Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. has one huge red flag

Billy Heyen

Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. has one huge red flag image

Michael Penix Jr. is now officially the man in Atlanta.

Kirk Cousins is the backup, and entering his second season, Penix is the starting quarterback for the Falcons.

There's a lot of reason to believe in Penix, the No. 8 overall pick in 2024.

But there may be one cause for concern for the lefty.

The Athletic's Josh Kendall pointed out that in 2024, Penix's 58% completion percentage was 29th in the league across the three games he started.

"Falcons coaches said most of his misses were the result of unfamiliarity with his pass catchers," Kendall writes. "That’s something that should have been addressed in Penix’s first offseason as the starting quarterback. If the connection looks strong in training camp, that’s a good sign for Atlanta’s offense. If not, it’ll be a red flag."

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Penix has a talented skill player group around him, led by receiver Drake London and running back Bijan Robinson. He needs to be in sync with those guys.

For veteran QBs, there may not be much need to read into training camp and the preseason. But for Penix, it all has the potential to be very informative.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle