Nobody really knows what's going to happen once the games begin, and there's always a chance that we could be pleasantly surprised. That being said, heading into Week 1 the Atlanta Falcons' quarterback situation is about as far from ideal as it gets.
Tua Tagovailoa has been named their starter for Sunday's road game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, he only won that honor by default because Michael Penix Jr. is still not fully up to speed after just having been cleared for 11-on-11 drills a few weeks ago.
Expectations for Tagovailoa have never been lower and a batch of quarterback rankings from Nick Shook at NFL.com underscores the point pretty harshly.
Shook has Tagovailoa in the sixth tier of starters and No. 31 overall, one spot below
Malik Willis of the Miami Dolphins and only one spot above the bottom, where the ghost of Deshaun Watson resides.
"...How will Malik Willis, in his first opportunity to own a starting job in his career, fare with a limited supporting cast, a first-time head coach and an offensive coordinator aiming to repair his play-calling reputation? Can Tua Tagovailoa find enough consistency to hold onto the job beyond Week 1? And how long will Deshaun Watson last as the Browns' starter? (My guess is two weeks, for those keeping track.) Generally, we're venturing into the unknown, which offers the promise of great wonder and surprise -- or disaster." - NFL.com
You can only learn so much from offseason drills and preseason games, but it speaks volumes that new head coach Kevin Stefanski will not committ to Tagovailoa as his starter beyond Week 1.
Tagovailoa has performed at a high level in the past, leading the league in several different stats over the years and making a Pro Bowl team as recently as 2023. If he can recapture the things that made him a successful QB in Miami, he may yet be able to hold off Penix once he's ready to start.
The odds certainly seem to be against it. If Tagovailoa bombs against Pittsburgh, we may see Penix return to the starting lineup as soon as Week 2 against Carolina.
The former Pro Bowl QB could shut a lot of people up with a big performance in Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Only one NFL QB ranked lower than Tua Tagovailoa going into Week 1
