Michael Penix Jr. enters the 2026 fantasy football season surrounded by massive question marks, almost entirely stemming from his medical profile and a quarterback competition. His 2025 campaign as the starter was cut short in Week 11 by a torn ACL in his left knee, the third ACL injury of his career.
As of mid-August, he remained limited to 7-on-7 drills in training camp, only recently being extended to 11-on-11, something that naturally calls into question his availability in September for live action.
Should I Draft Michael Penix Jr. in Fantasy Football?
Even before the injury, his 2025 production left fantasy managers wanting more. In nine starts, Penix managed just 1,982 passing yards and nine touchdowns: two multi-pass TD games and just one 300-yard effort. There’s no rushing to speak of in this profile, and that puts too much pressure on his left shoulder for what he appears capable of handling right now.
While he aggressively pushed the ball downfield, his 60.1% completion percentage ranked 30th in the league, highlighting major struggles connecting on deep attempts. It’s great to have talented teammates, and that’s certainly the case here, but that’s been the case in the past two, and we’ve yet to see anything close to a proof of concept.
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Atlanta’s offseason moves reflect a lack of confidence in his immediate availability. The team brought in Tua Tagovailoa, pushing Penix into a direct competition for the starting job whenever he is finally cleared to face live bullets.
While new head coach Kevin Stefanski inherits an elite trio of playmakers in Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts, Penix has an uphill battle just to get on the field, never mind produce stats at a rate that we’ve yet to see from the former eighth overall pick.
Given the lengthy recovery timeline, the presence of Tagovailoa, and his minimal rushing output, Penix should be completely ignored in all formats. A successful 2026 season for Penix consists of simply getting fully healthy and eventually reclaiming the starting job, but you shouldn’t draft him expecting anything that you can realistically use.
Kyle Soppe’s QB Fantasy Rankings 2026
- Josh Allen | BUF
- Drake Maye | NE
- Joe Burrow | CIN
- Lamar Jackson | BAL
- Jayden Daniels | WAS
- Caleb Williams | CHI
- Justin Herbert | LAC
- Jalen Hurts | PHI
- Jaxson Dart | NYG
- Trevor Lawrence | JAX
- Dak Prescott | DAL
- Bo Nix | DEN
- Patrick Mahomes II | KC
- Brock Purdy | SF
- Matthew Stafford | LAR
- Jared Goff | DET
- Kyler Murray | MIN
- Jordan Love | GB
- Baker Mayfield | TB
- Tyler Shough | NO
- Malik Willis | MIA
- Daniel Jones | IND
- C.J. Stroud | HOU
- Sam Darnold | SEA
- Bryce Young | CAR
- Jacoby Brissett | ARI
- Cam Ward | TEN
- Aaron Rodgers | PIT
- Fernando Mendoza | LV
- Justin Fields | KC
- Kirk Cousins | LV
- Geno Smith | NYJ
