REAL FOOTBALL Thread

thethe said:
The only thing that matters is if he hits but ideally you don't sign a big time QB and then take another with the 8th pick the same year.
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As moronic as the pick was, I do somewhat respect the balls it took to make a pick they knew would make them a (bigger) laughingstock. If Penix is good, they will have the last laugh.

I am with zbhargrove though. Maybe if this team had done something in recent years to earn the benefit of the doubt, I would meet them halfway.
 
I will say that next year is pretty bad QB year. It's not 2022 level bad, but it's close to 2019 level, where there's really only 1 or 2 QBs that are considered top 15 overall players. And there isn't a sure fire No. 1 overall level QB either. JJ McCarthy probably should have stayed 1 more and as long as he stayed injury free, he would have no doubt been QB 1 in next year's draft, instead of QB 5 in this year's draft.

2026 draft could be special though, with 9 QBs who were ranked inside the top 100 overall recruits in the 2023 class.. Nico, Manning, Moore, Arnold, Nelson, Avery Johnson, etc.

I would say Jaden Rashada, but we know he isn't getting playing time at UGA unless he's a walk-on.
 
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chop2chip said:
As moronic as the pick was, I do somewhat respect the balls it took to make a pick they knew would make them a (bigger) laughingstock. If Penix is good, they will have the last laugh.

I am with zbhargrove though. Maybe if this team had done something in recent years to earn the benefit of the doubt, I would meet them halfway.
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As it is. We've picked 7th or 8th 3 years in a row after picking 4th and only 1 really looks worth it (bijan). Just a masterclass in ****. The fact we aren't worse than we are is baffling. But honestly if you wanted a QB in the draft and you were sold on Penix. Then don't sign cousins sign multiple edges to improve our rush. And give Penix a **** right away.
 
Apparently Seattle, New Orleans, and the Raiders all tried to trade into the top 10 to pick Penix... I truly think the Falcons were hoping to trade back into the first to get Penix late and then freaked out when he started becoming a popular commodity.
 
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Carp said:
I will say that next year is pretty bad QB year. It's not 2022 level bad, but it's close to 2019 level, where there's really only 1 or 2 QBs that are considered top 15 overall players. And there isn't a sure fire No. 1 overall level QB either. JJ McCarthy probably should have stayed 1 more and as long as he stayed injury free, he would have no doubt been QB 1 in next year's draft, instead of QB 5 in this year's draft.

2026 draft could be special though, with 9 QBs who were ranked inside the top 100 overall recruits in the 2023 class.. Nico, Manning, Moore, Arnold, Nelson, Avery Johnson, etc.

I would say Jaden Rashada, but we know he isn't getting playing time at UGA unless he's a walk-on.
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Beck will be the sure fire #1 QB by the end of the year.
 
zitothebrave said:
Most likely. It's speculated him, Sanders, and Ewers. But it's worth noting all 3 could have come out this year and opted not to because they weren't regarded as top 3. Many didn't think theyd be top 5.
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I think Sanders is the biggest media smoke screen ever. He's 100% me first, he's not near as good as he is hyped up to be, and the only reason he is even talked about as one of the better QBs is simply because his dad is Deion. Will be interesting to see if Ewers can make the bigger jump this year.
 
The Falcons tried to trade back into the first to pick up Latu... I would have felt alot better about Penix if we could have come away with Latu... Edge is just not deep at all in this draft. I feel like you have to hit WR/CB/DT with the next few picks since those spots continue to look deep and strong in this draft. Then you just hope Ebiketie (forgive the spelling) and Harrison continue to develop as pass rushers. Ebiketie grew quite a bit last year and Harrison put up 3 sacks in his only 2 starts at the end of the year. But man, that's a risk.
 
striker42 said:
I have no problem taking Penix at 8...if you don't sign Cousins. But signing Cousins to a big contract then spending a top 10 pick on a QB who will, if your plan works, not play for two years is just baffling. Only Atlanta could be so obtuse.
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Ask the Packers how taking Love worked out for them?

