Raiders weren't as high on Michael Penix Jr. as NFL world may have thought

There were plenty of shocking picks that transpired in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, but none were more surprising than the Atlanta Falcons selecting Michael Penix Jr. No. 8 overall.

Drafting a quarterback for the future to learn behind Kirk Cousins for a couple of years makes some sense for Atlanta, but at No. 8 overall? They chose to take a 23-year-old who has some injury concerns No. 8 overall before Cousins even played a snap? That's where the pick lost most fans.

There were rumors swirling around that Atlanta took him when they did because if they didn't, he would've been snatched up. While that might still be the case, one of the teams that was reportedly interested in Penix, the Las Vegas Raiders, would not have taken him as high as Atlanta did.

Raiders considered Michael Penix Jr., but not where he got picked

Here's what ESPN's Jeremy Fowler had to say about the Raiders and Penix:

"Las Vegas also had interest in Michael Penix Jr., but most likely not in a trade up. He would have been considered at No. 13 or in a trade back. I heard from multiple people in Vegas that the team did not want to reach."

There you have it. There was absolutely interest there, and they might've even taken him at No. 13. They were not, however, interested in trading up to select him because they felt that would've been a reach. While that's not what others have said, that point of view does make a lot of sense.

Reaching for a quarterback only makes sense when you truly believe in said quarterback. There's no position in sports more valuable than a quarterback. There's a reason that you need an elite quarterback to win Super Bowls. Trading up just to select a quarterback doesn't make sense if you don't believe that said quarterback can win you a Super Bowl, especially in the first round.

It sounds like Vegas liked Penix and believed in him to an extent, but not fully. If they weren't fully bought in, it'd make no sense to mortgage future assets to trade up for him. They'd consider him at their pick or if they got additional assets to him, but weren't going to give anything up for him.

It would've been really nice to add Penix and give Las Vegas' quarterback room some hope for the future, but it wouldn't have made sense for Vegas to go all out for a player they didn't fully believe in, so good on them for holding firm even if their eventual pick, Brock Bowers, didn't make much sense.