Falcons QB Battle: How Important Are OTAs for Tua Tagovailoa vs. Michael Penix Jr.?

The Atlanta Falcons wrap up their Organized Team Activities (OTAs) this week in Flowery Branch. OTAs are the first chance the new coaching staff, led by head coach Kevin Stefanski, gets to work with and evaluate the players on the field.

The Falcons have a slew of new faces and heated position battles up and down the roster, including at quarterback between former All-Pro Tua Tagovailoa and last year's starter Michael Penix Jr.

Penix is recovering from knee surgery in November, but he's been active and cleared to do everything but 11v11s. Considering OTAs are conducted in shorts, jerseys and helmets with virtually no contact, how much can a coach evaluate the players and is Penix behind?

"I think it's, it's something where all drills are not created equal," Stefanski said when asked about the weight he places in OTAs. "For instance, 7 on 7 is an offensive drill. There's no pass rush. As a quarterback, you should be up in the 90% clip, there. So, I think you weigh everything based on the circumstances in which you're in."

Quarterbacks, wide receivers, and defensive backs can simulate game action fairly well with no contact. It's obviously not the same as actual football, but it's closer than some other positions.

"Certainly as you get the pads on, we've talked about, don't grade too much of these offensive and defensive linemen without pads on," Stefansi said. "Let's, let's not, let's be careful there. So, I think when it comes to the quarterback position, you evaluate everything.

"This is an all-encompassing evaluation that you evaluate everything when you're making decisions on your players, but certainly you understand that, as you get into training camp and you get into preseason games and those type of things you do weigh it differently.

"I don't have an exact number of what that looks like, but it certainly is weighed differently."

With Penix being limited in the first session of the offseason, does that put him behind Tagovailoa in the quarterback battle? Stefanski wasn't willing to tip his hand.

"I think, when it comes to, any competition on our roster, you're also competing every single day just to do what you're capable of doing for that day," Stefanski said. "So, Mike does have limitations based on his rehab, but he's done a great job to date like I've told you guys, and I've been very impressed with what he's been able to do."

In other words, Penix's biggest competition right now is himself. He needs to get healthy and prove he can stay healthy. He's well on the way this offseason. Watching him run and throw at OTAs, if you didn't know he was recovering from a knee injury, you wouldn't know he's recovering from a knee injury.

He's moving around well without a brace and executing rollouts and scrambles without any noticeable problems. As for being cleared for 11v11s, again, Stefanski wasn't willing give anything away when asked that question directly.

"We're closer."

Next week at mandatory minicamp?

"We'll see," Stefanski said with a grin.

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