The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - BEST BITE: Atlanta pulls off a top-10 surprise and selects Michael Penix Jr. with 8th pick

Episode Date: May 2, 2024

Joel Klatt discusses the Atlanta Falcons using their top-10 pick to draft former Washington Huskies QB Michael Penix Jr. He analyzes this pick and shares about his surprise in the moment. Joel questions if the team will regret spending a top-10 pick on a QB after signing Kirk Cousins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Let's talk about one of those quarterbacks because I don't think you can even start talking about this draft without talking about the Falcons taking Michael Pennix at number eight. And before I go into everything that I'm going to say here about this draft pick, I want to say Michael Pennix is absolutely a top 10 pick. Nothing about his game suggests that you should not take Michael Pinnox. He's an awesome quarterback. If you've been listening to this show for any amount of time, you will know that I've been. been a giant fan of pinnicks for a long time all the way back to his days at Indiana, really, but even before this last season when he blew up with Washington, really the last two, but really before the last one, I said back in September that Washington's not only a top five

team, but he's a dark horse Heisman candidate because of the way that he can throw the ball. It's beautiful. The ball comes out of his hand as well as anybody in this draft. He throws it down the field so well, you've heard me talk constantly about his ability to pass the football with leverage down the field. I'm sure the entire staff here at the Joel Clashow just rolled their eyes because they've heard that description at least a million times because it's accurate. So what I'm trying to say is Michael Pinnock's deserved to be selected where he got selected. This is not a case of an overdrafted player. This is a case of an organization with zero plan.

My problem is that he went to Atlanta. Atlanta is 7 and 10. They, I don't think, have a stacked roster, at least as much as they think they have a stacked roster. They missed the playoffs last season and the five prior to that. So six straight years without a playoff birth, they need players now, which is why they went chips in the middle of the table for Kirk Cousins. Remember, this is a year after they decided to say, you know what? We're good. We don't need to be in the Lamar Jackson sweepstakes.

And then the next year they say, no, we definitely need a quarterback. We should go get that 30, what, six-year-old with a torn Achilles. And they gave Kurt Cousins $100 million in free agency, guaranteed, 100, guaranteed. More than that in the full contract, 100 guaranteed. Then they decide, man, we really like Michael Pennix. Like some bozo who gets engaged and then goes to spring break and falls in love with the first girlie season of bikini on the beach. Like, what are you doing?

So they fall in love with Michael Pinnock's and then decide that they're going to draft them, but don't give Kirk Cousins a heads up during the process that they're starting to fall in love with Michael Pinnock. And the first time he hears about it is when they're on the clock, what are we doing? What are we doing? Make it make sense. When that pick came across, I was shocked, DJ was shocked, CD was shocked, we were all shocked. And it's one thing to have a succession plan. Okay, and I understand that. Okay, I really do. I understand this succession plan thing. It's entirely a different thing to submarine your locker room

before the players are even in the locker room. And this is what I feel like they did. You know, you can claim that this is injury insurance for Kirk Cousins, but if you need injury insurance, then you shouldn't have signed them to a $100 million guaranteed contract. Everything about this, the fact that they felt like they needed to give him that contract in free agency, the fact that they still were looking in terms of a quarterback, the fact that they knew it was wrong, which is why they didn't bring in Michael Pinnock for an in-person visit. Like if they fell in love with Michael Pinnock during this process, you would have brought him in for an in-person visit, They knew that they couldn't because they just gave a guy $100 million.

So therein lies the truth that they even knew this was backwards. Or else they would have brought him in. They would have brought him in. I understand even that teams are going to have multiple quarterbacks start. I understand that. But if you're worried about Kirk Cousins, then you don't sign him to that contract. If anything, now I'm starting to wonder like, whoa, what really was the plan and free agency? everything about this reeks of ready fire aim.

Again, you just have to have a better plan than this. This is a team that needs players now. If you're going to assign Kirk Cousins, you need players now. You only have 53 spots on your roster. There's a salary cap. You need players now. The opportunity cost of basically foregoing that pick and shoving that pick onto the sidelines is far-reaching.

you know, that they don't even get the benefit of drafting a young quarterback in the top 10 that they feel like they could win with and then building the team around a quarterback in their first contract. So, and then the explanation starts coming out, which wasn't very solid from their standpoint, but even some in the media, we're starting to be like, well, I kind of understand it because listen, you know, you're going to have to have a plan in the future and they feel like they're never going to pick this high. in the draft, so they better get their guy in particular if they fell in love with them. And now they feel like they're built for the next 10 years and not just for the next two or three. All of that sounds really good. But my point would be, great, now you're a spec home builder. Because you're not going to enjoy the fruits of your labor. I just, I don't see how this makes your team better right now to make the playoffs with Kirk Cousins and builds it for the future. You can't do two things at once. You're not good enough to do two things.

at once right now. You've got to do first things first, which is become a good team now, which is why they signed Kirk Cousins in the first place. If they didn't love the defensive players, which by the way, they're terrible on defense and had their pick of any defender in the draft. None had been taken yet. None had been taken yet. Fine. Tell me you don't love any of those players right there at the eighth pick. Trade it back and get more assets so that you can do what? When now, they need assets on the team on the field currently. They're not a team that can just shove the eighth pick onto the sideline and say, don't worry in four years, we're going to play him.

I also will just say from a locker room standpoint, and I mentioned this a little bit earlier, you submarine the locker room right away. How does Kurt Cousins feel right away? He feels like every mistake that he makes, he's going to be looking over his shoulder. I don't care how many times you tell him, don't look over your shoulder, Kirk. Okay, that's like me telling you at home right now, hey, don't think of the color red. Don't you do it?

Don't think of that color red. Like, come on. I'm going to think of the color red because you brought it up. You brought it up. And they brought up the succession plan by taking Michael Pinnock. So now the first time Kurt Cousins has a bad game in particular in a big spot, which he's prone to do during the course of his career, guess what everybody is going to be clamoring for in Atlanta?

We want Michael Pinnock's. We want Michael Pinnock. So you're submarining the locker room right there because Kirk Cousins is not going to be on solid footing. from day one, and he doesn't trust you as an organization, and you've created a distraction. Because everybody's going to be asked about it. Every wide receiver, every player is going to be asked about like, whoa, Howard Curt and Michael getting along in the quarterback room. The quickest way to be defeated is to be distracted. And they've created a distraction, excuse me, they've created distrust within the locker room. And they have created a situation

where Kirk Cousins cannot feel comfortable to go out and play freely. All of that suggests that they're not ready to win right away. That all being said, and I want everybody to make sure that you clip what I'm about to say right here to anything that I've just said. I pray this works out for everybody involved. I don't want it to work out poorly for Atlanta. I'd love to see Atlanta win. And everybody there, I'd love to see Kirk Cousins get a legitimate shot to go and prove that

he can win on the top level. I've loved Michael Pinnock's for a long time. My heart hurts for Michael Pinnock's because now he's shoved to the sideline and put into a position where it's going to be hard to succeed. I want all of these guys to succeed. And I pray that in 10 years, Michael Pinnock's is the quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons. This all worked out swimmingly and everybody has a Super Bowl ring. I'm hoping that that's what works. We'll see if it does. I have my doubts.