Falcons Cut 2024 Draft Pick for UFL’s Leading Rusher, RG3’s Bold Predictions | Falcons Podcast
and we are live on YouTube and Twitter let’s bring in our Facebook groups here real quick group Atlanta Falcons on SI we’ll get going it is a sunny another rainy it’ll rain today rains every day these days so uh we’ll uh we’ll it’s sunny right now though so enjoy it let me retweet this post here let me drop this in the chat too so if any of y’all are on Twix you know maybe you can give me a retweet here but we’re good to go welcome in everybody this is the Falcons podcast i am your host Scott Kennedy over here on this side is a sleepy Nick Kendall who is uh who’s who battles to be with us over caffeinates nick how are you doing today my friend tired i think I look tired too but no it’s good i was with uh Natalie in the hospital last night they’re still treating her and everything she’s had terrible headaches cuz she had a spinal tap and I guess the when you sit up after a spinal tap they take like a bunch of cerebral spinal fluid and when you sit up there’s less like in your brain so your brain like presses it comes down with the gravity and it’s like oh my god my head hurts so bad so that’s what we’re dealing with now but she didn’t mild concussion yeah yeah so she’s um I guess in as good spirits as you can be uh but I’ve been hanging out there every night and uh forcing her to eat before she has to stop eating for potential tests and everything the next day so it’s been a process uh shout out to my mother-in-law who flew out and has been here at least like staying at the house while the little guy sleeps so I have the ability to go so she’s not alone in that tiny hospital room so yeah I have my second it wasn’t too long before I was back close to grandma mom I need help yeah so it’s been a long two and a half weeks now at this point but uh hopefully some good things and uh improvement on the horizon hopefully a light at the end of the tunnel i know there’s uh you know it’s not a train yeah that’s a good Metallica song by the way no Leaf Clover done with I think like the San Francisco Phil Harmonica Orchestra oh man it’s bad it’s It’s awesome the bad good the good bad red Swarm he says you know looking for looking forward to your wife you’ve got some a lot of people in here thinking about you and uh want to say hello to some folks i’m going to set the set the stage real quick you know what are we going to do in the middle of June well turns out there’s plenty to talk about you know if you look at the the the cover art that we put together you know the Falcons made a transaction they cut another 2024 draft pick they had three six round picks two of them are gone one of them might be the the last one and um bring in the former U uh UFFL’s leading rusher uh had a cup of coffee played a lot of special teams with the New York Giants we’ll talk about him a little bit uh we’ll get into uh RG3 a little bit uh Robert Griffin Jr was on went through a big uh Twix thread just gushing gushing about the Atlanta Falcons so if you haven’t seen that even if you have we’ll talk a little bit about that then we’ll see what’s on your mind with guys like Denver Luke coming in here nice and early getting the super chat breaking the ice for us remember this is the best way to support the show we certainly appreciate it Luke and all the support you show us says “Good morning Scott and Nick and Falcon fam.” That’s right back at you i’ll drink to that john Herrell is here so good morning everybody good morning right back at you austin Fry says “Good morning i was surprised to see they cut a draft pick.” Yeah and y’all know how I’ve talked about this draft class since it was drafted it was that this was a and I’ve called it a red shirt class you know that there wasn’t anybody drafted that was going to contribute in 2024 which is just kind of weird honestly it was a little strange but you know you don’t judge a draft class for three four years down the line sometimes maybe even a little longer and that was literal they took that literally uh in in Flowy Branch last year with that draft class because they red shirted the whole class that said Nick with later round draft picks when you take guys you don’t need it’s hard to make a team it’s hard to make a team so Zion Log was cut uh didn’t make the 53 last year signed off the practice squad ended up in Buffalo and now Jace Mlullen running back from Alabama again another one that was just not sure why they made the pick to begin with it was he wasn’t needed uh he’s been cut that said I won’t be surprised if we see him again somewhere this summer if he if he bounces back like “Hey don’t pack your bags kid well this is just a a administrative move to move someers around we’ll see you on Monday.” Yeah i don’t it’s not and it’s never a good thing obviously to move on from your draft picks one year removed uh from the draft but I don’t ever sweat too much you know the fifth sixth seventh round picks because a lot of times your UDFAs are of similar ilk uh if you will uh the big concern here is that like you I would really expect this if you had a complete regime change you know new coaching staff in here new schemes new general manager those aren’t our guys see you I’d rather have a UDFA that’s my guy not the case uh this is this regime’s players so a little bit concerning there uh but again I’m not going to lose too much sleep over the fifth sixth seventh round picks cuz they are essentially penny stocks uh but it to have two in just one year removed is still not a good look no you you need those guys to flush out the back end of your roster so you have more salary cap flexibility and the guy they’re bringing in um isn’t overly expensive either i mean he’s he’s not guaranteed to make the roster but you need those you need especially if you take three now is Casey Washington ever going to be anything for the Atlanta Falcons i’m not holding my breath i don’t hold my breath on any six round pick but you’re hoping with three of those guys she’ll at least get some some contributions down the line but for me it it just it just made the whole draft last year was just so weird you know again you didn’t take a single player that you were counting on actually playing that’s just weird i mean that I’ve been following the draft since 1988 nobody does that uh you know and again we’ve said and will continue to say yes if you hit on your quarterback nothing else matters and and I still say that and yes you can’t judge a draft class until two three years down the road well the early returns have probably been as bad as anybody in the NFL when it comes to contributions thus far but if you hit on Michael Penn all bets are off your draft was an A if you hit on Michael Penn and Ruk Rojo a defensive tackle your draft was an A+ so if you get two stars out of that draft which is what you’re counting on right now but we haven’t seen it then the the rest just it doesn’t matter it’s just this is just kind of reinforcing the idea that last year’s draft was just kind of strange to me Nick yeah I always come back to the uh 2017 Chiefs draft though i think we’ve talked about it a bit uh where they traded a future first uh to move up to was it 10 overall 10 or 12 I can’t remember if he was the second or third quarterback drafted uh and then in that draft they take Mahomes obviously best player most valuable player drafted in a decade maybe maybe more than that uh they also in the second round take Tano Passeno if you remember him Villanova great Tano Passeno I did take Hunt in the third that was a good pick but then Jay Hugh Chess wide receiver from Michigan didn’t do anything Elguay I don’t remember