The Atlanta Falcons are in the midst of an open competition at quarterback following the signing of Tua Tagovailoa. Michael Penix Jr.'s status as QB1 was always in jeopardy after his season-ending ACL tear, but now that the 28-year-old is in town, a more experienced and better QB could steal his job.
Former Falcons' receiver Harry Douglas knows about the pressure players in Atlanta face all too well, as he lived it. But for all of the people on Falcons' Twitter dissing the Tua signing, it makes sense since they should be forcing Penix to compete for the starting job with someone a more qualified QB.
During a recent episode of ESPN radio show Freddie and Harry, Douglas made it clear that he doesn't think the 25-year-old should be handed anything. The Dirty Birds brought in Tagovailoa for a specific purpose, which could very well benefit Kevin Stefanski and this new regime if things go as planned,
""You don't just come into an offseason and say 'Hey, MIchael Penix Jr., the starting job is yours. It doesn't work like that. You have to earn everything you want, and you have a guy in Tua (Tagovailoa) who has shown moments of playing very very well in this league, but struggled in cold moments, struggled against good teams, and only has had one season of playing 17 games... I'm sure if the season were to start today, Tua would be out there with the 1's because he's the healthiest of the two.""Harry Douglas
Something worth noting is that the former 1,000-yard receiver didn't refer to Tua as healthy. He referred to him as "the healthier of the two", which is a reference to his injury issues. So while those red flags are a little bit concerning, Douglas knows the situation lines up perfectly for him to shine.
The margin for error for Michael Penix Jr. is smaller than ever after Falcons signed Tua Tagovailoa
Douglas' assessment is pretty spot-on. For all of the faults that Tagovailoa has, he's still the best option the Falcons have, whether fans like it or not. Not only did they sign a more than viable starter for the league minimum, it puts pressure on Penix to perform now that he has legit QB1 competition.
Penix was in a horrible offensive system, but for a signal-caller whose been believed to have this much arm talent, he has been wildly unimpressive thus far. The inability to stay healthy is one thing, but given this OL and the weapons he has been throwing to, he should be better than he's been.
Playing in an offense with three former first-round picks should make you at least serviceable, but the Washington Husky has been out-played by Kirk Cousins in both of the last two seasons. I still think he can turn it around, especially in a new system, but this new staff will have their work cut out for them.
Stefanski and Tommy Rees should still want to fully see things through pertaining to Penix's development, but right now, where he's at isn't cutting it. He should be back for the early season but my expectation is that Tua will run away with the starting job once he takes first-team snaps in camp.