![\"\"](\"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/snapedit_1714351087983.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nOne of the draft\u2019s biggest surprises came on Friday night when the Falcons used their top selection on quarterback\u00a0Michael Penix Jr.\u00a0That move came about despite\u00a0Kirk Cousins\u00a0being on the books for the next four years (including fully guaranteed salaries in 2024 and \u201925).<\/p>\n
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Cousins will, of course, enter the coming season atop Atlanta\u2019s depth chart. The presence of a successor in the form of Penix could nevertheless invite questions about a change in the pecking order in the event of poor performance on the part of the former. Cousins \u2014 who was\u00a0stunned by the Penix selection\u00a0\u2014 was the top free-agent passer in this year\u2019s class despite his age (35) and the fact his 2023 season was cut short by an Achilles tear.<\/p>\n
A slow start in 2024 or further missed time brought about by a new injury could lead to calls for Penix to see the field. The Washington product dealt with plenty of health-related issues of his own in college, but his stock rose during the predraft process to the point where he was expected to hear his name called in the first round. Still, Atlanta was not thought to be a serious suitor for Penix. Owner Arthur Blank reportedly\u00a0played a central role in the decision to select him.<\/p>\n
Raheem Morris\u00a0is back in place as the Falcons\u2019 head coach after an interim stint with the team in 2020, and he will be tasked with overseeing the transition to Cousins under center. When speaking to the media following the arrival of Penix, Morris made it clear there is not a QB controversy entering the 2024 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came up with a decision, this is what we plan to do,\u201d Morris said,\u00a0via ESPN\u2019s Marc Raimondi. \u201cAnd Kirk does not have to look over his shoulder every time he throws a bad pass. Like, that is not the case. So I know I\u2019m going to have to tell you guys once or twice that that is not the case. Like, we are here to go win, and we are here to go win it all. We are here to win as much as we can win.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Indeed, expectations will be high for Atlanta\u2019s offense after the team struggled to find a suitable Matt Ryan replacement. Cousins will provide a high floor for the unit, but plenty of attention will be on Penix as the Falcons\u2019 intended starter down the road. If Morris\u2019 stance holds true through the campaign (and likely the 2025 season as well), however, Cousins can be assured of his spot in the QB1 role.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the draft\u2019s biggest surprises came on Friday night when the Falcons used their top selection on quarterback\u00a0Michael Penix Jr.\u00a0That move came about despite\u00a0Kirk Cousins\u00a0being on… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":115541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115540"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115542,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115540\/revisions\/115542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}