that name Leon on McQuay i do remember that one so but they hit on Mahomes nothing else mattered after that so you’re right if you hit on that quarterback then those rest of those pieces there they’re not necessarily fodder but they’re just bonuses uh and you you’re right also if a Ruka Rojo uh becomes a quality starter not even necessarily an allp pro but you know like somebody who’s second contract going to be a good valuable player that’s and panics hits then you’re talking uh so you know that’s that’s what it’s all about for this team this Falcons team you want to have more right now the I wouldn’t say that Terry Fontau has been an excellent drafter by any means uh he’s been as you always like to say he’s been much better on the pro side of things uh but really the lifeblood is the draft and you know time is the grains of sand in the hourglass are kind of starting to run thin there um if this is another bad draft if again another guy out in this last draft class as well it’s rough here here’s what I think about that we won’t find out you know we might not We might not find out you know as much as I blame Thomas Deitro for the last five year seven years of well 10 years of Falcons failings even when they were playing well doing well there was still glaring it was just such an imbalanced roster and then after 2016 you know then then to to ruin your salary cap for the next half decade was pretty inexcusable that said by the time he addressed the offensive lines by the time he addressed some of the defensive players it was too late so they’re on a one-year deal as far as I’m concerned you’re in year five you know if the Falcons don’t play well this year don’t make the playoffs then they’re I’m I’m guessing I’m predicting that the Falcons make a sweep of Terry Fontau i mean sorry you don’t get a six-year rebuilding plan you know five years is enough that’s a lifetime if you don’t have a winning season in your first five years you shouldn’t get a sixth uh I mean five years is enough i know the problems they’ve they went through i’ve apologized for a lot of the problems and tried to set expectations for a lot of the problems but if I went into a job interview for a general manager and said “Hey this is my six-year plan.” They’d say “Okay next.” You know that’s not their expectations that’s not Terry Font’s expectations these draft classes could end up being good in two or three years but they’ve got to hit now and I think we’ll see we’re we’re not going to see another red shirt year we’re going to see these guys play and play early and hopefully for their sake i mean I I’ve got nothing against Terry Fno i I want him to succeed these guys hit and now you’ve got your pass rush you know you’ve got a franchise a cornerstone safety and Xavier Watts you know a future leader you’ve got your future captain for the next decade in Jaylen Walker you’ve got Michael Penn out there for the next decade also you’ve got your number one wide receiver uh in Drake London for you know the next 10 years too you’ve got all these pieces but now it’s got to come together and win otherwise someone else is going to reap the rewards of those good pieces if they don’t get it together and win this year yep yeah no absolutely you’re correct so I I think the clock is ticking on this font regime and he’s had enough uh cycles here but a penex lot can be forgiven a lot can be forgiven so Trenton by the way did anyone actually think the running back from BAM would ever actually play i didn’t third back I mean you still hope that he provides depth obviously didn’t have a pathway but you were relatively lucky that neither of your top two backs went down last season uh so you still want to be behind Carlos Washington that too yep you know I mean that’s the thing it’s like Trenton did you And that’s why I said it was the draft was a little bit weird was did anybody think that the the third running back from Bama the fourth running back you didn’t say that Trenton i put that those words in your mouth would ever actually play no so let me think on this why did you take him you know sometimes I feel y’all that this best player available thing gets taken to the extreme with with Terry Fontau and the Falcons c Pitts Kyle and you know it’s like oh well he’s number one on our board at running back well maybe we can use him on special teams we we’ve got three running backs what do we need a running back for well he’s top on our board yeah but there’s no place for him yeah but he’s top on our board he’s best player available well you do that in the top 10 you know not in the So this was a a bit of a strange pick overall for me and u you know Carlos Washington I see that one a little bit they they could use if they get lucky they they need some depth at wide receiver zion log you can absolutely see as far as long term but with Grady with Taequin with David Anyada then with Doris with Ruka Rojo there wasn’t a spot for him again last year’s draft was was just a little strange did you ever think he was that he was going to play no I didn’t so why’d you take him that was just kind of strange michael good to see you the sunrise i know it’s hot out there it’s just muggy muggy and rainy here in in the southeast but I know it’s hot out there in the desert we’d love to send you a little bit of rain hopefully it doesn’t just turn into a desert here in August September and October after it’s been raining for three straight months here good to see you Michael appreciate you being with us smooth C78 good morning uh he’s he’s taking a sip i’ll drink to that one joseph from Ocala heading your way next week i’ll be coming through u I’m not sure when got to look at the baseball schedule but I’ll be coming through coming through Ocala and uh that direction here in the next week i’ll wave when I go by down in Naples James Boswick’s here s he’s out west uh good morning Nick he’s glad to see you uh Master Kioski good to see you as well any that feels like a new name i don’t recognize that one uh Falcons cut this dude is rocking Brockens gear says everything about this team uh let this guy hold in Henny this is new you are new he’s been doing this for five years and you know I I think we probably got a decent chance just to you know see the end of you so goodbye i wanted to say hello but you know you come in acting like that then goodbye um again as I always say you didn’t get I I got people he’ll people like that they go on to other message boards other tits i got cut for just saying the truth no no you didn’t you got cut for being an [ __ ] that’s why you got banned i don’t care me and Nick they disagree all the time we disagree about the Falcons offensive line we disagree about stuff all the time but we have a good conversation about it and we have a good conversation with y’all and if you’re not here for that you can go somewhere else that’s fine there’s plenty of other options carrie great to see you miss you on Monday says “Good morning Scott and Nick hope you had a nice Father’s Day one day closer to football.” Yes it is uh and and Bryce you know he says “Last year’s draft outside of Penn was one of the worst nobody even played.” Now the early returns again the early returns and I’ll repeat myself again i apologize but we do have a lot of new viewers but the Monday after the draft I said “This draft makes sense if you throw win now out the window mhm if you just forget about win now and say we’re we’re really focusing on 2026 when we get out from under Kurt Cousins contract uh we’ll put in Michael Penn we’ve got Rrook to replace David on andor Grady we got Doris in here we’re building the trenches uh you know we’ve got a developmental edge