That said, I can't remember a QB prospect with so much variation in assessment. The prospect press (which is suspect) seemed to love him or hate him. I'm in-between. I thought he was clearly the fifth in the pecking order behind Williams, Daniels, Maye, and McCarthy and would be taken much later in the 1st round or perhaps the 2nd. Falcons (and others) thought differently. If the buzz was there were a bunch of teams wanting to move up to get him, I can see why the Falcons flinched. Cousins has two years guaranteed and that might be the end of the line for him. If not, he's signed for four and the Falcons don't have to negotiate a new deal for him while Penix holds the clipboard. Packers gave Rodgers a huge contract after they had drafted Love and it hamstrung them.

I'm up here in Minnesota (but a Packer fan) and I don't see Cousins as an elite QB. He's either at the bottom of the first 10 or at the top of the second 10. He's good, but I don't see him as a guy who is a cinch to elevate the talent around him. I think the talent around him elevates him. He's certainly better than Ridder and Heinicke, but that's a pretty low bar. I can't believe the Falcons shot the moon for him.
 
50PoundHead said:
Ask the Packers how taking Love worked out for them?

That said, I can't remember a QB prospect with so much variation in assessment. The prospect press (which is suspect) seemed to love him or hate him. I'm in-between. I thought he was clearly the fifth in the pecking order behind Williams, Daniels, Maye, and McCarthy and would be taken much later in the 1st round or perhaps the 2nd. Falcons (and others) thought differently. If the buzz was there were a bunch of teams wanting to move up to get him, I can see why the Falcons flinched. Cousins has two years guaranteed and that might be the end of the line for him. If not, he's signed for four and the Falcons don't have to negotiate a new deal for him while Penix holds the clipboard. Packers gave Rodgers a huge contract after they had drafted Love and it hamstrung them.

I'm up here in Minnesota (but a Packer fan) and I don't see Cousins as an elite QB. He's either at the bottom of the first 10 or at the top of the second 10. He's good, but I don't see him as a guy who is a cinch to elevate the talent around him. I think the talent around him elevates him. He's certainly better than Ridder and Heinicke, but that's a pretty low bar. I can't believe the Falcons shot the moon for him.
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The Love situation is what the Falcons used to justify the pick publicly. But it's not a good comparison. First, Love was drafted 26th, Penix was 8th. The draft position values say the 8th pick is twice as valuable as the 26th pick. It's much easier to justify drafting a QB at 26 that you're going to sit for a couple years.

Second, Love was 21 when the Packers took him. Penix is about to turn 24. For further comparison, Love took over for Rodgers when he was 24. Penix is slated to take over for Cousins at age 26.

It's so hard to justify sitting a 24 year old QB you just spent the 8th overall pick on.

I don't think taking Penix is the mistake. Signing Cousins was the mistake. It makes zero sense to sign him if you're going to turn around and draft arguably the most NFL ready QB in the class a couple months later. A better GM would have spent Cousins' money on defense then drafted Penix.
 
Heyward said:
Would have understood if it was for Newton but Oko over Newton is crazy.
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Falcons could have traded back and still gotten Oko. What makes it even more puzzling is that Oko is super raw and won't be much of a contributor anytime soon and the Falcons defense is currently awful. TF needs to go.
 
striker42 said:
Falcons could have traded back and still gotten Oko. What makes it even more puzzling is that Oko is super raw and won't be much of a contributor anytime soon and the Falcons defense is currently awful. TF needs to go.
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Awful is a stretch. They were solidly average last year and Ebeketie showed real improvement. Zach Harrison also had 3 sacks in his only 2 starts. So it’s not ideal but there is some hope.
 
zbhargrove said:
Awful is a stretch. They were solidly average last year and Ebeketie showed real improvement. Zach Harrison also had 3 sacks in his only 2 starts. So it’s not ideal but there is some hope.
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They were average last year but had some free agency attrition (Dupree, Campbell, etc) and are a year older. Jarrett is also over 30 and coming off an ACL injury.

This defense has experienced natural erosion with very, very little in the way of addition. They've gone from average to awful and need additions to aspire to average.
 
zitothebrave said:
I like oko. But anyway I wouldn't have traded up for him.
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This. There was no reason to trade up for him. Fontenot likes to try to be clever and get someone who is a surprise (see Troy Andersen). I feel like they expect others to feel the same way so freak out and jump early at guys (see Troy Andersen again). I think this happened with Ruke.
 
Looks like Niners did a great job in the first two days improving the team.

Hope some team will be dumb enough to give up something good for deebo.
 
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