The Atlanta Falcons went through a huge reset this offseason. Moving on from Raheem Morris, they brought in Kevin Stefanski as their new head coach, but they also moved on from Kirk Cousins in the quarterback room, signing Tua Tagovailoa as a placeholder.
With their former first-round pick, Michael Penix Jr., sidelined with an injury, the former Miami Dolphins star has gotten a lot of the starting reps throughout the offseason. Unfortunately, his play has been pretty underwhelming, disappointing fans across the league.
Tua Tagovailoa Isn’t the Answer for the Falcons
Drafted fifth overall by the Dolphins, the Alabama product had some obvious shortcomings as a prospect. But he still turned into a star at Miami, leading the league in passer rating, passing yards in separate years, and adding a Pro Bowl selection to his resume.
As a result, he even signed a four-year extension worth $212.4 million. However, injuries, especially multiple bouts with concussions, derailed his career with the Dolphins, leading to his release this offseason.
So far, though, his tenure with the Falcons has been far from perfect. A rough start to the preseason has been compounded by training camp videos where he hasn’t set the world on fire.
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Now, after another video from a joint practice with the Indianapolis Colts, fans are having a field day with him. With some heavy pressure against him, the Hawaiian quarterback tried to move around and make a throw, but ultimately fell way short of his goal.
As the video went viral online, fans were stunned. As Colts analyst Destin Adams exclaimed, “Them boys had Tua in HELL,” it was hard to fault him for his appraisal of the clip as a whole.
PrizePicks’ account on X shared an image with the text: “Ya’ll ever feel bad mid hate watch,” indicating that fans can’t even troll Tagovailoa without feeling bad for him.
https://t.co/XKeKhyU3fC pic.twitter.com/qSqHDKjMjh
— PrizePicks (@PrizePicks) August 20, 2026
Warren Sharp tried to explain it as a major problem of Tagovailoa’s game altogether, claiming, “Not Tua’s game at all. Tua has the largest drop in production of any QB when forced to hold the ball… a disaster.”
Tua against the Colts defense pic.twitter.com/oK0PFIVW8S
— DraftKings Sports (@DKSports) August 20, 2026
John Frascella believed that Tagovailoa couldn’t be the answer for the Falcons, instead wondering, “Dead serious…Why haven’t the Falcons gotten Anthony Richardson or Joe Milton yet?” He wasn’t the only one seeing the shortcomings with keeping Tagovailoa as QB1.
Former NFL quarterback Kurt Benkert shared the image of the 2020 NFL Draft where Tagovailoa was picked before Justin Herbert.
https://t.co/23q1WagkRr pic.twitter.com/WQ40X8e7B6
— Kurt Benkert (@KurtBenkert) August 20, 2026
As another fan reasoned, “Michael Penix Jr. is and has been the answer at QB for them this year. I also still believe in his talent & football IQ. Too many people writing him off too soon imo.”
For a lot of folks, though, the clip served as a reminder of what he was able to do in Miami.
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Rather than the lowlights, they were blown away by the star showings he had for the Dolphins, even earning a Pro Bowl nod during his time with the franchise, while recording 4,624 yards and 29 touchdowns in the 2023 NFL season.
According to PFN’s QB Impact Metric, Tagovailoa posted an impact score of 87.1 in 2023, ranking third at his position.
YouTuber Tyler added, “Every Tua clip I’ve seen from camp and preseason has me thinkin… Tua 📉, Mike McDaniel 📈.”
Every Tua clip I’ve seen from camp and preseason has me thinkin…
Tua 📉, Mike McDaniel 📈https://t.co/YZIHAQe0RC
— Tyler (@I_AM_WILDCAT) August 20, 2026
As YouTuber Dom Italiano put it, “Mike McDaniel and Tyreek need to get statues outside of Hard Rock stadium for getting a 29 TD season out of this dude, man.”
It remains to be seen if the Falcons decide to make a major switch this late in the offseason.
In their first preseason game, Tagovailoa was on the field for a very short time, completing three of five passes for just 22 yards, as the Falcons lost 27-7 to the Denver Broncos.
With Stefanski’s game plan likely keeping the starters out of their second preseason game, fans in Atlanta won’t get a second look at Tagovailoa until the final preseason game or potentially even the start of the regular season.
But with the way things have progressed so far, a pathway for Penix to return to the starting quarterback role once he’s fully healthy might not be out of the realm of possibility for the Falcons.
