Michel Penix Jr. made his first NFL start on Sunday for the Atlanta Falcons against the New York Giants.
It was a successful debut for the former University of Washington star who the Giants had an opportunity to draft this past April. The Giants chose LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers with the sixth pick. Two spots later, the Falcons surprised everyone by taking Penix.
They had recently inked veteran Kirk Cousins to a massive free agent deal and Atlanta taking a quarterback that early in the draft was not on many experts’ bingo cards.
No one complained at the time that the Giants took Nabers over Penix and no one is moaning about it now. Nabers has had a record-breaking year for the Giants but on Sunday, Penix made it clear that the Falcons may have gotten the better of the situation for both the short and the long term.
The Giants still need a quarterback. They rolled the dice on Daniel Jones in 2019 and lost. In the six years they were trying to make things work with Jones, they watched a river of quarterback talent flow by them in the draft while they concentrated on other needs.
Justin Herbert, Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts, Brock Purdy, Bo Nix and Penix could have all been Giants had the team realized sooner that Jones was not the long-term answer.
That selection can be tied back to the team’s previous general manager, Dave Gettleman. The Giants fell in love with Jones, locked themselves into him, and out of the many better options to come.
Gettleman was also the man who decided to select running back Saquon Barkley second overall in the 2018 NFL draft bypassing such talent as Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Sam Darnold.
Just this season alone, the Giants have been schooled by Hurts, Darnold, Jackson, and now Penix.
Gettleman called Barkley a “gold jacket” guy who was “touched by the hand of God.” He also compared him to Barry Sanders, which was a perfect comp as Sanders was a great player on a bad team most of his career and never won anything.
While some people might believe that Barkley was a solid pick, he wasn’t right for a rebuilding team. As we’ve stated before, he’s the final piece to a puzzle, not the first one. That’s why he’s on a Hall of Fame trajectory with the first-place Philadelphia Eagles right now.
The Giants will likely be selecting first in the 2025 NFL draft and deservedly so. They will have their pick of quarterbacks and maybe finally get this trainwreck of a franchise turned around.
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