2024 first-round draft choose Michael Penix Jr. is seemingly not trying over his shoulder whereas serving because the Atlanta Falcons’ full-time beginning quarterback, although veteran Kirk Cousins stays on the roster.
Throughout a latest chat with Bryant McFadden of CBS Sports activities, Penix provided a daring prediction relating to what the Atlanta offense will turn into later this yr.
“It is going to be nice,” Penix mentioned, as shared by Stephen Douglas of Sports activities Illustrated. “Simply seeing what the fellows have been doing. The buy-in that every participant’s been having. Clearly, the talent degree is there. It is about making it occur now. …Coach is gonna name the performs for us to be nice, and we gotta go on the market and do it. And I can see these guys doing it every day. And it is solely gonna proceed to get higher. By the point Week 1 comes, I can see us on the street and nothing ought to cease us from being the perfect offense within the league, and that is one thing we’re at all times striving for.”
ESPN stats present that the Falcons ended the 2024 common season ranked sixth within the NFL with a median of 369.8 offensive yards gained per recreation and tied for thirteenth with a median of twenty-two.9 factors scored per contest. After all, the beforehand talked about Cousins was Atlanta’s QB1 because the membership went 7-7 throughout its first 14 video games. Penix then misplaced two of three begins after he changed Cousins in December.
Throughout his rookie marketing campaign, Penix accomplished 58.1 p.c of 105 passes for 775 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. He additionally tallied a dashing rating.
For an article printed on Monday, The Athletic’s Josh Kendall famous that Penix “has been under 50 p.c completion proportion in not less than two of the crew’s practices” this summer season. That is a worrisome stat contemplating Penix would’ve ended final season ranked thirty fifth out of 36 signal-callers in completion proportion if he completed amongst certified gamers.
Briefly, whispers concerning the Falcons presumably turning again to Cousins will solely develop louder if Penix is answerable for too many inaccurate throws throughout Atlanta’s first few video games of the upcoming season. Penix will look to silence such chatter when Atlanta hosts the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1 on Sept. 7.
