NFL analyst calls Falcons QB situation 'less than ideal' - Australia News Beep

The old saying goes if you have two starting quarterbacks you don’t have one. That’s at least partially true about the Atlanta Falcons, who have had two-but-not-one for three years running now, going from Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. to Penix and Tua Tagovailoa.

According to head coach Kevin Stefanski, the Falcons are being very deliberate about how they distribute the QB1 reps this offseason, with a true 50/50 split so both Tagovailoa and Penix have an equal chance to win the job.

While both Penix and Tua have shown a high ceiling in previous stops during their careers, the overall situation doesn’t look great to a lot of analysts, including Ted Ngyuen at The Athletic. In his take, Tagovailoa has the initiative thanks to his comfort with the scheme and he questions the fit for Penix.

“How Penix will fit is questionable. As mentioned, Robinson didn’t call play action for Penix, and Penix has never attacked the middle of the field going back to college. Penix, who partially tore his ACL last season, seems on track to play in Week 1, but he has a lot of ground to make up against Tagovailoa, who has a natural advantage with the new coaching staff…”

However, Nguyen also called Tagovailoa one of the NFL’s worst starters last season and that he doesn’t offer much of a ceiling, describing the situation as “less than ideal.”

These are fair points made about Penix and his case of Russell Wilson‘s Disease – a steadfast refusal to target the middle of the field – which is such a huge part of Stefanski’s offense. We think he’s being a bit harsh on Tagovailoa though regarding his ceiling.

Yes, Tua had a terrible 2025 season, throwing just 20 touchdown passes to go with 15 interceptions. His passer rating (88.5) was the lowest since his rookie year and his QBR was a dismal 37.5.

Context is king, though – and any analysis of Tua’s struggles last year has to include what appeared to be a case of poor coaching – former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel certainly looked to be completely checked out from Week 1 to Week 18, setting Tagovailoa up for failure from the start.

When McDaniel was engaged he got a lot of good football out of Tua, who led the league at different times in passer rating, passing yards and completion rate and made the Pro Bowl in 2023.

We’ll see if Stefanski can bring out the best in Tagovailoa this, assuming he wins the starting job.

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Atlanta Falcons 2026 NFL regular season schedule

Week 1: At Pittsburgh Steelers