The Atlanta Falcons made the most surprising move on the opening night of the NFL Draft on Thursday, selecting Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 overall pick. And things didn’t change much concerning the Falcons’ draft strategy in Round Two of the draft on Friday night.
Understandably, the selection of Penix Jr. was critiqued heavily by many around the NFL world considering the team just brought in Kirk Cousins this offseason. Still, it’s a somewhat defensible move considering Cousins, at the age of 35, is coming off a season where he suffered a torn Achilles.
On Friday, the Falcons confused fans even more by moving up from the No. 43 overall pick, trading with the Arizona Cardinals for the No. 35 overall pick. In the move, the Falcons also sent the Cardinals the No. 79 overall pick and received the No. 186 overall pick.
It makes sense for the Falcons to want to trade up here. A number of potential first-round picks had slipped to their pick, including the likes of Jer’Zhan Newton and Cooper DeJean.
So, did the Falcons take one of these top-tier players who had slipped? Not exactly. The Falcons selected Clemson Ruke Orhorhoro with the 35th pick.
It’s not like drafting Orhorhoro is a bad thing. He is very clearly a talented player who should help the Falcons’ interior defense right away.
But why trade up to select him and give up a third-round pick in the process? Most mock drafts certainly projected that he would be on the board at their original selection. And even then, it probably would have been seen as a pretty big reach in the eyes of most draft experts.
The Falcons also had Jer’Zhan Newton, who plays the same position, on the board at the time to potentially take over Orhorhoro.
As you would expect, many fans took to social media to offer some critical comments about the pick by the Falcons.
Penix Jr. and Orhorhoro certainly have the potential to prove everyone wrong in the future. But on paper, you certainly have to question exactly what the Falcons were thinking with their first two picks in the draft.
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The post Falcons criticized for latest head-scratching draft pick appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions .
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