that we’re not expecting to play in Brilland Trikes maybe he can turn into something but we’re going to have our quarterback we’ve got you know some good pieces on offense already 2026 that all makes sense what never made sense was that okay then why’d you put $100 million into Kirk Cousins that that never made any sense if you were going to then keep your roster construction the way you were so again you want the immediate returns when we we want to see we want to see James Pierce Jr and Jaylen Walker out there with their hair on fire and get 15 sacks a piece that’s probably conservative most people want to see 25 sacks between the two of them we want to see that but if they don’t it’s okay it’s okay they they if they if they show progress as a first round guys that’s okay so you can’t we want to see it early but you really can’t judge a draft until like year three year three is when you can really start saying “Okay how did this draft class look?” And it’s hard to do it really is Nick it’s hard to be patient because by God we want to see Jaylen Walker we want to see James Pearson we want to see them succeed right now but the realistic take is that it might take a year or two and we judge the class in year three but the early returns on last year’s class were never going to be good because they didn’t draft anybody that was going to play they drafted guys to replace their 30-year-old starters yeah without a doubt it’s kind of an investment obviously that that’s what the draft is and the long-term health of the roster and you’re putting in these assets and sometimes it’s like okay let’s not be too reactionary right let’s see where it is 3 four years from now and then we can judge whether it was a good pick or not but you don’t want to be too volatile and reactionary with your assessment of players now granted some of it is dependent on the timeline of where your roster is at uh the positions you take where these guys are taken like Bjan Robinson right like I eighth overall pick he needs to be pretty darn good pretty quickly and you should know based on him being a top 10 pick at running back if it was a if he’s a good player or not but a day two somewhat still raw defensive tackle one of those developmental positions where I mean there’s good players in college but it’s a different league in the NFL when it comes to the lines of scrimmage uh especially with the the difference in the offensive lines in college to the NFL it’s night and day so those positions take a little time and you’re hoping to see flashes and upward trajectory not exactly you know linear growth but the trend line going up uh and that’s over time um as you said three I I’d even say completion of three years uh for some of these positions as well uh then you should get an idea and it’s also not all drafting uh as well you know that’s I I don’t know who’s came up with the analogy but it’s kind of like you’re cooking a big meal the draft is going out and getting the ingredients the coaching staff is the cooks and they need to take the ingredients and make something of it so again it’s draft and develop and that’s been a problematic as well uh on the Falcon side of things and and that’s what I say you know is it possible that Font they make this is silly you hope this doesn’t come to but it’s June y’all so bear with me mhm is it possible that they go eight and nine seven and 10 and Terry Fontau is back because the coaching staff fell flat on their faces that’s what I meant by saying that someone else could end up reaping the rewards of these last two drafts um Arthur Smith and now Raheem Morris are getting the benefit of the best guard in football aj Terrell those are nice pieces that you know but by the time that Deitro finally addressed the defensive the offensive line it was too late it was too late so uh you know there were holes in there there were holes at in the interior line they couldn’t put teams away at the end of games and with with a not a good enough defense and not a good enough running game they couldn’t put teams away and we know how many times and how often that came back to bite the Atlanta Falcons through the years of their glory days when they were really good teams how how bad that that came to to get them now did you wait so long to address the pass rush in the defense that you don’t get the immediate returns you need in 2025 because it takes a little time but all of a sudden in three years Jaylen Walker and James Pierce Jr are absolute freaking monsters and we retroactively sing the praises of of Terry Font no that’s that’s one of the things that worries me about this uh you know did did they wait too long you know to to do this and you know if they had that’s my big concern you know as far as that could happen so but you know it it for sure the Terry this draft when we look back on it it doesn’t really even it doesn’t even rely on PennX Rook and Trice it relies on PennX if Penn hits this draft was a success trice I have zero expectations for some I think one of our one of our friends on on Twitter put together a list of how the Falcons get like 48 sacks possible i think that’s actually a good number and he had me until I saw six and a half for Brilland Trice i’m like my my number for Brilen Trice for the overunder is 0.5 those are those are my expectations for him it wouldn’t surprise me if he started the season on the the the pup list wouldn’t surprise me at all um but but Penn if Penn hits nothing else matters nothing else matters this was a successful draft you you would trade three first round draft picks and change for a 10-year franchise quarterback absolutely yeah and to be fair also what a hit is we’re talking about it as a binary outcome but it’s categorical right like if he ends up being a top five 10 quarterback that’s different than him being starting caliber top 20 you know so we’ll see this is going to be a big season for him i do think the infrastructure is in place for him to be have a very good season i do want to also guard uh and put out there that I think it’s possible he can have a very good statistical season but still have some questions uh based on the volume and the reality that we don’t know what the defense is like if the defense is let’s just say just a half notch better than last season i’m expecting a lot of drop back attempts i’m expecting a lot of numbers from Penn that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a fantastic quarterback cuz we’ve seen quarter quarterbacks with terrible defenses on the other side put up some volume stats uh so still you want to see him manage the game and uh but still I mean plenty of reason to be excited obviously and it’s almost unfair there’s so much expectation on him but you know I don’t think you’d rather have it any other way right he’s starting NFL quarterback he should want it on his shoulders so uh going to be man fascinated to watch what he looks like this season and if this quarterback 2024 draft class of quarterbacks can be maybe one of the best ones since 83 I mean it’s it’s pretty phenomenal looking right now Scott well Just before we get too far away from from where we were uh cuz we’re going to circle back to Michael Penn and RG3 I wanted to put a bow on um just Corbin the Falcons who signed he he led the the UFFL in rushing this past year and he he’s been now a professional since 2021 so he’s been in the pros a professional football player 22 23 24 25 so four years he’s now with the Atlanta Falcons he got a cup of coffee was mainly a special teams guy with the New York Giants played a lot on special team for the Giants had his best season with Florida State in 2021 he went for almost 900 yards