As the Atlanta Falcons prepare for the 2026 NFL season, there is one aspect of the team that fans are closely monitoring until Week 1 on Sept. 13. against the Pittsburgh Steelers. With the Falcons having a quarterback competition between Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr., head coach Kevin Stefanski has to make a decision on who the starting quarterback should be.
While Tagovailoa has experience being a starting quarterback in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, many will say that it has led to mixed results, besides the 2023 season, where the Alabama product led the league in passing. However, others could say that Penix is the future in Atlanta, but it depends on what the question is asking.
There is obviously a difference between who should start Week 1 or who should be the starter for the whole season, as the former seems more clear in that Tagovailoa should get the nod. Before we explain why, Tagovailoa no doubt has the mental side of everything down, as his thoughts on how he views competition are intriguing:
“I think competition is gonna be there whether it is said or whether it's not said. This is the NFL,” Tagovailoa said, via Falcons Wire. “You're either coming out there to compete, or you're not. I think we've all been in this league for some time to know this isn't something you can walk through. This is something that, whether it's in the meeting room, we've all got to take our job serious and whatever capacity we can do it – I look at it all as competition.”
Falcons' Tua Tagovailoa has a “head start” against Michael Penix Jr.
Atlanta Falcons quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa (1) and Michael Penix Jr. (9) on the field during Minicamp.
Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
While Tagovailoa was cut from the Dolphins, with the Falcons quickly picking him up, there is no doubt that Stefanski thought the team needed to sign him, especially with some of the similarities with Penix, such as being left-handed throwers.
It could also help that the playbook won't change too much between Tagovailoa and Penix, but the former has been taking up a ton of reps, with the Washington product recovering from a significant knee injury. If anything, Tagovailoa has more reps this offseason, giving him a “head start,” as Marc Raimondi of ESPN echoed the same sentiments.
“Tagovailoa has been able to do everything, and Stefanski is on record saying he believes accuracy is the most important trait for a quarterback, something Tagovailoa historically has had in abundance,” Raimondi wrote. “None of this means Tagovailoa will for sure win the job, especially if Penix impresses in training camp. But Tagovailoa might have something of a head start in this new offense.”
Falcons' Tua Tagovailoa has an “innate, God-given ability”
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It does remain a possibility, as Raimondi mentioned, that Penix could be a full-go and impress in training camp, but once again, Tagovailoa has the edge in experience in not just years played in the league, but time on the field executing it in practice. It also helps that while Penix has this strength, Stefanski would say how Tagovailoa's accuracy is an “innate, God-given ability.”
“But all of our guys possess that innate quality of letting it go and knowing where they want it to go, but yeah, I think Tua, just in his career, as you've seen, just has that innate, God-given ability,” Stefanski said, via Ari Meirov.
“Well, I think it's the most important trait at the position, as we've always talked about. Some guys get better at it with tweaks to how they throw the ball, tweaks to how they, their lower body, those types of things. But there is an innate ability in all, and all of our guys have this, all of our quarterbacks have this, to be able to let the ball go, and it's going where you want it to go, and not to say that you're not going to miss throws in this profession,” Stefanski continued.
#Falcons HC Kevin Stefanski says accuracy is the most important trait for a QB and called Tua Tagovailoa’s accuracy an “innate, God-given ability.” pic.twitter.com/Rp3zNJ7Bjy
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) May 27, 2026
At any rate, it remains to be seen who Stefanski chooses to start for the Falcons, but as mentioned, there shouldn't be a surprise if Tagovailoa is under center Week 1 on Sept. 13 against the Steelers. However, it doesn't automatically assume that he starts most of the season with Penix likely at 100 percent health later in the year.
Either way, Atlanta is looking to improve after finishing with an 8-9 record, putting them third in the NFC South.
As the Atlanta Falcons prepare for the 2026 NFL season, there is one aspect of the team that fans are closely monitoring until Week 1 on Sept. 13. against the Pittsburgh Steelers. With the Falcons having a quarterback competition between Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. , head coach Kevin Stefanski has to make a decision on who the starting quarterback should be.