Within seconds of drafting Michael Penix Jr., the Atlanta Falcons made headlines on nearly every major sports outlet. The selection of the Washington quarterback at No. 8 in the first round sent shockwaves through the sports world, and especially among the Falcons fan base.
Friday morning, Tiffany Blackmon, Mike Johnson, and Beau Morgan, took to the airwaves to express their initial reactions to the pick, with each of them expressing that they were all surprised.
“I was dumbfounded, like I was speechless,” Johnson said as he shared that he does not agree with the pick. While he believes that Terry Fontenot and Raheem Morris have a plan in place which has led to their decision, he still has “a lot of questions,” and believes that most of the Atlanta fan base does as well.
The Morning Shift was able to get a few of their questions answered as they were joined by Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer, who coached Penix at Indiana and Washington.
“What do you think the relationship will be like with Kirk Cousins being that Michael’s a guy that has the willingness to learn and wants to absorb everything he can about the game,” Blackmon asked DeBoer.
Blackmon’s question was especially important due to the fact that following the Falcons’ pick of Penix, multiple reports surfaced that Cousins reportedly was aware that the Falcons might take a quarterback in the draft, however he did not know that they would do so with the No. 8 overall pick.
“He’s going to be a guy that’s going to be there and learn every day, understand that he’s got someone like Kirk Cousins there, who’s been in the league," DeBoer said. "He’s just going to latch onto everything Kirk can share with him.”
DeBoer told The Morning Shift adding that Penix Jr. is “going to be a great teammate."
