As the OTAs are officially over, the Atlanta Falcons still have to decide their primary quarterback for the 2026 NFL season, and Tua Tagovailoa is competing with Michael Penix Jr.

Based on Dalton Wasserman and Max Chadwick's recent quarterback rankings for 2026 on Pro Football Focus, they ranked Tua Tagovailoa 28th among the 32 QBs, a drastic reduction in his popularity after a decline in his performance. 

"The former Miami Dolphins was one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the league during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, ranking fourth among qualifying quarterbacks in PFF WAR over that span," they wrote. "But he has been on a downward trajectory over the past two years, ranking 31st among 33 qualifying quarterbacks in PFF overall grade (67.9) since 2024.”

This bottom-tier starter ranking is concerning, Tagovailoa finished 31st among 33 qualifying quarterbacks in PFF grading.

Recently, Tagovailoa joined the Falcons on a one-year, $1M stint to fill in for Penix, who is out with a torn left ACL sustained in the Week 11 game against the Carolina Panthers.

Based on the reports, Tagovailoa is involved in a quarterback battle with Michael Penix Jr. during the minicamp to secure the job of QB1 in the Falcons. 

“Like Penix, Tagovailoa has also struggled to stay on the field. He has played a full season only once during his six-year career," they wrote.

Per Pro Football Focus, Tagovailoa only appeared in 25 games and scored 39 TDs while throwing for 5,527 yards.

It suggests that league evaluators no longer view him as an upper-tier starter and that he has significant work to do to regain his previous Pro Bowl form.

While league evaluators remain skeptical, the Falcons have been impressed by what they've seen.

Tua Tagovailoa earns praise from the Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons are gearing up for the 2026 NFL training camps, and the story around their QB1 still stands: who will lead the Falcons’ squad on their 2026 Lombardi Trophy path?

As reported by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, there is one trait of Tua Tagovailoa that could stand out in his portfolio for becoming the primary starter of the Falcons in the upcoming NFL season. That is his accuracy. 

"I'm told from a source in Atlanta that Tua Tagovailoa has been really accurate, and that has stood out," Fowler said. "That also is something that head coach Kevin Stefanski has been on record as saying is the most important thing for a quarterback, so that gives Tua certainly a leg up leading into all this as hopefully a stopgap option for Atlanta."

It is undeniably his weapon that he could use against his opponents in the regular games. Fowler expects Tagovailoa to start in ‌Week 1 of the regular NFL games. 

If Penix were fully healthy, the narrative might be different. But Tagovailoa’s accuracy has unquestionably given an advantage.

Read more at Quarter Back Central!

Written by

Kunwar Yashaswee Chhaunker