The Atlanta Falcons' quarterback battle has been the talk of the town this offseason. WIll it be Michael Penix Jr. or Tua Tagovailoa? At this point nobody knows, but ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter thinks he has an idea of where this competition is headed once it starts next week.
During his most recent episode of the Adam Schefter podcast, Schefty went over every NFL team's biggest storylines and unanswered questions entering training camp. And for the Falcons, it was all about the quarterback battle, and whether Penix or Tua will eventually be named the Week 1 starter.
Earlier this offseason, Falcons fans were given a few answers when Kevin Stefanski got to the podium and praised Tua's accuracy. And Schefter seems to think that that was no coincidence either, as he mentioned on his podcast he believes those words were a hint of where this battle will be headed.
“I did hear Kevin Stefanski praise Tua during the offseason, talking about how impressed he was with his accuracy," Schefter said… "When I heard Stefanski speak in glowing terms about Tua, I said to myself 'I think that’s a little hint into where the QB battle could be headed'.”
Adam Schefter thinks Tua Tagovailoa is bound to be the Falcons' QB1
Schefter's sentiment isn't exactly a surprise, as Falcons fans have been labeling the 28-year-old the frontrunner for the QB1 job for weeks now. It's starting to look like a foregone conclusion that he'll be the one taking the opening snaps on Sunday, Sept. 13 when Atlanta takes on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Schefter backed up his point by mentioning that Stefanski and general manager Ian Cunningham also don't have much attachment to Penix. They weren't the front office that drafted him: Terry Fontenot was, while they willingly chose to sign Tagovailoa knowing full well he'd be a better fit for the offense.
There is another variable in here that we also have to consider: Penix's health. The 26-year-old is still rehabbing an ACL tear suffered in November, and is hoping to be cleared for full contact by the start of training camp on Wednesday, and the longer he takes to get cleared, the larger Tua's lead gets.
Assuming the 2024 first-round pick is full go for the start of training camp, the quarterback competition will be pretty wide open. But knowing how much a Stefanski offense is predicated on timing and accuracy, I still see Tua Tagovailoa winning the starting job-- even over a healthy Penix after how he looked during minicamp.
The Dirty Birds are in a position where just because one of the signal-callers starts the season as QB1 doesn't mean they'll finish the season there. Keeping Michael Penix Jr. on the bench to start the season will give him more time to get healthy, while offering him a chance to step in if Tua stumbles.
It's hard to imagine the Falcons choosing a passer with a career completion percentage below 60% over the man who led the NFL in completion percentage in 2024. So while Adam Schefter didn't unearth anything damning, he poured gasoline on the buzz that Tua Tagovailoa will start Week 1.
Add us as a preferred source on Google