The Atlanta Falcons have hitched their horses to Michael Penix Jr.
They saw this coming when they chose him No. 8 overall out of Washington in 2024 shortly after giving Kirk Cousins big money.
The handoff from expensive veteran to talented youngster may have happened quicker than anticipated, but it's here. The 2025 season is all about Penix at quarterback for the Falcons.
There's still plenty of uncertainty about the lefty, but there's one stat that should encourage those in Atlanta.
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ESPN's Marc Raimondi shared that Penix was tied with Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow last season in expected points added per dropback, at 0.11.
That statistic encompasses what each action on a football field is worth and relates it to a point value. The fact that Penix was as productive in that per dropback as two of the best QBs in the league is a great sign.
And yes, Penix had a much smaller sample size. But it's still indicative of great potential.
In the same blurb, Raimondi did lay out a bit of reason for concern: "He needs to master the short and intermediate throws, in order to avoid being a feast-or-famine quarterback. Penix's completion percentage above expectation was fifth worst in the NFL (-5.3%)."
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Essentially, Penix was a big-play artist in his brief time as a rookie. He didn't deliver often enough on the easy stuff.
Hopefully, much of that can be solved by an offseason spent building chemistry with his wide receivers that would've been tougher to work on as the backup for most of the 2024 season.
Either way, the Falcons need this to work. They've put the ball in Penix's hands, and it's up to him to spin it well.
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