Michael Penix Jr is entering his inaugural season as the Atlanta Falcons’ starter at a disadvantage. Starting right tackle Kaleb McGary will miss all of 2025 after being carted off at practice due to a significant leg injury, and swing tackle Storm Norton is also banged up.
That left general manager Terry Fontenot and the Dirty Birds scrambling for help, leading to a deadline day trade with the Seattle Seahawks for Michael Jerrell. His 46.4 PFF grade from 2024 won’t jump off the page, but parting with a conditional seventh-rounder in 2027 is worth it. For a Falcons roster paper thin at tackle, desperate times called for desperate measures.
But the Indianapolis native has plenty of familiarity with Penix Jr after Jerrell’s time at Findlay college overlapped with Penix’s at Indiana. And he even told the media he knew he could be special way before the rest of the nation did.
Michael Jerrell gives fans another reason to be excited about Michael Penix Jr's development
We all know the story. The 25-year-old battled injuries in Bloomington, but as soon as he transferred to Washington, he broke out. In Kalen DeBoer’s air raid scheme, Penix threw for 4,903 yards and 36 touchdowns and finished second in Heisman voting after leading the Huskies to an appearance in the national championship.
But the former sixth-round tackle even told the media he believes that his new QB1—and Falcons captain— deserved the award over Jayden Daniels.
"He should have won the Heisman, in my opinion, man," Jerrell told Sports Illustrated’s Dave Holcomb. "But yeah man. I think he's a great quarterback. I'm excited to get to work with him."
From a player who has been in the building for less than a week, that sort of endorsement holds weight.
Fontenot's future in Atlanta hinges on whether or not the No. 8 pick in the 2024 draft hits, so for a young quarterback stepping into one of the league’s most pressurized roles, having teammates — even new ones — publicly buying in goes a long way. Especially given the praise OC Zac Robinson has given Penix.
Penix has the complete trust of the fanbase, the coaching staff, and the rest of the Falcons roster as he enters Year 2 of his NFL career.
And he’s set up to succeed— the Falcons are banking on the same skill set he displayed at Washington as they hand him the keys to an offense with no shortage of explosive weapons in Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts.
The 26-year-old Jerrell is no long-term fix as Penix’s blindside protector, but his praise of the strong-armed college star should be enough to get fans buzzing for what’s being built in Atlanta. And that hype train could add a few more members on Sunday.