Tag: Pro Dawgs

When the Atlanta Falcons selected Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 overall pick just six weeks after giving 36-year-old veteran Kirk Cousins a four-year, $180-million contract, general manager Terry Fontenot said it would be a “good problem to have” if the former Washington star didn’t see the field until the end of his rookie contract.

However, less than a year into the deal, the organization has admitted its mistake and according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, will cut Cousins after the season, officially making Penix the team’s quarterback of the future.

“[There is] a widespread expectation across the league that the Falcons will not be able to trade Cousins and will have to release him before March 17, when his $10 million roster bonus for the 2026 season comes due,” Schefter said in the report. “There is no need for the Falcons to absorb any more costs for a quarterback who they have paid $90 million for 14 games.”

Cousins has struggled mightily throughout his only season with the Falcons, leading the NFL with 16 interceptions while throwing for 3,508 yards and 18 touchdowns. However, over the last five weeks, as Cousins’ mobility concerns coming off a torn Achilles tendon have worsened, he has thrown just 1 touchdown to 9 interceptions in a stretch where the Falcons have gone just 1-4 since November 10.

Despite the struggles, Penix said he was able to learn a lot from Cousins ahead of his first NFL start on Sunday against the New York Giants.

“Just the way he processed, the way he speaks to the team in meetings on the field, just the command he has to the offense, getting things the way that he wanted so that he could play fast,” Penix said. “I look up to Kirk and to be honest, Kirk couldn’t do no wrong in my eyes, so it was like, dang, when I saw him in camp leading all the way up through the season, he’s special.”

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The Atlanta Falcons made a change at quarterback, moving from Kirk Cousins to Michael Penix Jr. with one goal in mind, making the playoffs. Sitting at 7-7, the Falcons are on the outside of the NFC playoff picture looking in and will need to win out to have any shot of making the postseason.

That path isn’t necessarily impossible, with a fairly easy schedule with the New York Giants, Washington Commanders, and Carolina Panthers ahead. If Penix can lead the Falcons to the playoffs, he’ll be in a class of his own.

According to CBS Sports’ Doug Clawson, no first-round quarterback since 1970 has made their first career start in Week 16 or later with a playoff spot on the line, giving Penix a chance to rewrite history.

Atlanta has the weapons necessary for Penix to find success right away, with a strong offensive line and a supporting cast full of productive playmakers like wide receivers Drake London and Darnell Mooney, running back Bijan Robinson, and tight end Kyle Pitts.

Penix’s arm talent and ability to breathe life into one of the NFL’s most stagnant offenses could help the Falcons run the table to close out the regular season, but to reach the playoffs, they might also need a little help. The easiest path to making the playoffs would be by winning the NFC South, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who hold a one-game lead in the division, have a similarly easy schedule.

Tampa Bay will close out the regular season with the Dallas Cowboys, Panthers, and New Orleans Saints, and is favored in all three contests. If Penix can win his first start against the Giants, that will put a lot of pressure on him in Week 17 against the Washington Commanders.

At 9-5 and led by quarterback Jayden Daniels, who beat out Penix for the Heisman Trophy in 2023, the two teams are set to meet in primetime on Sunday Night Football. However, the Commanders will meet the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 16, and although they have already locked up the NFC East, the Eagles have a chance at the No. 1 seed in the NFC and will be looking to make a push to secure that against Daniels’ team.

Everything seems to be leading up to a riveting matchup between Daniels and Penix next Sunday, and the former Husky star will have a chance to exact revenge on the LSU quarterback for beating him out for the Heisman.

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(This post was updated with new information)

After he was selected with the No. 8 overall pick, Washington Huskies and Atlanta Falcons fans alike are waiting for quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s first career start in the NFL. That will come in Week 16 against the New York Giants after an ugly 15-9 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football.

When first-year coach Raheem Morris was asked to assess veteran Kirk Cousins’ performance, the head coach wasn’t shy about his poor play.