and seven touchdowns and he caught 25 passes for 150 yards so Deshawn Corbin is who they brought in uh they cut Jayce Mlen their former sixth round pick so again I don’t think we’ve probably seen the end of these guys these guys yo-yo on and off the back end of the roster all the time i mean all the time so we might not have seen the end of Jace but that was the move that was made yesterday um and the other thing that that happened here in the last you know couple days since we’ve last seen you was was Robert Griffin Jr rg3 was literally just raving about uh about Michael Penn and the Atlanta Falcons let me uh let me drop the the story you wrote up on it for uh you know so you can read it on your own time as well but here RG3 makes bold Michael Pennix Jr and Falcons predictions let me drop this in the chat for y’all um if you haven’t seen this seen this yet we’re going to I thought I hit controlV controlv paste there we go u but you know he he started off basically saying he’s going to be the breakout quarterback of the year in the NFL this year he’s got he will show off his elite arm talent and um he led the league showing his poise and this is what’s interesting to me is the the poise he showed because he was thrown directly into the fire he had Darnell Mooney kind of salty last year about first time I ever saw a pass from this guy was this week you know uh as as things were kind of going downhill at the end of the season but he led the NFL with 17.3 yards per completion when under pressure says that’s that’s an important trait for a young quarterback to have goes through the list of Falcons uh goes through the list of Falcons weapons which we know are really good on the skill side of things and um let’s see he says uh you know with a uh with a a entire off season and secondyear offensive coordinator Zack Robinson this offense will be the most exciting one Atlanta has had since the historic 2016 one Griffin concluded big words Nick so uh you know that’s uh again big things for Michael Penn Jr best offense from 2016 by the way anybody who remember who the NFL MVP was in 2016 matt Ryan matt Ryan was so big words from uh from RG3 he’s got a he’s got an advocate and the hype is definitely building for this offense and Michael Penn Jr this offseason Nick it’s been growing and growing and growing they still say seven and a half wins but there’s big expectations starting on from the national national side of things for Michael Penn Jr and the Atlanta Falcons offense yeah I think that definitely the word exciting is what I do lean into as well uh because I’m expecting Penn to be a very flashy player this season with the arm talent some of the throws that he’s willing to make I mean you some of the throws you could hang laundry on them they are literally you know clothesline uh lasers out there uh he’s going to have some misses i’m going to be curious to see what it looks like with him managing football games you know the two-minute drills making the correct reads if he can correct and improve upon some of his accuracy uh some of them is he’s like a really fun three-point shooter but some of them are just way off and it’s like ah you know I don’t know if I that one looks weird but I also don’t want him to rain it in right like that’s what makes him good he needs to keep shooting uh but like the actual managing of the game sometimes I again coming back to exciting like last season the Kansas City Chiefs were one of the most boring offenses in football but they ended up being one of the most efficient offenses in football that’s because how the defenses were playing them what was going on with the weapons in Kansas City etc etc uh but it’s not always exciting isn’t always the best word for winning football games and again that’s not all on PennX uh because of the defense and where they’re at everything but I’m curious to see again we know he has the arm talent can he tune up the accuracy how does he work managing the game making the right reads keeping them on time uh the NFL has changed over the last two three seasons the games have gotten gotten shorter uh field position sacks turnovers are being highlighted ever more uh I think we’re down like one and a half possessions per game per team over the last three seasons so all that stuff really matters uh for quarterbacking right now but again exciting without a doubt and that’s not just Penn it’s the offensive line drake London entering year is this year four year three of Drake London i can’t I can’t 23 24 it’s year four so we’re working on fifth year option yep okay yeah year four i mean London’s going to get a big contract i’m really excited to see what he can do he did me well last season uh in fantasy until he got dinged up a little bit but and then also Bjon of course too so again very much exciting and they’re going to be a team what is it it’s the red zone it’s the quad box right you get four games on it’s like well I’m not really the average fan like you know the Falcons I want to see what Penn looks like that’s that’s fun uh so I think that’s that’s kind of where the Falcons are at right now the way you described him early was reminiscent of you know when I when I think of arm strength there’s two guys that immediately come to mind for me as like you know when we hear the word generational well these actually were generational arms uh they’re 10 years apart and they’re 40 and 30 years older is John Elway and Brett Favre and both of those had the gunslinger mentality that they had to mature out of where they thought they could throw the ball into any open spaces when they were first year starters they were 23 years old and they were thrown in you know now Brett Favre took a red shirt in Atlanta before he went up to Green Bay and started but he wasn’t exactly mature one of the reasons why he was out of Atlanta is because he was not mature and um he you know he as a 23-y old guy but I think as a 25-year-old player with all that experience and and the game has changed it used to be okay that you’d throw 20 interceptions in a year you know now that was fairly normal for even Pro Bowl quarterbacks to throw 15 plus you know now 15 plus is going to get you benched it’s the the ball security and then the rules have changed so much too to open up the passers and clean pockets and everything that that uh you know you don’t expect that so I don’t know that he’s going to put the ball in harm’s way as much as he’s willing to risk stretching the defense a little bit which is something that is sorely needed from this team to open things up for Bjan Robinson as well and then we’ll see underneath uh you know what can Kyle Pitts do will Kyle Pitts have a little bit more space again when he catches the ball in stride I remember seeing it once in four years when he catches it in stride and unwinds those long legs of his man it’s pretty it is absolutely pretty i don’t want to see him contested catches all the time or hook routes you know i don’t want to see him catching from a standing position i want to see him in on the move slant God that’d be okay with me robbie Red good to see you as well thank you for the super chat my friend especially this time of year helps keep the lights on keeps his forehead nice and shiny thank you for uh for bringing that in and Jet Jones is here as well and he says “Good morning Scott nick he’s got some prayers going for your wife and family Nick i know uh you know it’s it’s some something we’re all thinking about pretty constantly like it’s it’s been kind of no news is well it’s still tough news right now um but it’s stabilized and hopefully we start getting some improvements for uh for Natalie here soon uh what’s