Tua's Uncertain Future with Falcons: NFL Season Outlook
Tua Tagovailoa's shot to be the Atlanta Falcons' starting quarterback continues to dim after a tough preseason marked by injuries and reduced arm strength.
Video Transcript
But I'm gonna go to the Falcons here for a minute, Jacob, because it looks like Tua Tagovailoa has almost no chance to be the starting quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons.
There are even some whispers, will he even play for the Falcons this season based on what we've seen in the pre-season.
And, and you know, Jacob, things get crazy on Sunday.
It's, it's impossible to predict what's gonna happen, but we're gonna get shocked by a player or two getting cut.
I don't, I don't know that Tua's in that boat just yet because the Falcons would really have to come to terms with Penix and no one else, but what has happened here to Tua over the last year, his stock value?
Think of where it was a year ago, Jacob, to where it is right now.
What's gone wrong?
Yeah, it's totally plummeted, Craig.
And I, I just think, l- look, Tua was a good prospect.
I really liked him coming out of Alabama.
His whole thing was he didn't have the strongest arm, but he had great accuracy and ball placement, and we saw Mike McDaniel kind of get the most out of him.
I think as he's gotten and dealt with the injuries and the concussions, you know, Tua's had to focus so much on that that it's impacted other parts of his game, whether it's his, his accuracy, his footwork, his just having to avoid contact at all costs.
I think it's, it's hurt him from that perspective, and we've just seen him decline because of that.
And then that's where his lack of upper tier arm strength kind of shows where he can't really compensate for this.
So I think that kind of explains his decline.
I think the Falcons are truly in a terrible place at quarterback.
I say this- Yeah as someone who really liked Michael Penix as a prospect.
Craig, we, we talked about it very often on your show- leading up to that.
I was excited about him.
But the injury issues with him just haven't allowed him to develop.
Then you have Tua as his backup, another injury-prone guy.
And then beyond them, they don't have anything.
They have this guy named Jack- No Strand, who's an undrafted free agent out of, I don't even remember what school it was, but it was a very small school.
He's looked good this pre-season, but obviously you don't want a situation where he's gonna be starting at any point this season.
Right.
So I look at the Falcons quarterback room and I say, man, if Penix cannot pan out, this has the potential to be one of the worst quarterback rooms and one of the most frustrating to watch in all of the league this season.
Y- think about Stefanski.
He's celebrating, "I get out of Cleveland," because that- quarterback room is terrible, and he walks in to one that's even worse.
The fact that they could not tell the world that Tua's our starting quarterback and leave Penix to be able to heal on his own, he can't do that because Tua hasn't played himself into any position, which is just mind-blowing to me