“He’s got to play better,” Morris said after the game. “And, you know, obviously, you’ve got to go back, you’ve got to be able to look at everything. But, you know, he wants to play better. He’s got to play better. We’ve got to find a way to get him to play better. And, obviously, we’ll get to work tomorrow, and that’s part of our process, right? You go and look at the tape, you review with the people it needs to be reviewed with, you know, we get all the coordinators in the room, we’ll talk with everybody and we’ve got to play better at the quarterback position.”

In five games since November 3, Cousins has been among the NFL’s worst quarterbacks. He has thrown just 1 touchdown to 9 interceptions as the Falcons had lost four straight games before their win on Monday and have looked sluggish on offense.

Media members have been advocating for Penix to take the job, with Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz saying that the former Husky star has been the best quarterback at practice. But, due to Cousins’ four-year, $180-million contract, the Falcons were hesitant to make the move.

“I truly believe the only reason the Falcons haven’t gone to Michael Penix Jr. yet is because of optics, because the Falcons gave Kirk Cousins $100 million guaranteed,” Schultz said on Fox Sports 1’s Speak. “I’ve had players inside that locker room tell me point blank, Michael Penix Jr. is the best quarterback in this building.”

During his postgame press conference, Morris was also asked about potentially making the move to Penix after Cousins underwhelmed for more than a month.

“You know, we’ve got everybody on our roster for a reason, right?” he said. “We’ve got so much to get better at. And, like, those things will always be discussed. That’s just the nature of the beast in football. It’s just so heavily talked about at the quarterback position because there’s only one guy out there. You know, so, like for us, man, our mentality is to find a way to win the next game, and that’s just the mentality that we’re gonna have.”

That has resulted in the Falcons turning to the former Husky superstar, who will have an opportunity to shine against one of the NFL’s worst teams. The Giants have allowed an average of 5.7 yards per play, which is the No. 8 worst in the league.

While the team has two formidable pass rushers in Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns, Penix will have an exciting compliment of skill players around him, headlined by a trio of top ten picks in running back Bijan Robinson, wide receiver Drake London, and tight end Kyle Pitts.

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As the NFL season hits its final month, Baltimore Ravens rookie Roger Rosengarten continues to look like one of the biggest steals from April’s NFL draft after he was selected in the second round following two stellar years with the Washington Huskies.

Rosengarten was an integral part of the Huskies winning the Joe Moore Award in 2023 and looks like he hasn’t missed a beat at the professional level. He won the starting job at right tackle in Week Four and has been one of the league’s best rookies since then.

In Baltimore’s 35-14 win over the New York Giants on Sunday, he had one of the best games of his young career. The 6-foot-5, 315-pound tackle was dominant against New York’s strong edge rusher combination of Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns, keeping the pocket clean for two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, who made history in the win.

Not only did he become the second quarterback in NFL history to surpass 6,000 rushing yards, joining only Michael Vick, but he also became the league’s all-time leader in games with more touchdowns than incompletions. In his seventh such feat, he threw 5 touchdown passes and just 4 incompletions.

According to ESPN’s Ben Solak, Jackson also recorded the eighth game in league history of 50+ rushing yards and 5 touchdown passes. It was also the fourth of Jackson’s career and second of the season, thanks in large part to Rosengarten and the rest of the offensive line.

“Our guys just did a great job of getting open and just running their routes and catching the ball,” Jackson said after the game. “The offensive line did a great job protecting, so it was just an all-around team effort.”

Pro Football Focus gave Rosengarten an 81.2 run-blocking grade, 79.4 pass-blocking grade, and an 83 overall for his performance against the Giants as part of a dominant showing from one of the AFC’s best teams.

As the NFL regular season starts to wind down, former Washington Huskies wide receiver Jalen McMillan is starting to heat up for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Coming off a career-best performance in a victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, where he tallied 59 yards and 2 touchdowns, McMillan found the end zone yet again in Tampa Bay’s 40-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. He capped off the Bucs’ opening drive with a 26-yard score, springing free on an out-and-up route where he was wide open around the five-yard line for quarterback Baker Mayfield before strolling into the end zone.

