The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Falcons assistant GM Kyle Smith on the state of the post-draft roster
Falcons assistant general manager Kyle Smith spoke with the media recently and several topics — in addition to why the Falcons drafted quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 pick — were discussed.
Catching everyone up on those other topics:
The no-spin zone: Smith was asked why the Falcons didn’t try to improve the defense, which ranked 11th (yards allowed, 321.1), 20th (rushing yards allowed, 118.2), eighth (passing yards allowed, 202.9) and 18th (points allowed, 21.9) in the league last season.
“It’s always best player available on our board,” Smith said, although, “we do value certain positions over other positions, and if it’s all equal, you’re looking at need.”
Some positions — i.e., quarterback — are more valuable than others. “You’re looking at positional values, you’re looking at all those things,” Smith said. “But at the end of the day, we’ve been the same. We’ve been consistent. ... Use free agency to set yourself up for the draft so you can go in there and pick best player available for you.”
Why both quarterbacks? Smith was asked why the team needed both quarterbacks — free-agent signee Kirk Cousins and Penix. It was surmised that the Falcons could have spent free-agency money on defense if they knew they were drafting Penix.
“You’re getting into the hypotheticals of it all,” Smith said. “If everything was the same and we went in there we didn’t hit, say, we didn’t have any quarterbacks on our roster, we just sit there at eight and pick a quarterback . ... That’s the way the process works. ... We identify first in February how many quarterbacks that we think are going to go; it could be 12. In the first round, six, eight, whatever it is this year. We thought there would be six. I was wrong. I thought four would go before us. But thought there would be six that would go.
“So, now you take that number. We think there’s going to be 12 first-round quarterbacks this year. We shut the doors and take all the grades and we take all the scouts’ opinions and coaches’ opinions (and look at) character, makeup, everything that goes into it.
“(Coach) Raheem (Morris) and (GM) Terry (Fontenot)’s job is to sit there and say of these 12, who are we going to (take)? Who (are) the guys we believe in?”
The Falcons weren’t certain Penix would be available with the eighth pick.
“So, essentially, what we’ve
done is, we have Kirk Cousins, who we believe in,” Smith said. “What we did to get Kirk Cousins should tell everybody what we believe about Kirk Cousins. He’s our guy. We set ourselves up. In the draft, Michael Penix was there and it’s a quarterback, a young quarterback that we believe in. We pulled the trigger.”
The Falcons knew an uproar would ensue. Most draftniks predicted the Falcons would take a defensive player with their No. 8 pick, either Alabama outside linebacker Dallas Turner, UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu or Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy.
“Part of the reason I think that nobody had us taking (a quarterback) was because we have a quarterback,” Smith said. “We have Kirk Cousins. If we signed a one-year quarterback in free agency or you don’t do anything ... you get put into the category of ‘they could take one.’ There were still teams beyond the top 12 that we think could take quarterbacks. It’s just how does it fall out? So, you’re just trying to prepare yourself either way.”
The Falcons take a five-year approach: Are they OK at the position for the next five years? Cousins will be 36 when the season starts. Unless he’s Georgia Blanda (48), Tom Brady (45) or Brett Favre (41), he’s not playing into his 40s.
“We feel we’re in a great position because we’ve got Kirk Cousins, who we believe in to the highest degree,” Smith said. “We have Michael Penix that we believe in. So, for the next five years, again, we feel great about the position.”
Hit rate, bust rate at QB: The Falcons were well-aware of the hit-and-bust rate at quarterback and they were right in the middle of the recent bust-rate of the 2021 draft.
In perhaps the greatest quarterback draft ever, in 1983, there were big hits with three future members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame: John Elway (more than 51,000 yards passing), Jim Kelly (35,000) and Dan Marino (61,000).
Tony Eason (11,000 yards passing), Ken O’Brien (25,000) and Todd Blackledge (5,000) also were taken in that draft, all ahead of Marino.
In the 1999 draft, Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb and Akili Smith went 1, 2, and 3. Daunte Culpepper went 11th and Cade McNown 12th. Smith and McNown were busts, and Couch didn’t live up to his draft position.
“It’s the hardest position to evaluate . ... Those numbers that we’ve all seen and look at, that tells you that, but ... the mistakes that you make, that anybody probably makes at the position, is because you need it so badly,” Smith said.
In 2021, when Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson and Trey Lance went 1, 2 and 3, the Falcons took tight end Kyle Pitts with the fourth overall pick, passing on quarterbacks Justin Fields and Mac Jones.
Since the rookie salary cap was put in place after the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, teams have been more willing to gamble on quarterbacks in the draft. There’s no major salary cap penalty if the player doesn’t work out.