The Atlanta Falcons made the single funniest pick in the history of the NFL Draft: the eighth overall pick on a backup quarterback. There’s been a lot of ink spilled on both sides of the debate but we can all agree that the circumstances around them taking Michael Penix are extremely funny. I mean, Kirk Cousins just got 9 figures, guaranteed! And they didn’t tell him it was going to happen! When the dust settled, two other fantasy football-relevant players landed on the Atlanta Falcons. Let’s dive into all three guys with the Atlanta Falcons’ fantasy football rookie roundup!
FULL 2024 ATLANTA FALCONS DRAFT RESULTS
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 8 | Michael Penix, Jr. | QB | Washington |
| 2 | 35 | Ruke Orhorhoro | DT | Clemson |
| 3 | 74 | Bralen Trice | OLB | Washington |
| 4 | 109 | Brandon Dorlus | DT | Oregon |
| 5 | 143 | J.D. Bertrand | LB | Notre Dame |
| 6 | 186 | Jase McClellan | RB | Alabama |
| 6 | 187 | Casey Washington | WR | Illinois |
| 6 | 197 | Zion Logue | DT | Georgia |
[Note: The following is an excerpt from our Round One Instant Reaction piece.]
Round 1, Pick 8: Michael Penix, Jr., Quarterback, Washington (6’2” 216 lbs)
Talent:
Penix is an extremely tough evaluation because he does some things exceptionally well (deep balls), but because an NFL offense isn’t NFL Blitz, you can’t run Da Bomb on every play. Luckily, if the offensive line can keep him clean, Penix has the mental acuity pre- and post-snap that allows him to carve up defenses. Unfortunately, if you get him off his spot… That’s where Penix starts to struggle. He doesn’t trust what he sees in front of him in traffic while on the move, which leads to him hitching or hesitating on tight-window throws, causing his mechanics to skew and the ball to potentially miss its target. This happens on nearly every tight window throw that I saw him take against Michigan, Texas, and Oregon. Luckily, the balls still made it where they needed to be more often than not, a testament to his arm strength, but that won’t fly at the NFL level. He will need a strong offensive line to have any sort of a chance to produce at the NFL level with any consistency.
He will have some eye-popping deep balls, and his ability to drop it in the bucket is the best I saw out of the five quarterbacks I watched to start the evaluation. Unfortunately, however, the nuts & bolts of quarterbacking elude him. His athleticism is just enough to trick fantasy evaluators into thinking that it could be a part of his game in the NFL, but it cannot. He mostly runs straight through open lanes and doesn’t create on his own.
Comparison: Jay Cutler
2024 Opportunity:
You don’t give Kirk Cousins $100 million to make him the backup. He is the QB of the future, and if he sees the field at all, the Falcons’ season is in trouble.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
If he makes it onto the field, it’s hard to see a rookie with a better trio of weapons than Drake London, Bijan Robinson, and Kyle Pitts. This trio dragged Desmond Midder to some top-12 fantasy football weeks. They can do the same with a better player in Michael Penix, Jr.
TALENT
OPPORTUNITY
OUTLOOK
Round 6, Pick 186: Jase McClellan, Running Back, Alabama (5’10” 221 lbs)
Talent:
Jase McClellan feels like the next in a long line of running backs who have the traits to make it at the NFL level individually (decent speed, good size, nice hands, college production) but who never took the time to learn the intricacies of the position. All of these guys flame out at the NFL level, with the most recent, highest-profile example being Trey Sermon. McClennan plays fast through the hole, but never makes a guy miss at the second level, has no additional gears, and just gets what’s blocked… at best. His subpar vision and difficulty with change of direction make him best for a zone-blocking scheme, but even then, he’s just going to get what’s blocked. His pass-catching chops are very nice, but that’s his carrying skill. It will be difficult for him to get on the field in a third-down back role where he can flex that skill… because his pass blocking is terrible.
2024 Opportunity:
We’ve seen players with Jase McClellan’s skillset fail to gain traction with an NFL team, relegated to special teams and the occasional carry, without a one-two punch like Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier on their team. The front office was likely seeking a cheap replacement for the Cordarrelle Patterson role. With Allgeier and Robinson last season, Patterson averaged 4-5 touches per game, not enough to gain any sort of traction.
2024 Outlook:
RB3 for a team with two quarterbacks, Kyle Pitts, and Drake London? I’m good.
TALENT
2024 OPPORTUNITY
2024 OUTLOOK
Round 6, Pick 187: Casey Washington, Wide Receiver, Illinois (6’2” 200 lbs)
Talent:
I don’t know if it’s because he only has highlight reels on YouTube (red flag), but Casey Washington is… intriguing. He doesn’t carry a lot of top-line traits, but he’s the anti-Jase McClellan… he seems to be more than the sum of his parts. Washington is fast, and big, with good hands, and a nose for finding holes in zones. Unfortunately, that skill set is more useful to NFL teams than fantasy teams (think Jauan Jennings) unless one of two things happen: he immediately blossoms into an otherworldly talent (Puka Nacua) or he ends up in a situation where he’s the only game in town (Patriots Kendrick Bourne). I like Washington, but there are a lot of question marks surrounding him and his game.
2024 Opportunity:
The Falcons have far too many weapons ahead of Washington to make him intriguing to me in his rookie year. Forget that they already had Kyle Pitts, Drake London, and Bijan Robinson; they added Darnell Mooney and Rondale Moore. That leaves Casey Washington far down the ideal Falcons pecking order. It also means that there is a lot of mud that Washington has to dig himself out from under before he has enough touches to have consistent production.
2024 Outlook:
Are you in a lot of 16-team, 35-man roster leagues? No? Then he’s not someone worth worrying about in redraft drafting season. But he’s a name to keep on your radar just in case something goes awry in Atlanta, and he finds himself moving up the WR room depth chart.
