The following, a weekly feature of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, allows our reporters to open their notebooks and provide even more information from our local teams that we cover daily. We think you’ll find it informative, insightful and fun.
Kirk Cousins sits in the front of meetings
Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins is getting acclimated to his new team.
“It’s been great,” Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said. “He really hit the ground running. We knew the excitement about Kirk Cousins is that he’s a multiplier on and off the field. We know that.”
The Falcons signed Cousins to a four-year contract that’s worth up to $180 million in free agency. He’s recovering from Achilles surgery.
Cousins has been in the training room and in the meetings during the voluntary offseason program.
“(In) the meeting room … he sits right in the front of Raheem’s meeting,” Fontenot said. “(Takes) notes. He’s like a nerd up there. He’s obsessed with it. That’s been great, and we’ve a lot of hard workers on this team.”
Fontenot believes the players have been revived after breaks and time away to decompress.
“These guys are in here (working hard),” Fontenot said. “From the meeting rooms to the work they are doing out with (new trainer John) Griffin and his staff, the player-performance group. But it’s been outstanding from not only Kirk.”
The Falcons believe that Cousins is having a positive impact on the team.
“That’s what we love, the most exciting thing about him is we know his makeup and his mentality,” Fontenot said. “We know that fits what we are about and that culture and what we’ve been working hard to build. So, you definitely feel the impact.”
Credit: Pro Football Hall of Fame via X
Credit: Pro Football Hall of Fame via X
Ryan eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2028
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who signed a one-day contract with the team Monday and was placed on the NFL’s retired/reserve list Tuesday, will be eligible for consideration into the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the nominees for the Class of 2028.
Quarterback Brett Favre, who was drafted by the Falcons and played with the Packers, Jets and Vikings, was enshrined in 2011. Peyton Manning, who played for the Colts and the Broncos, was the last quarterback to be enshrined in Canton, Ohio with the Class of 2021.
Before Ryan is eligible, Tom Brady (seven Super Bowl wins), Eli Manning (two Super Bowl wins), Drew Brees (one Super Bowl win), Philip Rivers (no Super Bowl wins/no appearances), Ben Roethlisberger (one Super win) and Cam Newton (one Super Bowl appearance) will become eligible.
Eli Manning will be eligible for the consideration for the Class of 2025 followed by Rivers (2026), Brees (2026), Roethlisberger (2027), Brady (2027) and Newton (2027).
Ryan, who was drafted third overall in the 2008 draft, played 15 seasons in the NFL. He guided the Falcons to the playoffs six times and to one Super Bowl.
Brady (263.03) and Brees (140.88) have the highest Pro Football QB Hall of Fame Monitor rating by Pro Football Reference.com. The rating uses an average based on Pro Bowls, All-Pros, championships, and various statistical milestones. The list is of the top 250 players who played QB starting in 1955 or later for at least 50 career games.
A score of 108 is the average of the inductees in the Hall of Fame. The modern-era average is around 100.
Ryan is in the middle with a 106.05 followed by Roethlisberger (100.28), Rivers (98.06), Eli Manning (85.1) and Newton (70.50).
The only current quarterback rated above Ryan is Aaron Rodgers, who has a 192.43 rating.
Not a golf score
Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic would like to set the record straight – he is not a golf score.
Bogdanovic, who also goes by Bogi, took to X (formerly known as Twitter) earlier in April after an NBA TV tweet misspelled his nickname as “Bogey.” He retweeted the post, adding “BOGI* Thank you” with the folded-hands emoji. Speaking at the end-of-season news conference last week, the good-natured Bogdanovic spoke with some bemusement about the mistake that has been made throughout his NBA career on social media.
“I have to correct them,” he said. “It’s time. Seven years.”
On the broadcast
Former Braves reliever Collin McHugh is analyzing the team now for Bally Sports. He’s doing so alongside Peter Moylan, another retired Braves reliever. What is it about relievers getting into analyst jobs?
“We have a lot of time to talk down there (laughs),” McHugh said. “We’re kind of sequestered out in the bullpen. So, I think you end up getting a lot of really ridiculous stories and conversations and stuff like that. You get a lot of really, really good baseball talk. I think for me, when I got moved down to the bullpen, it was a chance for me to learn from a lot of guys. When I was in Houston, learn from a lot of old veteran guys. And then when I came over to Atlanta, you know, same thing. I had guys in there every year who had been around the game for forever. So, you just kind of learn by osmosis. And then hopefully it translates well when you’re trying to explain it to maybe to non-baseball people.”
On eventual call-up
Bryce Elder may or have not have a successful season. He may or may not have a decade-long career. But his perspective when the Braves had him open the season in Triple-A was admirable.
“I was upset at first,” Elder said. “I think that’s kind of always going to be my reaction. I also kind of figured out that if I sat down and realized I’m 24 and I plan on playing this game for a pretty long time. So, if you look up, hopefully in about 12 or 15 years, nobody is ever going to remember this. I’ll hardly remember it.
“So, I took it as however long I’m going to be down, I’ll figure out how – whether it’s one week or one season – I can make myself better and get back to the form I was in in parts of ‘22, ‘21 in the minor leagues and the beginning of last year. I took it on and said I’m going to show up every day and commit to this plan. And whenever I get called up, I’m just going to work that into it. And if I don’t, then I’ll be ready for when they do need me.”
-Staff writers D. Orlando Ledbetter, Gabriel Burns and Ken Sugiura contributed to this report.