on your mind out there uh you know Troy comes in troy we’re live just just in case you have I missed you asking he says can’t wait until Ellis and Floyd are showing out we have a a defensive coordinator a former linebacker calling plays going to be bringing the heat the corners and safeties going to be on lockdown duty and um yes Troy and what I like is there’s while there’s not an elite investment in new players on the backside there’s more people competing you know okay well you’re talking about Kobe Bryant could win well he’s an undrafted free agent that doesn’t exactly fill you with hope yeah but Kobe Bryant was a really good college player who we thought could be a third or fourth round draft pick at one point and if he’s putting pressure on the guys that are there that’s a good thing you know D Alford’s back right now he’s listed as the number one nickel that’s scary yeah but Billy Bowman’s there too clark Phillips is coming in too you know with the competition someone competition the iron sharpens iron thing and it might not be you know first round draft picks but there’s competition back there and it’s going to make everybody better and that’s that’s one of the things I’m looking forward to as well Troy and and again the linebackers there you’re not counting on Troy Anderson if Troy Anderson comes in great but you got Devon Diablo that’s that’s my starter right now i can count on him right now for 15 17 games troy’s a wild card yeah uh without a doubt so I just uh coming back to RG3’s point here before wrap it on up here Scott because I think I got to run upstairs to help with the baby um who’s waking up before I start the Broncos show uh what could keep this offense from from being exciting this season what are the the pitfalls uh from the most exciting since 2016 uh I think we kind of maybe a little overlap with our conversation Monday as well but you know the Kurt Cousins was a veteran uh granted he couldn’t move last season but he would get the ball out quickly uh not take sacks you know make sure he’s making mostly the right reads even if the arm didn’t always get there uh but I come back to again I think you’re a little more bullish on the entirety of the offensive line than I am and I I am scared to death of Caleb McGary I think still i mean you they’re going to do things to protect him but just all the tight formations and what they did uh run game designwise when Arthur Smith was here to do everything they could to not isolate uh Mcgiri and now you have him as a blind side protector in an offense that’s probably going to be a little bit more wide open uh and if your defense is still let’s say instead of what were they last season 31st let’s say the 20th still going to be plenty of true obvious dropback situations where he’s a gonna be on an island uh to some extent so I’m curious real quick Nick I have a question for you and I want to see if you come up with the same answer that I do other than Michael Penn obviously if I need to compensate for Caleb McGary on the right side I need to help him who does that hurt the most in 2025 probably Kyle Pitts kyle Pitts Kyle Pitts because it means I’m seeing a lot more Charlie Warner over there because Charlie Warner is if not the He’s in the argument for the best blocking tight end in the NFL he’s he’s in the argument and as we moved along last year we saw more snaps from Charlie Warner than we saw Kyle Pittz if Caleb McGary struggles that hurts Kyle Pittz as much as anybody on the Atlanta Falcons not named Michael Penn yeah the one other one I think is Bejan uh because if you’re going to be kept in to chip a lot you’re not going to be able to be unleashed as a route runner you’re not going to see those Texas routes angles routes uh wheel whatever you want to call it uh in that front which I think limits the explosive ability and Bejon’s a decent route runner uh out there for the running back position so you can’t fully weaponize him uh if you are going to have to keep him in at home to chip and be more of a a dump off option where he can release off of that chip uh if you need to go say goodbye and get get moving I’m going to I’ll hang out here for another you know until we slow down to the point and I I need to go but I’ll hang out with everybody if you need to get going so give us say goodbye i’m going to help real quick but yeah thanks everybody uh we’ll see you again next Monday i appreciate all the the wellw wishes um it’s been a long two weeks but hopefully uh good news and improvement on the horizon and again shout out to the mother-in-law for flying out on the uh at the drop of a hat uh to hang out with uh and take care of everything so that way I’ve been spending every night until midnight you know pretty late so I’m tired today uh but it’s all good so appreciate the well wishes and I’ll see other folks over on the Broncos show here in about 20 minutes all right thanks Nick we’ll talk to you later uh Holden Hatfield that feels like a new name as well um so welcome in glad you’re here he says ‘What is the biggest improvement Zack Robbins can make this year zack Robinson offensive coordinator first year as a play caller last year the uh I I put it in the headline a few times was bizarre the the uh first game against the Steelers was bizarre i’m like it was so bad they can’t be repeated it won’t happen again and it didn’t they made immediate corrections and the Falcons finished with the number six total offense last year despite the fact that Kurt Cousins was wretched for a six-game stretch in the middle of the season still finished number six what can they be better at this year they can be better at red zone efficiency would solve a lot of problems now part of that also on the scoring per drive is going to be not having the worst kicking game in the NFL which the Falcons did last year so Young Way Coup being healthy will help with the points as well how many points did the Falcons leave on the board in the last half of the season after Cous started playing with an injury when the Falcons would get inside the 40 and have to go for it a lot of times I want to go for it i mean that’s no man’s land if it’s fourth and two on the 38 yard line I want to go for that i’ve I’ve always analytics have finally backed that up that people say “Yeah you want to go for that there rather than mishit a punt and kick it into the damn end zone and you only gained 18 net yards go for it.” But the Falcons if they got inside the 40 fourth and long they were forced to go for it at this point instead of kicking field goals and then inside uh anything between 40 and 50 yards became a a flip of the coin on his on if this goes in or not but for me Holden Hatfield the biggest improvement Zack Robbins and the Atlanta Falcons offense could make this year is red zone efficiency is putting points on the board they move the ball really well inside the 20s um up into the red zone i I’d say my soccer mentality calls those boxto box is the scoring zone so they were a good boxto box team between the 20s and they’d get down there and they they’d miss fire on chances to score touchdowns and then they’d miss field goals so that would be my number one answer right there for the biggest improvement that the Falcons and Zack Robbins can make is uh is scoring efficiency on that one good question um Jimmy and and this is a this is a good comment and you’re right i am going to disagree with you on this that’s okay like I said it’s not about agreeing or disagreeing it’s about respecting each other’s uh discussions on here he said “It’s my unpopular opinion but Cousins should start and Pennix needs to mature his game one more season under Cousins and his mentor