Do the Falcons Have the Worst QB Room?

The Falcons also have Tua Tagovailoa , who has an oblique injury, and let's be honest, probably a concussion, along with a likely ego hit at not being the starter. And then there's Michael Penix , who suffered a season-ending injury in five of his last eight seasons of football, including a torn ACL in November, but has recovered and will be starting on Thursday.

It's a complete conceptual disaster. If I wanted a quarterback room to fail, this is the kind of thing I'd put together. Jack Strand doesn't really matter because he's just a longshot developmental prospect, but Tua is too established to be a backup, and excels at the short passing game due to a pop-gun arm and quick release. Rush, while terrible so far, is a good enough backup to garner the support of talk radio rubes everywhere. And Penix is an elite athlete when healthy, having posted a 9.75 RAS, and he excels as a deep passer, but he's never healthy, and the Falcons aren't really built for deep passing. Drake London is a great player, but he excels at short and intermediate routes, while every other Atlanta receiver of note is one of the teeniest, tiniest cute little guys in the league.

It's not a crime to be small, but Penix was at his best in college throwing to larger vertical threats like Rome Odunze and Ja'Lynn Polk, and that is not what we have here. The Falcons do have Kyle Pitts , and maybe he's the real wide receiver two on this team. To his credit, he had a nice rebound season last year after being a perpetual disappointment, but he only averaged 10.5 yards per catch. Bijan Robinson is of course the best player on the offense, and he can help out any quarterback, but at some point, you need to pass.