Michael Penix Jr is the only thing keeping the Atlanta Falcons fanbase from hysteria. The young quarterback has given us all hope because of his raw talent and incredible showing in the season finale.
To think it took a general manager defying logic for the franchise to be graced by the former Washington Husky. If the Falcons hadn't taken that chance, the Falcons would be a mess right now which is something we will dive into here.
What if the Falcons hadn't drafted Michael Penix Jr.
Michael Penix Jr. injected the Atlanta Falcons' offense with life over the final three games. He energized everyone and led them to 34 points (with defensive help), 24 points, and 38 points. This after they hadn't scored over 21 points in their prior four games.
If the Falcons didn't have Penix, Cousins would've started all 17 games and the offensive struggles would've continued. And with that, the end result would've been identical -- no playoffs for a seventh straight year.
The real issues would arise in the offseason; with no quarterback to take over for the veteran and a weak draft class, they would have no choice but to keep Cousins as their starter next season. While he would have time to recover from injury, none of us would be too excited for the 2025 season.
Not to mention, you would still be dealing with the problem that Terry Fontenot brought up after the draft -- this team wouldn't be bad enough to land a top quarterback in the upcoming drafts.
It would be a deadly cycle of mediocrity. The fanbase would already be fed up and hopeless while the front office would lack draft picks and available cap space.
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Again, Michael Penix Jr. is the only thing keeping the fanbase hopeful. While he has yet to prove himself for a full season, there was plenty of reason to believe he will be an NFL superstar as soon as this upcoming season. And, as we all know, any team with a superstar quarterback can make a deep playoff run.