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The Atlanta Falcons are days away from kicking off their quarterback competition between Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa, but contrary to popular belief, there are other storylines surrounding this team ahead of training camp.
For one, the Falcons need to get their linebacker situation sorted out after letting Kaden Elliss walk in free agency. Plus, the team needs to figure out the rotation at the wide receiver and defensive tackle positions.
However, this is a quarterback-driven league, and until Atlanta names a starter, this story will continue to dominate headlines. ESPN's Ben Solak broke down the top training camp storylines around the NFL and listed the Falcons QB competition among them.
"Penix and Tagovailoa are remarkably different players," Solak explained. "Penix has easy velocity but scattershot accuracy; Tagovailoa has pinpoint placement but struggles to drive the ball. The history of Kevin Stefanski's offenses leans toward Tagovailoa's strengths, but Penix is the one who actually has a chance of developing into a long-term starter. (We've likely seen the ceiling of Tagovailoa's play, which was quite high in Miami.)"
The Falcons are not writing off Penix yet due to his aforementioned "long-term starter" potential. Solak said he ultimately sees it as Tagovailoa's job to lose but adds that this might be the NFL's only "true" QB competition.
"I'm expecting Tagovailoa to win this job for Week 1, though his regular-season performance might not guarantee him 17 starts. Still, this seems like a true competition … relative to some other camps in which the QB competition seems more nominal (see: Vikings)."
This is a completely fair take by Solak, and while many analysts seem determined to declare the winner of a competition that hasn't even started yet, the Falcons really have no reason to rush their decision. It's not like expectations are exceptionally high for the team after missing the playoffs eight years in a row.
Tagovailoa has at least a slight advantage due to his overall experience and being the healthier of the two. At the same time, the amount of people writing off Penix based on his completion percentage while ignoring everything he did well, like having the NFL's lowest interception rate (1.1 percent) last season, can get frustrating.
Neither quarterback was great last season. In fact, Penix and Tagovailoa finished the year with an identical 88.5 passer rating. Both have their work cut out for them, but it should be a fun battle for fans to watch during training camp and in the preseason.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: ESPN says one Falcons QB has 'long-term starter' potential
