Heading into Week 2, nobody seems to have a clue who will start at quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons - least of all the Atlanta Falcons themselves.
On their official depth chart they have released Tua Tagovailoa remains in the No. 1 spot. However, Tagovailoa is currently dealing with an oblique injury that forced him to the sidelines for the season opener and he's considered week-to-week.
In Tagovailoa's place, career backup Cooper Rush started against Pittsburgh but put in an atrocious performance. Rush is listed as No. 2 on the depth chart behind Tua, but he's also not healthy, as he suffered back spasms the day before facing the Steelers and has been getting treatment for it this week.
The fourth spot is occupied by the team's last-best hope,
Michael Penix Jr., who has been technically cleared to play but is still getting comfortable enough physically to retake the field after suffering his third career ACL tear in November.
The No. 3 quarterback spot belongs to the only healthy quarterback on the roster, undrafted rookie Jack Strand. While it seems like a long shot, head coach Kevin Stefanski won't rule out starting Strand this week, according to Josh Kendall at The Athletic.
“Jack is not being ruled out for this game... With every player, I’m trying to make decisions that put them in the best position to succeed, and certainly with the quarterback position, that should be obvious... I’m very, very pleased with where Jack is developmentally. I think he’s come a long way since he got here.”
Strand wasn't on anybody's radar coming into the NFL, having played his college ball at Minnesota State University Moorhead. However, Strand turned out to be a pleasant surprise during the preseason, when he shredded the defense of the Indianapolis Colts and was sharp in the finale against the Miami Dolphins.
Right now the Falcons have to consider every option available to them - but there are obstacles in Strand's case. For one thing, he hasn't been practicing with the first-string offense, so he would need time to develop chemistry there. We also have to keep in mind that Strand's preseason performances should come with an asterisk as he was facing second and third-string defenses - and that defensive coordinators tend to play vanilla coverages in August so as not to tip their hand ahead of the regular season.
All that being said, Strand is literally the only healthy option on the roster - and it's hard to imagine him doing any worse than Rush did last week. Stefanski has to at least seriously consider giving him the ball, or else the Falcons are likely to start the season in a dreaded 0-2 hole.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Falcons won't rule out starting rookie QB vs. Panthers
