STEELE SPORTS

If you watched the NFL Draft last week, chances are you’re still scratching your head at why the Atlanta Falcons – who recently took Kirk Cousins off the Vikings’ hands – drafted Washington quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. with their first-round pick.

Just months after signing Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 guaranteed the Falcons have already turned their focus toward the future of the franchise: Penix.

While I’m not sure how to justify the Falcons making this pick – Cousins said he was “stunned” by the choice and not notified well in advance – it does leave some room for controversy.

One plausible reason for making such a pick is making sure you give Penix the chance to develop behind an elite, veteran quarterback.

Cousins has been one of the best passers in the NFL for the past few years, and he is surely a solid role model for a young and talented pure-passed like Penix.

On the other side of that coin, if the Falcons viewed Penix as a potential pick that could fall to them, it makes no sense for them to sign away a large portion of their cap to a veteran quarterback entering the final years of his career.

This leads us to another potential underlying reason.

Cousins is coming off of an Achilles tendon injury and has been injury-prone in the past.

Penix may serve as a solid insurance option for a team that desperately needed help at the quarterback position this past season.

Now, Penix has had his own injury problems in the past with multiple ACL tears, but what he has proven is that he can fight through injuries to return to an elite level of play.

I would guess that the Falcons’ choice in picking Penix would be more geared toward the latter reason, but I’m not a general manager, so take that with a grain of salt.

That being said, the Falcons choosing Penix did make life as a Vikings fan simpler.

Once the first three picks selected were all quarterbacks it really only left Penix and J.J. McCarthy as the last viable options.

The moment Penix left the board, the Vikings essentially had their hand face up on the table.

I think moving to pick No. 10 and securing our future by drafting McCarthy was certainly the right move.

Now all I’ll be waiting for is that first “J.J. to J.J. for six” call from Paul Allen.