Falcons' Arthur Blank Backs Michael Penix Jr. Pick, 'Surprised' QB Was Available

The Atlanta Falcons' selection of Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8 overall was easily the most shocking choice of the 2024 NFL draft considering the team's signing of free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract earlier that offseason.

On Tuesday at Falcons' training camp, team owner Arthur Blank made his first public comments since draft week about the eye-popping choice, per Josh Kendall of The Athletic.

"We made it clear to Kirk that we probably were going to draft a quarterback in this draft, and it turned out that Michael Penix, who our coaching staff and personnel department graded extraordinarily high, they viewed him as a tremendous player, (was there).

"I think (Cousins) was surprised as many people were and frankly we were (that Penix was available at No. 8). Our plan was not to pick a quarterback at No. 8, but the grades our coaching staff had on Penix and him being available at No. 8 it turned out that that's what happened."

Kendall added that a team spokesperson said, following Blank's comments, that Atlanta planned to take a later-round quarterback and attempt to develop him as its potential future signal-caller.

But the Falcons believed that Penix was too good to pass up at No. 8.

Obviously, the team's quarterback situation following the end of the Matt Ryan era was on the team's mind when the Falcons took Penix.

"We've been through a situation post-Matt Ryan," Blank said following the draft, per Falcons senior reporter Tori McElhaney. "We've seen that movie when we didn't have a franchise quarterback, and we didn't want to to repeat that again. I certainly didn't."

After 14 seasons, the Falcons parted ways with Ryan when they traded him to the Indianapolis Colts in March 2022. Atlanta then turned to Marcus Mariota, but he lost his job before the end of the season to then-rookie Desmond Ridder.

Ridder started the 2023 season as QB1 but was later benched for Taylor Heinecke.

The Falcons have offensive talent in running back Bijan Robinson, wide receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts, but they needed a quarterback to take better advantage of that talent. Enter Cousins, a four-time Pro Bowler who completed 69.5 percent of his passes for 2,331 yards and 18 touchdowns (just five interceptions) in eight games last year. Unfortunately, his season was cut short after just eight games after suffering a torn Achilles.

He's a full go at training camp, creating optimism that he could return to his past form. But Cousins will also be 36 years old by the time the 2024 NFL season begins. He's in the twilight of his career, and it's unclear how much time he has left in his prime.

Cousins was playing great ball last year, though, and if he gives the Falcons that form, then Penix will be riding the bench for the foreseeable future despite his tremendous collegiate success and pro potential.