When the Atlanta Falcons signed Tua Tagovailoa to a one-year deal in free agency, most Falcons fans reacted to the deal with skepticism. And after the season Tua had in 2025, it's hard to blame them. He looked like a shell of his former self in 2025, throwing 15 picks and getting benched for Quinn Ewers.
Fans started to get more receptive to the idea of a quarterback competition between Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. when they saw the $1.3 million price tag, but more people are rooting for Penix to win out because he was a first-round pick two years ago, but both QBs will benefit from a fresh start.
Having him compete to be Atlanta's starting quarterback with the the injured Penix is a low-risk endeavor, and the Falcons already look like geniuses for signing him. The Tua deal has aged better with each passing day, and the scenery change has confirmed the former Pro Bowler is still in there.
Tua Tagovailoa has gotten off to a great start in mandatory minicamp
The 28-year-old has been pretty sharp all offseason, but Wednesday's practice session during mandatory minicamp was one of his strongest. And while going over some takeaways from minicamp, ESPN's Marc Raimondi went as far as to label it as one of his best practices of the spring".
"Tua Tagovailoa had arguably one of his best practices of the spring Wednesday -- the Falcons' final day of minicamp," Raimondi wrote. "In an 11-on-11 team session in the red zone, the quarterback went 3-for-3 with a touchdown pass over the middle to running back Bijan Robinson. He also had completions during that series to rookie wide receiver Zachariah Branch and free agent acquisition Jahan Dotson."
Raimondi noted that in an 11-on-11 red zone session on Wednesday, he went 3-for-3 with a touchdown to Bijan Robinson, but also had completions to third-round rookie Zachariah Branch and Jahan Dotson with the newly-extended Drake London sidelined in minicamp due to a minor injury.
Raimondi also made it clear that it was pretty clear that Penix Jr. was working with the second-team offense as he continues to ramp up in his recovery from a partially-torn ACL. And while they'll likely split QB1 reps during training camp, the Alabama product is clearly making his starting reps count.
Kevin Stefanski's offense is based on timing and accuracy, and people are forgetting that's where the veteran excels. He led the NFL in completion percentage in 2024 and has a career 68% completion rate. And now he's playing behind the best OL of his career and with a small army of elite weapons.
It remains to be seen how long it'll be this way, but Tua Tagovailoa is firmly in the driver's seat to be the Falcons' QB1--and he's well on the way to turning around his career in Atlanta if this continues.
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