Packers are to blame for Falcons bold NFL Draft strategy

The Atlanta Falcons made easily the most head-scratching selection of the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft by taking Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick.

Forget the fact that Penix at No. 8 overall is a massive reach, but the Falcons are the team that took him? The team that just signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year deal worth $180 million drafted a quarterback with the eighth overall pick before Cousins played a single snap?

Making this kind of selection is extremely hard to justify. New Falcons coach Raheem Morris went into why Atlanta made the selection that they did. Spoiler: it doesn't make much sense.

Packers are the reason why Falcons made bold first-round selection

When listening to Morris' comments, the thought process is abundantly clear. They've looked at what the Green Bay Packers have done for the better part of two decades and are doing their best to emulate it. Only what they're doing is not what the Packers have done.

The Packers had Brett Favre, a Hall of Famer, under center for 16 seasons. By the time he was nearing the end of his career, Green Bay drafted Aaron Rodgers with the 24th overall selection in 2005. Rodgers sat for a couple of years before eventually taking over for Favre and becoming a future Hall of Famer in his own right.

Then, once Rodgers' time in Green Bay was nearing its end, Green Bay selected Jordan Love with the 26th overall pick in 2020. Love finally took over for Rodgers this past season and played extremely well. It's obviously too early to tell whether he'll be a Hall of Famer, but he got off to a great start. The Packers haven't had bad quarterback play in decades, and the Falcons are hoping to start their own quarterback factory by taking Penix now, letting him sit behind Cousins, and then watching him take over once Cousins is done.

There are a couple of major issues with this pick in particular, though.

Penix is already 23 years old and will be 24 when the NFL season begins. Love was 21 when drafted. Rodgers was 21 when drafted. He's already significantly older than both Love and Rodgers who had to sit for a couple of years. Cousins is under contract for at least two years, and Atlanta hopes he'll be their quarterback for longer. That takes Penix to 26 years old at the earliest when he'll step in for Cousins as their full-time starter.

Another issue is the draft position. Love and Rodgers were selected late in the first round while Penix was a top ten selection. It's one thing to select the QB of the future late in the first round, it's another when there are still some of the very best prospects in the draft on the board. The Falcons had several other game-changers to choose from.

Perhaps the most glaring issue with this choice is the fact that the Falcons have done no winning. The Packers won Super Bowls with both Favre and Rodgers before selecting their successors. The Falcons haven't even played a game with Cousins. Planning a future without Cousins before they've done any winning with Cousins raises the question of why Atlanta signed Cousins to begin with.

Taking a quarterback of the future while the quarterback of the present is still going strong is partly the Packers model, but there are so many factors that Atlanta is missing here. If Penix winds up being a franchise quarterback this pick will be easier for Falcons fans to digest, but the fact that he'll be older and there's a very good chance Atlanta will accomplish nothing with Cousins due to the fact that they didn't help him at all with this first-round pick makes it really hard to justify right now.

Disappointed Falcons fans can blame the Packers for their team making what looks like a foolish decision.