We kick off our 2024 roster review series with a look at the quarterback position, which featured an experienced veteran in Kirk Cousins and an exciting rookie in Michael Penix Jr.
2024 was another year of preseason hope and regular season disappointment for Atlanta Falcons fans. After a hot 6-3 start, Atlanta collapsed to 8-9 and missed the playoffs despite sweeping the division-leading Buccaneers.
Much of that had to do with the quarterback position. Atlanta gave huge money to veteran Kirk Cousins in an effort to “win now”, all while drafting an exciting rookie in Michael Penix Jr. at eight overall. Obviously, things didn’t go according to plan…but the future might be quite a bit brighter than the past. Let’s kick off our 2024 roster review series with a look at how Cousins and Penix fared this season.
Kirk Cousins
Age: 36 | Experience: 13 seasons
2024 Stats: 14 starts | 303/453 (66.9%) passing, 3508 yards (250.6 YPG), 18 passing TDs, 16 interceptions, 7.7 YPA, 6.88 NY/A | 28 sacks, 5.82% sack rate | 23 rushes, 0 yards, 13 fumbles | 3 4th-quarter comebacks, 3 game-winning drives
If you took the 16 interceptions and 13 fumbles out of Kirk Cousins stat line, you’d probably be shocked that the Falcons elected to bench him in favor of the rookie Michael Penix Jr. after 14 games. Cousins would easily have crested 4,000 yards and 20 passing TDs in a full season. Not incredible numbers in this day and age, but certainly respectable ones.
Sadly, turnovers were the story of Cousins’ 2024 season.
An ominous opening week performance against the Steelers was quickly forgotten after Cousins rattled off a string of impressive games. A last-minute comeback on the road against the Eagles. Keeping Atlanta in striking distance of taking down the Chiefs. A thrilling, franchise-record passing day in an overtime victory over the Bucs. The Week 1 loss and another three turnover day in a blowout loss to the Seahawks were concerning, but mere footnotes on what was looking like a resurgent campaign for the veteran passer.
Cousins would take Atlanta to a 6-3 record before the wheels would start to fall off. From Weeks 10-14, the Falcons were blown out twice en route to an 0-4 record—and Cousins would throw zero passing touchdowns and eight (!!) interceptions. The team would give him one last opportunity to right the ship against the lowly Raiders in Week 15, but Cousins compiled just 112 passing yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, and another fumble.
Michael Penix Jr. was given the keys afterwards—more on him below—and Cousins was relegated to the bench. The question on everyone’s mind: is Cousins no longer capable of being an NFL starter? The answer is unclear and depends on if you believe more in his midseason slump or his early season resurgence. I do think there’s a solid chance that Cousins is probably somewhere in between his highs and lows, and in that case, I still think he’s got potential as a high-end backup and stopgap starter.
Cousins has clear physical limitations coming off his injury, and some of those may never go away. However, the biggest issue with Cousins was the mental side of the game. That, in theory, can be fixed. Whether or not Atlanta will be able to trade Kirk Cousins, will decide to cut him with a post-June 1st designation, or will be content to let him back up and mentor Penix will be a hot topic over the coming months.
Michael Penix Jr.
Age: 24 | Experience: Rookie
2024 Stats: 3 starts | 61/105 passing (58.1%), 775 yards (258.3 YPG), 3 passing TDs, 3 interceptions, 7.4 YPA, 6.98 NY/A | 4 sacks, 3.67% sack rate | 7 rushes, 11 yards, 1 rushing TD, 2 fumbles
The selection of Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft was one of the most controversial moves of the entire offseason—for any team. To be frank, it was an unusual move: to draft a QB so highly after just signing a veteran to a four-year deal (with two years fully guaranteed) is not something that typically happens. Atlanta passed on the opportunity to add an impact defender and/or trade down for significant compensation in order to take a player that, if all went well, would likely ride the bench for at least two seasons.
I described the move—in combination with signing Cousins—as trying to thread a very difficult needle. I also said, if Penix turned out to be good, that it wouldn’t matter. Lo and behold, Kirk Cousins fell apart and the Falcons desperately needed another answer at quarterback. Without Penix, we’d be entering another disastrous year with no answers at QB—and would be in a much more difficult position picking at 15 in a worse quarterback draft class.
We’ve only seen three games of Penix as the starter, but the talent and ability jump off the page. It’s unfortunate that the defense picked these last two weeks to completely implode, because Penix did everything possible to get Atlanta into the playoffs. Coming in completely cold, without even a bye week to get adjusted to the starting lineup, Penix came out and demolished the Giants before going toe-to-toe with offensive rookie of the year Jayden Daniels on the road in primetime. If not for egregious clock management errors, he might have succeeded. Against the Panthers, Penix turned it up to another level with some absolutely incredible throws, tying the team’s season-high in points with 38.
The stat line doesn’t jump off the page, but the film is a different story entirely. Two of Penix’s three interceptions were bobbled passes. The first two games, in particular, showed how little chemistry existed between him and the starting receivers. Things finally seemed to click against the Panthers—and that was without his #2 wideout in Darnell Mooney.
Yes, it’s just three games. We don’t know the story of Michael Penix Jr. yet. But the arm talent, poise, and overall command of the offense were so impressive. Atlanta’s best hope to contend next year is to unleash this offense with Penix at the helm, and I for one am very excited to see how he looks with a full offseason of work with the starters.