ESPN Analyst Dan Orlovsky proclaimed on ESPN’s “Get Up” that he “loves” the Atlanta Falcons picking Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick.
Orlovsky explained how he was “unbelievably perplexed” by the pick when it happened, as were most of those who follow and cover the league.
However, after a good night’s sleep and some insight on the situation, he hit only is coming around on the pick but “totally understands it.”
According to Orlovsky, the Falcons ranked Penix as the second-best quarterback in this draft behind Jayden Daniels.
Orlovsky said that the Falcons front office also saw how difficult and expensive it was to trade up to get that quarterback if Atlanta were to find themselves in the back half of future drafts like they expect to be with quarterback Kirk Cousins (There were reports that three other teams were interested in trading back into the top ten for Penix).
The last point for Orlovsky was when the Falcons flew to work out Penix in Seattle, there were people coming away saying that the 2023 Maxwell Award winner was “The closest they’ve seen anyone throw the football like Matthew Stafford.” Matthew Stafford and his talented arm led the 2021 Los Angeles Rams, which had now-Falcons head coach Raheem Morris, offensive coordinator Zac Robinson and defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake, to a Super Bowl.
The hope is that Penix can do the same for the Falcons after Kirk Cousins is done in Atlanta.
