Kansas City was a playoff team with Smith though. The Falcons were 7-10 and had the 17th-ranked scoring D in the worst division in football, AND they had their pick of all the defensive players in the draft at their disposal.Its not really that hard to figure out, KC did the same thing when they drafted Mahomes. At the time the Chiefs were a playoff caliber team and Smith was a pro bowl player, but they saw something in Mahomes that told them he can be a SB caliber QB, while Smith is not going to be able to get you there, much like Cousins.
I would guess the Falcons think Penix is more like Mahomes and will be a difference maker in a year or two. He can learn under Cousins, and if Cousins gets hurt, they have Penix to play. The contract with Cousin's also allows him to be released after two years and even though they owe him $100 million on the contract they thought it was worth it. None of the QB slated for next year's draft are as good as Penix is and were fine drafting a player they thought could win big for them in the future. It's a gamble, but not any worse than any of the other teams that took a QB in the first-round last night, because most of them are likely to end up be average to below as being the next Barrow or Mahomes.
I get what you’re saying comparing them to GB, I’m saying the Falcons aren’t in the position those GB teams were AND weren’t operating like they were building for the future leading into the draft.
If they loved Penix that much, they could have gone out and signed Darnold cheap and taken Penix and use the additional cap space to help the D.
It’s just a really risky, unnecessary move with a low percentage of success imo.