The 2024 NFL Draft keeps looking better for just about everyone who took a quarterback early - except Atlanta.
Six passers went in the first round for the first time since 1983, and most of that group has already lived up to the billing. Drake Maye finished second in MVP voting and led the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl.
Jayden Daniels won Offensive Rookie of the Year. Bo Nix and Daniels have each been a win away from the Super Bowl.
Caleb Williams, too, still has a bright future.
Michael Penix Jr. is the outlier, and not in a good way.
The Falcons are staring at a pick that looks worse by the month. Penix has made just 12 starts in his career, is working back from his third ACL tear in the last seven years, and owns a career completion percentage under 60%. For Atlanta, that’s a tough profile to trust when the rest of the class is flashing star power.
That gap matters even more now. As training camp approaches, Penix is at risk of losing his starting job to Tua Tagovailoa despite coming off the worst statistical season of his career. Atlanta’s current regime also didn’t draft him, which means there isn’t the same built-in investment in his development.
And the money picture only sharpens the contrast. After this season, those other first-round quarterbacks are eligible for long-term extensions, and there’s little doubt Nix, Maye, Daniels and Williams are headed toward premium deals. The expectation is that all four should clear $50 million a year on their second contracts.
Penix, meanwhile, may not even be in line to finish out his rookie deal in Atlanta. The first hurdle is health. If he isn’t cleared for full contact by the start of training camp on Thursday, he’ll likely open the season on the bench - and that could leave him fighting just to hold onto the job by year’s end.
The Falcons also have a longer-term decision hanging over this season: whether to pick up Penix’s fifth-year option after the year. Right now, that doesn’t look likely, and it would become even less likely if he’s no longer starting.
There is still hope that Penix can steady things. He has shown flashes of what he can be as a passer, and the new coaching staff should help. But the concerns are still sitting there in plain view, especially his accuracy issues and his injury history.
For Atlanta, the brutal part is simple: the more Bo Nix, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye keep thriving, the worse the Penix pick looks if he can’t turn his own career around.
In Other News...
Falcons May Finally Be Out Of Patience With Former Draft Pick
DeAngelo Malone has been around long enough to know the clock is always ticking for a former Day 2 pick who has not carved out a clear role. Since Atlanta took him in the third round in 2022, he has appeared in 58 games without a start and has produced three sacks and 60 tackles, a modest return for a player the Falcons once hoped could grow into more than a depth piece. He re-signed on a one-year deal this offseason, which at least kept him in the mix heading into camp.
The problem for Malone is that the edge-rusher room looks more crowded than it has in a while, and the Falcons have younger options pushing for snaps. James Pearce Jr., Jalon Walker, Harold Perkins Jr. and Cameron Thomas all add pressure to a spot that once looked a little safer, and Malone may need a strong camp just to keep from sliding further down the pecking order. For a player trying to hold onto his place in Atlanta, the margin for error is getting awfully thin. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Fans Just Got An Encouraging Billy Bowman Jr. Sign
Billy Bowman Jr. gave Falcons fans a small but meaningful update this week as he continues working back from the torn Achilles tendon that ended his season. The second-year cornerback is about eight months into the recovery process, which still fits within the usual window for a high-impact return, and his rehab remains one of the more closely watched developments around Atlantas secondary.
Bowmans next checkpoints are the start of training camp and, beyond that, Week 1, when the Falcons will have a better sense of how far along he really is. Atlanta can afford to be patient with the rehab, but any sign that Bowman is progressing on schedule matters for a defense that would love to get a young piece back in the mix without rushing the process. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Rookie Already Facing A Brutal Camp Setback
Anterio Thompsons first summer with the Falcons has been derailed before it really started, with the rookie defensive tackle landing on the non-football injury list because of an undisclosed injury. He has missed every step of the offseason program, from rookie minicamp through OTAs and minicamp, and now he is also out for the opening stretch of training camp, leaving Atlanta without a chance to get a real look at him during a key evaluation window.
That absence matters because the Falcons have other defensive tackles in the mix and the competition for roster spots is already underway. Carlos Allen Jr., Chris Williams and Ross Blacklock are all working to make their case, while Thompson is stuck on the sideline trying to get healthy and catch up. For a rookie trying to carve out a place, losing that much ground this early can be a tough hurdle to overcome. [Read more 🡒]