McMillan re-upped his career-high in yards, pulling in 5 catches for 75 yards on the day along with the score as Mayfield threw for 288 yards and 4 scores in the victory.

Over the last two weeks, the third-round pick has become an integral part of Tampa Bay’s passing attack, emerging as the second option for Mayfield behind All-Pro Mike Evans. As the Buccaneers make a push to win the NFC South and secure their spot in the playoffs, McMillan looks like he’ll continue to be a key player for offensive coordinator Liam Coen.

The last time Trent McDuffie recorded an interception, he was a member of the Washington Huskies. On November 28, 2020, he sealed a 24-21 comeback victory over the Utah Utes, picking off quarterback Jake Bentley on a hail mary.

Over four years later, McDuffie has added plenty of accolades to his trophy case, including being a first-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft, finding his name on the 2023 All-Pro First Team, and two Super Bowl victories.

However, he hadn’t recorded an interception in his already impressive NFL career, but that finally came in the Kansas City Chiefs’ 21-7 victory over the Cleveland Browns.

With just over 13 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Browns quarterback Jameis Winston rolled out to his right and was looking for wide receiver Alex Wright in the end zone, but McDuffie stepped in front of the pass and was able to get his left knee inbounds for the turnover.

McDuffie’s pick came as part of a stellar day for the Chiefs’ defense, which forced six turnovers in the victory as coach Andy Reid’s team moved to 13-1 on the season.

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Jake Haener never got to live out his dream as the Washington Huskies‘ starting quarterback. After committing to coach Chris Petersen in the 2017 class, he played in four games during the 2018 season, compiling 107 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in a loss to California that was almost certainly the reason the Huskies didn’t make a second College Football Playoff appearance in three years.

But Haener stayed resilient and competed with Georgia transfer Jacob Eason for the starting job in 2019, losing the battle and eventually entering the transfer portal where he ended up at Fresno State and started for two seasons under coach Kalen DeBoer.

When DeBoer took the head coaching job at Washington, Haener was widely expected to follow him to Seattle and live out his dream as the Huskies’ starting quarterback, but due to transfer rules, he wouldn’t have been able to enroll until the summer and instead, the head coach turned to Michael Penix Jr., and the rest is history.

Haener went on to be selected by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft and after not playing in his rookie season, has appeared in six games during his second year before getting the nod to start Sunday’s matchup with the Washington Commanders following an injury to Derek Carr.

However, the game didn’t go the way Haener may have hoped. He was benched at halftime in favor of rookie Spencer Rattler, after going 4-10 for 49 yards and an interception, and was sacked three times before interim coach Darren Rizzi opted to make the change.

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The Atlanta Falcons haven’t won a game since November 3. In that time, starting quarterback Kirk Cousins has thrown no touchdown passes and 8 interceptions, leading many NFL fans to wonder if it’s time to give former Washington Huskies star Michael Penix Jr. a shot.

Atlanta selected the runner-up for the 2023 Heisman Trophy with the No. 8 overall pick, shocking football fans since the organization had given Cousins a four-year, $180 million contract just six weeks earlier. However, amid the 36-year-old’s struggles, the selection makes even more sense.

According to Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz, Penix has already proven himself to his teammates as the best quarterback on the Falcons, but the team doesn’t want to make the change yet for one glaring reason.

“I truly believe the only reason the Falcons haven’t gone to Michael Penix Jr. yet is because of optics, because the Falcons gave Kirk Cousins $100 million guaranteed,” Schultz said on Speak. “I’ve had players inside that locker room tell me point blank, Michael Penix Jr. is the best quarterback in this building.”

Cousins has thrown a league-leading 15 interceptions in his first season in Atlanta and has also fumbled 12 times as the Falcons now sit in second place in the NFC South behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, even with a weak stretch of opponents coming up, it doesn’t appear that coach Raheem Morris is ready to give Penix the nod just yet.

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