take a quarterback with the eighth pick hinged on Penix’s availability. Morris said they would have taken another spot at No. 8 instead of drafting any other quarterback on the board. That includes JJ McCarthy, the 10th pick of the Minnesota Vikings, and Bo Nix, the 12th pick of the Denver Broncos.

“If we didn’t draft a quarterback out of this draft, we would have been fine with that,” Fontenot said. “If you really believe in a player, you don’t let him down.”

The Falcons won’t ask Cousins ​​to mentor Penix. Instead, the team expects the young quarterback to stay focused and learn on the job, primarily by molding behind Cousins ​​as he learns to be a professional quarterback, Morris said.

“You can’t put it on Kirk,” the coach said. “Kirk’s job is just to be professional. Kirk shows Michael how to do his job every day. It is the youth’s responsibility to learn from Kirkos. Kirk Cousins ​​is absolutely fantastic. (Penix) is in a position to follow through and do the right things.

Despite Cousins’ frustration with the situation surrounding the election, the Patriots called Pennix Thursday night.

“We had a really good conversation. I’ll keep it between me and him right now, but it was definitely a good conversation. I’m excited to work with him, and he said the same thing about me,” Pennix said.

When Cousins ​​signed with Atlanta in March, he said the Falcons’ long-term commitment to him was a factor.

“The last two seasons in Minnesota, it’s been trending year-over-year, and when we talked to Atlanta, I felt like if I played at the level I expected to play, this was the place where I could retire the Falcon,” Cousins ​​said. , but you have to earn the right to do that.

Another factor, Cousins ​​said, is alignment within the organization.

“A coach told me this when I was a young player in the league – when the owner, general manager, head coach and quarterback are on the same page, that’s when you have a chance to win a Super Bowl, and like me watching the Atlanta Falcons, the owner, general manager, head coach and quarterback all I strongly believe they can be on the same page, and that’s fun for me.

Cousins ​​still has the unwavering support of the Falcons’ decision makers.

“We’re very excited about Kirk, that hasn’t changed,” Fontenot said.

However, Phoenix’s presence combined with Cousins’ contract gives the Falcons a logical transition point in the not-too-distant future. Ninety million dollars worth of Cousins’ guaranteed $100 million will be paid in the first two years of the deal, and the Falcons can release him after the 2025 season and receive just $25 million in cap hit.

“Kirk shouldn’t be looking over his shoulder every time he comes up with a bad password, not like that,” Morris said.

When did the Falcons know it was the right time to go from Cousins ​​to the Phoenix? That question is hard to answer without a crystal ball, Morris said.

“As we all know, our whole game is based on winning and losing,” he said. “It just happened. In the end we are all doomed to this.

Morris emphasized that Cousins ​​and Pennix can win from the pocket with quick defensive progressions and route progressions, making Cousins ​​an ideal model for the young quarterback. And everyone involved in Atlanta’s Phoenix evaluation was impressed with his ability to make every throw.

“In the National Football League, you have to be able to be a pocket passer. “Most of these high-profile crimes we’re talking about are pickpockets,” Morris said. “A lot of the things we’ve seen in Kirk, the things we’ve seen on tape (in Penix), the live arm, we love the fight in the kid, we love the relationship we’ve had with him through his process.”

Penix enters his Falcons career with no expectations of when he will get his chance, but says he will be ready to be a starter from the start.

“When I step on the field, I know I’m going to put in a lot of work to make sure I don’t lose and be successful with this offense and this team.” ” he said. “I’m excited about it all. You never know when your number might be called. You have to be ready. I’ll do everything I can to be ready on day one.”

The Falcons didn’t select Penix because they were concerned about Cousins’ return from the Achilles injury, but Morris acknowledged there was an insurance element to the selection. Cousins ​​will be 36 years old when the season starts, with 12 years of football and more than 5,000 pass attempts in the rearview mirror.

“I wish we could all play forever, but we can’t,” Morris said. “If things go right, things are going right and we’ll be happy in Atlanta. We’ll go forward to Kirk and see what happens, but we’ve got five years to make these decisions.

Statistically speaking, expecting bad results at the quarterback position is the right thing to do, said Kevin Cole, a former data scientist at Pro Football Focus and now a sub-stack of unexpected points. Overall, the data suggests NFL teams need to spend more resources than they do on backup quarterbacks, Cole said.

“There are a lot of different ways that things can play out over the next year or two, and it’s like, ‘How do we position ourselves to do well in the future?’ A lot of times it’s, ‘Let’s figure out more ways to get a great quarter out of this.'”

The overall reaction to the Atlanta election was much less favorable. The athletics Analysts gave the pick C. Caller: D-minus. ESPN’s Mel Kiper called it “shocking.” (For the sake of Fontenot and Morris, the important review of the pick came from the void, which the GM said was completely supportive.) The pick drew so much attention around the league that Morris felt like Taylor Swift.

“I guess that makes Terry (Travis) Kelce,” he said.

Fontenot rolled his eyes at that comparison but said he would leave the Falcons’ draft feeling completely confident in the selection of Penix.

“When we were sitting around in January thinking about who our fourth quarter would be … if you had told me that we would have the Kirk Cousins ​​of the present and the Michael Penix of the future, I would have told you that this would be a dream.” ” said Fontenot. “This is fun. We are very excited. It’s the most important position in pro sports, and right now, we couldn’t be happier.

(Photos of Kirk Cousins ​​and Michael Penix Jr. Stephen Matren/Getty Images; Dale Zanin/USA Today)