Drafting Michael Penix, Jr. with the eighth overall pick in this year’s draft after paying former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins $100 million guaranteed is one of the most baffling moves in NFL draft history. However, if the Atlanta Falcons view him like 365Score.com’s Scott Kacsmar does, it may give a bit more credence to the move. In his recent QB tier rankings, Kacsmar ranks Cousins 15th in the NFL, but more importantly, he ranks him in the fourth-tier of quarterback, which he labeled “Used Goods.”
Kacsmar defines the tier as follows:
This tier includes a couple of Super Bowl winners who are among the oldest quarterbacks in the league. That’s the problem with this group. Everyone is either past their athletic prime, has been seriously injured recently, or they have been accused of folding when the play breaks down and they have to work out of the system.
But in the right situation, health permitting, you could still go far with one of these quarterbacks.
How far can Atlanta go with Cousins? According to Kacsmar, that depends on how the Falcons continue to build this team around the position.
Kirk Cousins is a financial legend in NFL lore as he worked out another deal with huge guaranteed money to go to Atlanta. Unfortunately, the Falcons did him no favors by drafting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 pick. That means any game-ending interception or losing slump is going to start the calls for Penix to take over, so Cousins is going to have that pressure breathing down his back.
But his job should be safe for at least a season or two in Atlanta. He was playing really well last year for the Vikings, and he will have weapons at each level in Atlanta. But you could argue it’s a downgrade from what he had in Minnesota, which was also a pass-friendly system.
Still, Cousins has seen everything and knows how to lead a passing attack. He’ll be a big improvement over Desmond Ridder and is in a winnable division. But his habit of staying very close to a .500 record year after year is hard to shake, and how successful this is depends on how well the Falcons build up their defense.
Might have been nice to add a top-edge rushing talent like Dallas Turner or another wideout like Rome Odunze instead of Cousins’ eventual replacement at quarterback.
The opportunity cost of picking a quarterback instead of an instant contributor will be the talk of the season if the Falcons are not successful in 2024. And a successful 2024 starts with Cousins playing up to, and probably surpassing, his play that made him a hot commodity this past off-season.
