Ruke Orhorhoro pick was 'bigger reach' than Michael Penix

The biggest surprise of the NFL draft was without a doubt the Atlanta Falcons drafting Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the 8th overall pick. However, a lot of local and national media have defended the Falcons' decision even though they signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed earlier this offseason.

Another move that hasn’t been talked about as much because of the Penix pick is the Falcons trading up in the second round to select Clemson defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro with the 35th overall pick.

Atlanta originally owned the 43rd pick but traded their 43rd and 79th picks to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for picks 35 and 186 in the draft. A lot of people think the Falcons drafting Orhorhoro at 35 was a reach, and one of those people includes former vice president of player evaluation for the New York Giants Marc Ross, who explained why he thought it was “a bigger reach than Penix."

“Yeah, I think that was a bigger reach than Penix," Ross said. "I think Penix was controversial, but when they took Ruke I was like what? Yeah, I just thought he was sort of a utility backup type of talent. And I think the two players they took after him, so a little bit of a reprieve, I thought [Bralen] Trice and [Brandon] Dorlus were better players than Ruke was.”

Ross went on to reveal that after the Falcons selected Orhorhoro he actually texted someone to talk about the Falcons two draft picks.

“I actually texted someone after that pick like you know Atlanta really is struggling right now with the first two,” Ross said.

Obviously everyone has their opinions and educated guesses on what a prospect is going to be, but nobody truly knows until that prospect hits the field. Time will tell whether or not Orhorhoro truly was a reach.