Falcons discovered from Matt Ryan in drafting Michael Penix

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — To grasp why the Atlanta Falcons turned the story of the NFL draft final week by taking quarterback Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8 general, it’s a necessity to return to the crew’s final franchise quarterback.

From 2008 to 2021, the Falcons might write in pen who can be beginning underneath middle: Matt Ryan. He turned arguably the very best participant in franchise historical past, took the crew to Tremendous Bowl LI and was the Most Priceless Participant in 2016. Ryan was traded to the Indianapolis Colts in the course of the 2022 offseason, and he formally retired final week after taking final season off to work as a tv analyst.

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The difficulty for the Falcons is that they by no means had a succession plan for Ryan, and the crew’s quarterback play suffered the final two seasons. Consequently, the Falcons haven’t had a successful season since Ryan was nonetheless in his prime, again in 2017.

So, three days after Ryan formally introduced his retirement, Atlanta drafted Penix, regardless of having simply signed veteran QB Kirk Cousins to a four-year contract price as much as $180 million on March 11. The Falcons’ succession plan for Cousins has began earlier than the 35-year-old even performed a down for his new crew.

“We have been at all times wanting aggressively for the inheritor obvious, the down-the-road, the answer at that place [after Ryan],” Falcons assistant common supervisor Kyle Smith mentioned Tuesday. “… It is an important place in all sports activities, and it is the costliest place in all sports activities.”

Whereas the Falcons have been criticized for burning their No. 8 choose on a place it lately stuffed, crew brass is taking a look at it extra prefer it has the place sewn up for the foreseeable future.

Going into the offseason, quarterback was the Falcons’ greatest want. The mix of Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke led Atlanta to a 7-10 file final season and prompted crew proprietor Arthur Clean to tab the crew’s quarterback play as “poor.”

The Falcons fired Smith after the season and employed Raheem Morris in January. On the NFL mix in February, Morris mentioned he possible wouldn’t be in Atlanta had the crew’s quarterback play been higher.

“We went from a time of uncertainty in January at that place to we really feel actually good for, like I mentioned, minimal 5 years,” Smith mentioned Tuesday.

Drafting Penix quite than an influence participant who might assist in 2024 stunned Cousins, who was knowledgeable concerning the choice when the crew was on the clock. His agent, Mike McCartney, instructed ESPN’s Pete Thamel there was frustration and confusion coming from Cousins’ camp, although McCartney mentioned Cousins understands the enterprise of soccer and was prepared to maneuver on. Cousins referred to as Penix later Thursday night time and the 2 had a “superb dialog,” Penix mentioned Friday.

“It wasn’t very shocking to me,” Falcons security Jessie Bates III mentioned of drafting one other QB. “I knew what sort of participant [Penix] is.”

Bates mentioned nobody from the group has mentioned the choose with the gamers, and he does not assume that might be mandatory.

Regardless of elevating eyebrows with the unconventional choose, the Falcons are assured they made the suitable choice.

“This was the yr that [a quarterback] fell to you, and also you’re observing him,” Smith mentioned. “And we adopted by with what we have mentioned we would at all times do inside the partitions, and that is pull the set off. And we really feel actually good about it.”