Michael Penix Jr. taken by Falcons in NFL draft surprise - ESPN

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons pulled off the biggest shocker of the early part of the NFL draft Thursday night, taking Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 pick.

The Falcons made the pick despite signing veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract last month in free agency.

Penix, 23, was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy last year and won the Maxwell Award after leading Washington to a 14-1 record and an appearance in the national championship game, where the Huskies lost to Michigan.

The left-handed Penix led all of FBS with 4,903 passing yards in 2023 and was second in FBS in 2022 (4,641). He's the first player with 4,500 passing yards or more in two straight seasons since Patrick Mahomes did it in 2015 and 2016 for Texas Tech.

The numbers were excellent and so was the tape on Penix, who had arguably the best pure arm of any quarterback in the entire draft. But his injury history made him a major question mark for NFL teams. The player raised in Florida came back from four separate season-ending injuries in his college career. Penix tore his right ACL in 2018, dislocated his shoulder in 2019, tore his right ACL again in 2020 and separated the AC joint in his shoulder in 2021.

Those injuries and his age were red flags going into the draft, where he ended up being the fourth quarterback taken overall — after Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye — and one of a record-tying six selected in the first round.

• Draftcast: Tracking every pick
• Round 1 pick reaction | Trade tracker
• Rankings: Kiper | Miller | Reid | Yates
• Best available players | See more

Cousins, who is coming off an Achilles tear, will be Atlanta's starter for the foreseeable future,