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When it comes to fans, and things like signing day and drafts and hirings, meetings should take place somewhere near a pharmacy and liquor store.

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Folks tend to be mental and hyper regarding those topics, and mighty hazy, if not a little scary. And some form of medication is advisable.

Take the latest test of patience and faith and lucidity by Atlanta in the NFL Draft.

Contrary to the reaction of the trigger-upon-waking up and knee-jerkers and folks who just kinda like being grumpy and shortsighted, it was in no way a disastrous draft.

Grading such things is ridiculous – meaning “popular” - because you’re grading people before they take the test. Before. Just like the farce that is grading recruiting classes, although nothing matches that farce.

You can’t grade it until they’re done.

Now, does it look like the Falcons helped themselves for 2024?

Yes. Note – sorry to bring some reality and context among the blind whining – that the Falcons drafted five defensive players.

Five.

Every draft pick came from a major power-5 program, including from teams that have won at least one national championship in the last decade. Two from last year’s runner-up.

Four defensive linemen.

They got a player from Alabama, Georgia, and Clemson. That will always make for a respectable draft.

We still know nothing of these players as professionals, and we really won’t until the middle of August.

Among the many things people miss or ignore is that we don’t know some contract situations with a number of key players, and how teams must manage for contracts running out next year.

What about Calais Campbell? Bud Dupree? Scott Miller? Tre Flowers?

And a huge number of contracts are done in 2024.

There’s a whole lot of juggling. You don’t want rookies to have a huge impact now, but expectations will be higher in year, especially if they slide into a starting spot because of a departure or injury.

Don’t forget about undrafted free agents. There are loads of undrafted free agents on rosters of good teams, because good teams don’t care how they got quality players. There are another 100 draftable players who weren’t drafted.

And there are always planned/desired trades a team may have. Is Kyle Pitts – or somebody else- bait for a defensive or offensive lineman?

All that said, yeah, let’s go back to No. 8.

No doubt the crush Raheem Morris apparently had on Michael Penix Jr. is confusing, as is the fact they very likely could’ve traded back and gotten something and still picked Penix. Then again, maybe trade partners were hard to come by.

Or perhaps that wasn’t an option, in Atlanta’s mind. Er, “mind.”

There is a defense to be made – barely – about taking a quarterback at 8. It’s a struggle, though.

Still, if they had to, J.J. McCarthy or Bo Nix appear to be better options.

But first, let’s remember that the Falcons did overpay for a 35-year-old coming off Achilles surgery. And now, they paid all that money for what we can perceive to be a two-year plan as starter.

Wow.

Some of the shortsighted simpletons use that head-shaking measurement of championships to measure one position’s value. It’s kind of dumb, and a reminder that it’s amazing more people don’t fall down more.

Cousins was 50-37-1 as a starter in Minnesota, 26-30-1 at Washington. He doesn’t block, catch, tackle, or cover.

But he does complete 66.9 percent of his passes. He has thrown 270 touchdowns to 110 interceptions. Since becoming a starter in 2015, only one time has he completed less than 65 percent of his passes (64.3 in 2017).

When he went down last year, after eight games, he had completed 69.5 percent of his passes (career high is 69.8 in 2015), had 18 touchdowns (on target for a career high) and five interceptions, but 17 sacks.

So he was basically on target for a career year, on a team that went 3-6 after he left.

The Falcons got a quarterback who makes them a chunk better, and the NFC South favorite. He knows how to use weapons, how to manage games.

After all, it wasn’t long ago – Dec. 17, 2022 – that a 34 year old engineered the greatest comeback in NFL history, 33 points in a 39-36 win over Indianapolis, with 460 yards, 417 in the second half, part of a season in which Minnesota went 11-1 in one-score games.

What Atlanta’s administration botched severely was being professional. They didn’t tell Cousins the plan until they were on the clock? That they were, in fact, drafting his successor? Horrible management. Cousins is a pro, and no doubt expected as much from his new “bosses” and they failed him and the team.

Professionals don’t blindside their people like that, so yeah, they need to apologize to their players and the ticket-buyers for treating their new face of the franchise, the person they’re pinning so much on, like that.

The teevee clowns – some with more special hair than others, most with some agenda other than logic (after all, it’s people at mics – are assuming that Penix is ready because he’s older. Which, of course, is dumb. No amount of college experience equals the NFL. Just like no amount of high school experience equals major college football.

No, Penix isn’t ready to lead a pro team. Neither is Bo Nix or J.J. McCaffery or those who went ahead or behind them.

It’s very rare that any rookie is. No rookie starting QB has ever played in a Super Bowl. Troy Aikman? 0-11 as a rookie starter. Peyton Manning? 3-13.

C.J. Stroud is by far the rarity. Bryce Young is more normal. And remember: every year, there are sexy quarterbacks. Every single year. And wideouts. And linemen. And linebackers. Coaches and GMs will be hot for players every year, whether they need ‘em or not.

Now, there’s a wild card in here, and it’s the Achilles of Cousins. Are the Falcons more worried than they let on about Cousins progress? Average recovery time for an Achilles surgery is 4-6 months to start working out.

Six months from November surgery is May. November to August is nine months. May is the month in which we should get an update.

A reminder that the Falcons will be fiiiiine if Taylor Heinicke has to play more than expected/desired. Really. Absolutely no reason to rush Penix into action if disaster strikes. None at all. And it would be a mistake.

But this blather about the future is as off-target as a Desmond Ridder fourth-quarter pass or Arthur Smith game plan (I had hope for both).

You know when the future is in pro sports? In the NFL?

It’s now. Today. This minute. And this season.

2024. Not 2027.

Win now, so you have a future to worry about.

No doubt the Falcons have a playoff-caliber roster. Have had that for a year or two. Didn’t make the playoffs.

Thus, the arrogance to think the Falcons aren’t going to draft high again is silly. Nobody expects or wants to be in the top 10 based on record, but it happens. Every year.

And good Lord, the success rate of quarterbacks picked in the top 10 isn’t inspiring. They tend to find some mojo after they leave their drafting team.

Ask Jared Goff. We’re still waiting on Trevor Lawrence the pro to match Trevor Lawrence the collegian.

The last 10 Heisman-winning quarterbacks (excluding the last two)? Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson, Jamies Winston, Johnny Manziel, Robert Griffin III, Cam Newton, Sam Bradford, and Tim Tebow.

Nothing is for certain, except rookie starting quarterback struggles.

Drafting Penix in no way made the Falcons worse, so stop the bellyaching. Didn’t make them any easier to understand, no doubt, but didn’t sabotage anything.

Coaches and managers and GMs being inherently full of it, they must be mocked now when talking about defense winning championships, after they panic and skip defensive players for so long in Round 1.

Like Atlanta, which has some – not huge, not major - defensive needs now, and blew it by letting a few skip by. The Falcons could’ve bolstered the offensive line, which is never, ever a bad thing.

See, the line wins games, contends for championships.

Overall, the Falcons have good enough manpower up front, and now they have a proven quarterback to go with a solid defense.

They also have months of angst and questions to answer and defenses to be made.

In other words, a normal Atlanta offseason.