Ryan nothing negative against Penn but it’s just my take.” Well they’ve had a couple of conversations it’s not really a mentor in Matt Ryan it’s just a a resource and you know to quote one of the most hated figures in I’m not even positive he said it i heard I’ll say I saw Shane Stiken say it so I’ll quote him from last year you get better by playing okay so this isn’t a 20-year-old kid a threeandout NFL guy a college guy which you know Matt Stafford was matt Stafford play was just in in the in in college for three seasons a lot of those guys that were there for uh that came out as juniors as quarterbacks back in the day they were even fourth year juniors they’d red shirt red shirt freshman red shirt sophomore red shirt junior and then they’d come out after their junior seasons it was four years that’s changed here recently with all the money in college football if you’re not a first round draft pick man go back to college football you’ll make more money so these guys are coming out older and more mature much many more reps under their belt michael Pennix is going to get better by playing i don’t an entire off seasonason of learning he He watched the game last year man I’m ready to see him play and this this is also for Jimmy this is also under the assumption that you don’t think Kurt Cunnix is cooked kurt Kirk Cousins is washed is is cooked that’s also the assumption because there’s a lot of people out there that think that Kurt Cousins isn’t ever going to be the quarterback that uh that you that they they paid for basically um and if he was you know maybe the Falcons would have gotten a better tradeoffer for him this off season so no I’m I’m fully and I was last year too you know JJ McCarthy is one thing he played in a different type of offense didn’t have a lot of reps and he was young he was 21 years old two 20 three 24 year old quarterbacks got drafted in the first round three of them jaden Daniels playoffs bo Knicks playoffs michael Pennix you’re backing up Kirk Cousins missed the playoffs i’m I’m for I’m for Michael Penn learning on the job this year and improving that’s the only way i I just think he’s done enough uh time off the field time to see him on the field that’s that’s what I think about that but I appreciate the comment i thought it was a good one archangel good one to see you here uh good to see you here and a good question good morning Grand Ring scotty what’s your thoughts on the best battle that no one is talking about right now the kicker position is that a battle you think you think Lenny Craig has a chance to beat a healthy young way but that’s the question is he That’s a a good name for somebody too is Young Wu 100% healthy and is he 100% mentally healthy the kicker position is so much about it’s it’s so much about your mental toughness and fortitude and confidence i mean anybody can make a free throw right are you going to you going to be able to do it when the game’s on the line i’m not i’m my heart beats super fast everybody can make a three-foot putt can you do it at the Masters you know when it when it matters there’s 10,000 people that can kick a 50-yard field goal there’s only a few that can do it when the game’s on the line and it matters there that’s a very select group so I think that’s a a great battle that no one’s really talking about i agree with you 100% after that uh you know the position battles out here are I look at the Falcons defensive line and it still screams 4-3 to me i mean you a fourman front in first and 10 in in running situations it still screams four to me i mean you really want a threeman front a 270lb Morgan Fox 290lb Ruka Rojo and let’s even just call him 300 and 300 lb of David Anyada man you’re missing about a 100 pounds right there if you want to run a three-man front so it still screams a fourman front to me and when I see that with those four there’s going to be then a battle for Morgan Fox Zack Harrison Brilen Trice could get in there possibly um if I didn’t say Brandon Jus already I meant to zack Harrison uh and those guys out there for those end spots those those bigger spots on the end and then Taquan can obviously slide inside zack can slide inside at times too and those guys will go back and forth on a on a four-man front um the one that nobody’s talking about and hopefully it becomes a thing that we get to talk about there’s two of them safety Xavier Watts and Jordan Fuller um but the the big one for me is what if Troy Anderson’s healthy what if Troy Anderson is healthy and you you’ve got another spot there for between Divine Diablo and and Troy Anderson that is a camp battle that’ll be fun to watch and frankly Jeff Albrich will probably find ways to get all three of those guys on the field during certain packages and there’ll be some more rotation kaden Ellis will be a 99% snaps guy he’ll be on the field him and the defensive backs will be on the field 99% of the time how much Divine Diablo and Troy Anderson are in is going to depend on the health and playability of Troy Anderson as well they’re raving about Divine Diablo but Troy Anderson is a a game changer when he’s healthy so that is a camp battle I am hoping we get to see i want to see Troy Anderson out there healthy because because he’s out there and then again what can Demarco Helms do u if he’s back in there what can Clark Phillips do at the nickel and Billy Bowman so the big the big battles right now for me there’s a little bit of one with Kobe Bryant and Mike Hughes at corner the whole front five is going to be a battle you know does Jaylen Walker ease into one of the starting spots possibly does James Pierce start over Leonard Floyd in certain situations the whole front five is is a battle troy Anderson Divine Diablo cornerback two with Kobe Bryant and uh Mike Hughes and then Nickel with D alfred Billy Bowman and Clark Phillips those are the big 22 camp battles on offense there aren’t any there there aren’t any the first 11 on the offense is just absolutely set everybody else other than Tyler Algier i was looking at the offensive line today i’m like “All right if you keep eight Storm Norton and Eli Wilkinson are my my next two after that there’s there’s some uh there’s some other there’s battles to make the back end of the offensive line roster javon Gwyn uh Hinton does do uh do they make it so there will be some battles in there great question and something that I I really um really enjoy talking about so thank you Archangel let me see trenton yep the nickel spot is heating up i believe the competition brings out the best of Phillips and Alford yeah but they kind of want Billy Bowman in that spot he’s a very different player i mean he’s probably got 15 to 20 pounds on those guys so I would want from a physical standpoint I want Billy Bowman to win the job outright from a playmaking standpoint I think it’s Clark Phillips and Alford it’s tough just because I mean I’ve said it a zillion times I’ll say it again i can’t judge players based on last season i I just can’t d Alfred was bad last year he wasn’t alone i’m not going to blame his bad play on him the scheme was just the worst I’ve ever seen at this level of football the the the coaching was the worst level I’ve ever seen um so he’s got a chance to come back you know he he got resigned he’s got a chance he doesn’t have hardly any guaranteed money it’s like it’s under $100,000 there’s zero guarantee he makes this team same for Jordan Fuller same for Kobe Bryant really he’s got $275,000 in guaranteed money that’s it people write threeyear $3 million it ain’t man it’s $275,000 or sayanara if you don’t make the team there’s going to be hellacious camp battles in the back seven the defense depth