There's no bigger winner from the Atlanta Falcons' offseason thus far than Michael Penix Jr. Kevin Stefanski's system is a perfect fit for the young signal-caller, but the Falcons are finally surrounding him with the support system that a young QB needs and Raheem Morris failed to provide him with.
In the last 72 hours, the Dirty Birds made two major hires to their offensive coaching staff: Alex Van Pelt as their quarterbacks coach and Tanner Engstrand as their passing game coordinator. That's two assistants with play-calling experience who have both worked with some elite talent over the years.
One of Stefanski's top priorities has been to to further Penix's development. but with moves like these he's putting his money where his mouth is. After the nightmare that was the Morris era, the best thing this team ever did was hire a coach whose willing to make good on his promises to the fanbase.
The Falcons are finally setting Michael Penix Jr. up to succeed under Kevin Stefanski
Van Pelt has coached quarterbacks like Drake Maye, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, Andy Dalton, and Baker Mayfield, so his track record is stellar. Meanwhile, Engstrand spent five seasons learning under Dan Campbell and Ben Johnson before following Aaron Glenn to New York to be an OC.
Neither of them were particularly impressive offensive coordinators, but that doesn't matter. Tommy Rees, despite having years of play-calling experience in college, isn't the most seasoned NFL OC, so it's also promising to know that the two-time Coach of the Year has contingencies in place if need be.
Engstrand spent time working with Jared Goff and a high-powered Detroit offense, which is more indicative of his skillset than a stint in New York where he had no stability at QB and Garrett Wilson was hurt. Thankfully, he'll have a lot more tools at his disposal in the passing game this season.
After suffering a season-ending partially torn ACL in November, the 25-year-old is also expected to be back in time for the start of next season, which is a huge win. That means that even if he misses some of training camp, the learning curve to get acclimated to this new system won't take as long
What all of these coaches have in common is that they come from play-action based offenses, which is exactly where Penix thrives. Instead of Zac Robinson trying to force a round peg in a square hole by lining up in the pistol, the new staff will cater to his strengths and allow him to line up under center.
During his time at Washington, the southpaw was one of the best play-action quarterbacks in the nation, yet the Falcons ran play-action at the fifth-lowest rate in 2025. It's no secret that Penix has all the arm talent, but now he has a coaching staff that'll finally ask him to do what he does best.
This is not to say they won't add a veteran backup like Joe Flacco to sit behind him, but Stefanski and company clearly believe in Penix more than the previous staff did, but that's a pretty low bar, all things considered. And given how the circumstances have changed so quickly, it's hard to blame him.