In reply to: wow...Penix at 8. posted by irishrock
only first two years of Cousins contract was guaranteed. Named great QB’s who needed two years training as backups to become great as starters. Lauded management for this strategy.
It happens every year I draft him.
Does anyone really think Jordan Love would be as good as he is if he started as a rookie? Ditto Rodgers before him?
So many of these guys are thrown to the wolves before they’re ready, but most teams don’t have the luxury of being able to sit a guy behind a top experienced quarterback. The Falcons just made that move and I’ll bet it was the plan all along.
When the Packers drafted Rodgers, they had Favre waffling about retirement every offseason.
When the Packers drafted Love, they had Rodgers starting to get kooky and talking about darkness retreats.
They were also mid 20s selections. Not a top 10.
The Falcons just paid 100 million to their immediate future at QB (and then didn't even bother to let him know about the Penix selection). They are supposedly in "win now" mode. They needed to pick someone who could contribute immediately.
Rodgers has always been kooky. But he wasn’t going anywhere and was still playing as well as ever. But he was also the same age as Cousins is now.
I also don’t think they took Favre seriously about retiring.
The Falcons are supposedly in "win now" mode and they have a ton of holes. The defense is Swiss cheese. Penix, who is older and has had a plethora of injury issues, also seems like a big reach at that point in the draft. I was very wrong about Matt Ryan, so maybe I'm very wrong about Penix.
I was agreeing with the concept more than the actual player. But who knows, he could turn out to be great - if he stays healthy. In an average quarterback year he may well have been picked that high.