and competition man and I’m here for that uh I’m here for that very u a lot i I’m looking forward to it again competition competition keith comes in he says if the Falcons make a free agent signing during CA training camp it will be at the what position they’ll sign guys all the time but as far as if they make I mean they signed a running back yesterday uh who do we cut i saw that question someone came in late uh cut if you go back to the very beginning keith Robbins and I’ll come back to you Keith Bugman uh Jace Mlullen former six-round pick last year out of Alabama was cut to bring on the UFFL’s leading rusher um Jan Deshawn Corbin uh former FSU and Texas A&M player who uh had a cup of coffee played some special teams with the New York Giants just as a a uh a quick a quick uh recap but Keith coming back to you Keith Buggman if you’re still here um they sign guys all the time but if they sign a guy that has the ability to make an impact as far as a free agent goes it’s going to be at one of two spots defensive tackle cornerback those are the two biggest needs right there as far as as far as free agents go the quarterbacks are some guys out there that have some pretty good chops that are floating around you know Jaylen Ramsay’s available Jer Alexander’s available Asante Samuel he’s available we’ll see on those guys i I don’t necessarily expect that to happen um but those are the two those are the two uh that I would uh the two positions that I would think of and I think Porter is probably saying this about uh uh De Alford and and Porter again I’m I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt going into camp my preference I think he’s third of the guys there porter I think he’s third i think it’s Billy Bowman and Clark Phillips uh Clark is finally going to be put in a position that he should have been all along which was nickel slot because he’s undersized under athletic you put those guys closer to the ball where they can use their instincts uh linebackers safeties aren’t as athletic as outside linebackers and quarterbacks that’s just how you football is done guards aren’t as athletic as tackles centers aren’t usually as athletic as guards uh slot receivers aren’t the the heightweight speed freaks as outside receivers the closer you are to the ball the more it’s harder to to it’s it’s harder to scout because more of the game is played up here and for those you listen I just tapped on my big shiny forehead um so on that one um not sure how to pronounce this but I’m just going to go with Ohascar that’s a newer name welcome in glad to see you lots of newer names we’ve picked up a lot of subscribers this summer thank you for all of you that have come in says “Morning Scott do you think Jaylen Walker will be more at linebacker or edge defensive end an outside guy throughout his career my thoughts on him when he was coming through that he could be a Kaden Ellis type that leans more to the outside where Kaden Ellis leans more to the inside he’s been forced to play more inside linebacker than they would have liked when they signed him because of injuries because Troy Anderson can’t stay on the damn field jaylen Walker I think is more of an outside guy that they can move inside uh you know come up they call him mug linebackers where you come right up on the line between like the the center and guard and just and just crash we’ll see that out of Kaden Ellis a lot jaylen Walker they want him to be good at one thing before they start messing around and trying to learn too much and right now that’s edge him and James Pierce Jr are on the edge right now if he turns into a monster edge he’s gonna stay at edge go look at where the money is uh it’s $30 million for an edge player and $10 million for a top five inside linebacker um so if he if he succeeds if he’s out there at edge and he succeeds he gonna stay at edge that that’s just going to be how it is um let me see here they’re talking about getting cooked by Jefferson again that whole thing was cooked um don’t estimate the Simon and Ba the Pits battle too and again I we talked a little bit about this one Porter i think this one becomes more of how well can the offensive line block because the more Charlie Warner plays the less we’ll probably see of Kyle Pittz now if I go 11 personnel running back tight end three wide receivers Kyle Pittz could be one of my my wide receivers 70% of his career he’s either lined up out wide or in the slot slot receiver outside receiver people say “Oh is he going to move to full-time receiver?” Brother he’s been a full-time receiver he played more last year in line with his hand down than he has all all his career and he had you know an an okay season he was just kind of a a better than average tight end receiver-wise and then obviously below average uh blocking wise um so that’s where you’re uh you’re you’re thinking on that that it’s not Simon and Pitts you need McGary to be successful if you want Pitts on the field more in as a tight end otherwise you’re trying to trying to take him in and then the battle becomes between Pitts and Ray Ray Mloud would you rather have Ray Ray or Pitts your brain tells you “Well pits obviously but you know is that really obvious?” Again we got to see we got to see it out of pits um but that’s where that battle is uh we’re about to get out of here we’ll put a wrap on this um Dwan uh Gibson that’s a newer name apologies if I butchered your name uh Jace Mlelen was cut he was a six-round pick last year uh joins Zion Log who was a six-round pick last year that got cut prior to in the final cut down last year and didn’t make the 53 uh I am not 100% certain that we have seen the last of Jace Mlullen you see those guys bounce in and out all the time those back end of the roster guys they don’t even check out of their hotel rooms when they get cut and uh you know they’re they it it leaves them open to someone else obviously then getting them but everybody else is going through the same thing with roster management when we talk about practice squads it’s something that people forget it’s like “Oh we’ll just put them on the practice squad.” People forget this you have to cut and resign players to your practice squad so when you’re at 85 guys on the final cut down day and you go down to 53 you have to cut all those players and it opens them up that said so you can’t just put a guy on the practice squad and frankly he’s a free agent as soon as he’s on the practice squad anyway cuz like Zion Log I can sign a guy off of someone else’s practice squad if I put them on my 53 so the practice squad isn’t really stashing somebody um that said uh with Jason Mlen I wouldn’t be totally surprised if uh if we we see him again um let me see here uh Jayloo asked a question says “How many yards do you think Pitts needs to be retained?” Well I think a good question here is how how many before you would franchise tag him because that makes him a top five highest paid tight end i’d probably say let’s say eight and eight 800 yards eight touchdowns and I’m considering franchise tagging him and making him one of the top five highest paid tight ends for one year and make him do it again after that if it’s worse than that if it’s better than that it’s a no-brainer i’m franchise tagging him it’s a one-year guaranteed deal i’m not giving him a multi-year contract while I still have the franchise tag in my pocket it’s a relatively cheap option at the tight end position it’s like $30 million for an edge rusher or a wide receiver it’s like 15 for a tight end after that then we start talking about offering him a second contract at basically discounted rate he’s on $11 million this year now I start looking at what’s average tight ends make you want a three-year deal with $10 million guaranteed he will get multiple offers in that case for for something like that so I think that’s about how I would answer that question Jay is what what’s he need for me to franchise tag him or let him hit free agency and then I might still try and resign him but then I’m in competition with other teams i think the number for me 800 yards and eight touchdowns and I’d probably tag him depending on again that’s just an an overall when do they come you know those all if every one of those eight touchdowns was a gamewinner I’m resigning him I’m tagging him so it just uh it just kind of depends on that um but you know Dave he’s saying nine to 13 touchdowns Dave good to see you says I think he’s a guy that needs consistency and be coached up we’ll Yeah I mean he’s the maturity is there you know he started his first three games in the Atlanta Falcons as a 20-year-old he’s still just 24 he’ll start the season at 24 i think his I think his birthday is in October he’ll turn 25 so is the the maturity in there of We’ll see you know did did the knee injury really cut down on athleticism how much does he really want it at the end of this season he will have earned $40 million how much does he really want it does you know does he really eat and breathe and love this game we’ll see we’ll see he doesn’t have to got $40 million in his pocket hopefully he’s saved a bunch of that um so let me see and Terry and we’re just about to get out of here so if you got any burning desires and last minute chats you want to grab in there go ahead otherwise I’m going to I’m going to call it here shortly uh he says “I don’t know how Kobe Bryant and um and Nash the wide receiver who led college football in yards weren’t drafted.” I’m I’m with you on that um let me see i’ve got uh Oh uh Dwan I did get your name right very cool uh I’m glad I got it right one out of a 100 people get it right literally I’m glad I was one of those people um again as a as a Gen X white guy we only had like five names to choose from scott Chris Robert John and Jason i think that was about it that was that was our entire class um when I was in high school I didn’t even turn around in the hallway until I heard my name twice hey Scott i’d turn around not you yeah i I’d wait to hear it twice and frankly I got called Chris so many times I answered to it so I’m very appreciative of of unique names for sure um so let’s see i I agree though i think Kobe and I’ve got my I saved this mock draft uh where’s the Falcons mock draft the last one we did on 4:15 this was like the day of the draft um so it wasn’t that one this was in What’s the date on this one march 31st 2025 our mock draft we took Kobe Bryant in the fourth round we took Kobe in the fourth so when I said that I would have been happy using a uh a a day three pick on him uh you know I I’ve got the receipts on here so this was the draft that we did i don’t think there were any trades in here i don’t remember for sure but this was the draft we did the mock draft we did in um in on March 31st edge we want Edge with Muel Williams we won Big DL in the second with Ohio State Tyreek Williams and we took Kobe Bryant in the in the fourth so I think that’s um that’s that’s a good one um you know the Falcons don’t use a franchise tag very often no they don’t they haven’t had to with uh with under Arthur Blank they’ve been able to pay their guys you know they they’ve been able to use their money on that one um so they they haven’t had to you know how many guys have the Falcons really wanted under Arthur Blank that they’ve lost to free agency dolman maybe and I never I never I mean I think they probably wanted him back but we never heard a rumor of an offer of a contract offer not even a rumor the Falcons have offered him this and he turned it down we never heard a rumor of a contract offer from Jude Almond not one so the Falcons don’t lose the free agents they spend the money under Arthur Blank the bigger problem has been how they’ve spent the money under Arthur Blank has been how Thomas Ditro and uh and I won’t even say it’s a problem because Terry’s missed like one free agent it just happened to be $100 million uh Kurt Cousins but resigning old aging players to contracts and getting big dead cap hits matt Ryan Julio Jones Dion Jones that’s been the bigger problem on that one uh was was kind of making the decision on your own guys and the biggest problem that Arthur Blank has had is he’s loyal to a fault that’s been the the biggest problem on that one on that note though let me see uh I saw this question in here and um cool as Dre good to see you good morning hope you’re doing well i’m gonna say aloha because aloha also means goodbye the schedule for next week i’m going to be out next week now there is a slight chance that I’ll be able to pop in so as always make sure you’ve got your notifications on if you haven’t liked and subscribed please do but I am between uh a huge baseball tournament uh my girls are going down to Florida and I’m meeting them down there sometime next week as soon as baseball’s over but you know if we play Tuesday and it’s not till the afternoon and I’m here maybe we go we’ll play Monday if it’s a Monday night game we’ll go but right now we’ll I mean we’ll go on here we’ll have a podcast so Monday’s a possibility wednesday I’m kind of planning on being in Florida and I I won’t have the be able to do it from there but Monday’s a possibility so make sure right now I’m going to say no Falcons podcast next week but there’s a chance we still might go on Monday but right now I’m going to say no and then I’ll be back the week after that uh and see what all happens on that note I am going to get out of here i want to say thanks to all of y’all that uh that were in here we got a bunch of people watching today and uh you know like like I said make sure you’re you’re subscribing and if you’re if you saw this on Twitter hit a like give it a a retweet a rex however you call it and I want to say thank you to Denver Luke Robbie Red and Jet Jones for coming in with uh with the super chats helps keep these lights on in the dog days of June i am going to get out of here y’all have a great rest of your week and uh you know I’m not going to complain about the rain even though it’s been raining so much stay dry out there stay cool thanks for being here everybody we’ll see you next time
The Atlanta Falcons cut another of their 2024 NFL Draft picks on Tuesday to make room for the UFL’s leading rusher and former New York Giants, Texas A&M Aggies running back. Plus, Robert Griffin III had some bold predictions this week on Michael Penix Jr. and the Atlanta Falcons offense. We get into it on the latest episode of the Falcons Podcast.
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10 comments
Yep. If Penix and and Ruke are hits, everyone will rave about the 2024 draft class
prayers to nicks wife wow
Lmao 😂😂😂”got cut for being a asshole”
Whenever Scott ask hisself questions and the way he answers his self is hilarious
Clark Philips hasn’t showed me anything this far.
I’m essentially looking at last year’s class + this year’s as ONE big rookie class. Penix, Dorlus, Casey, Ruke + Walker, Pearce Jr, Watts, Bowman Jr. Also do you see Cobee Bryant making the roster/starting over Mike Hughes?
Praying for your wife Nick
They might be trying to trade allgeier to bengals with a pick for Shemar Stewart
QBs are important but most good QBs have other good or great players with them: Montana had Rice and more, Brady Gronk etc. Chiefs have some nice pieces.
Surprisingly, I agreed with just about everything you said today scott! 😂