Michael Penix Jr. shows flashes of ELITE processing in high pressure situations versus Buccaneers

Michael Penix Jr. shows flashes of ELITE processing in high pressure situations versus Buccaneers

Hey, what’s up everybody? I am DJ Shakley. Want to thank you guys for joining me for Falcons film review and today I’m excited to talk about Michael Pennis Jr. and the things that he does in game that makes him so special. There are a couple things that come to mind and for me Raheem Moore said when we get a quarterback we want him to be an elite processor. Michael Penn Jr. is that he’s also got to be tough. He’s also got to be accurate and also have a little wiggle about it. Michael Pennic showed all that in game number one. And I got a few plays I’m going to show you that kind of exemplifies all that in one in this particular game here. Now, let’s talk about Michael Penn Jr. from the quarterback spot and the things you think about pre- snap. Pre- snap, you hear me talk about all the time. Pre- snap to post snap. Pre- snap as a quarterback, my mind goes to where’s my easiest completion. Where can I get a a completion on first or second down? That’s the easiest one that I know right away. Oh, let’s draw what’s going on first. Here’s the route concept here. You got an out route here at the bottom and then in the middle Casey watches run a corner route and then you got Drake who’s over here in the slot. He’s going to run what we call a shallow cross. Now here’s the progression for the quarterback. It’s one, it’s two, then it’s three. Going through this process for a quarterback. Initially you say, okay, pre- snap, like I mentioned, where’s the easiest completion? Right now it looks like, hey, this guy’s playing off coverage. I can throw it there. Off coverage is good. But as the ball snap, post snap, watch what this defensive back does here. And watch what Michael Pennix does with his eyes as well. Ball got motion coming across. And watch the snap of the ball. And watch what happens to that slot guy. Now the slot guy, he’s taking this away right now. So right now, you can see Michael Penn’s eyes are going here. Okay, my first read, it’s not there. Where do I go now? Now I got to take my eyes to number two right here. Here’s the next guy in the progression here. Going to progression. Watch Michael P. wants to throw this. Watch his feet reset. Goes reset. Oh, it’s not there. Reset. Number two. Do I like it? Oh, it’s a little muddy. Maybe not. Let’s not go there. Now we come down to number three, which is Drake on the shell across. He does a good job of putting it in a good spot. Ball placement is important cuz this is actually pretty good coverage. Put it out in front. Give him a catchable football. And now you got a chance for a big play. Instead of it being second and long, now it’s third and one. The processing ability right there. Pre- snap to postnap. knowing my number one read wasn’t there, two was a little cloudy, getting down number three. Now you got a better opportunity and manageable third down because your quarterback process information quickly and that happened all within about two two or three seconds. Next play here, my man Mloud. When you’re playing quarterback, the number one thing you have to have is really good feet work because your feet work go hand in hand with your arm and your accuracy. Here’s what I’m talking about here. Michael Pennix is going to take a fivestep drop. This is a route that’s a little bit deeper. Raymond Mloud is running a deeper out route here. It takes a little time to happen. He’s going to take a five step and a hitch and let the football go. If he takes anything else, he takes an extra hitch or he doesn’t get back faster than just drop. You can’t complete this pass. Nice job here of watching. Watch Michael Pink’s feet here. 1 2 3 4 5 hitch up. Let the football go. Accurate ball outside. Let’s watch it one more time here. Does such a really good job. I want you to watch his feet here of letting this football go on time. And then Ray Mloud, the back part of it is what’s really special, too. Watch his feet. He’s going to hitch up. 1 2 3 4 five. Boom. Hitch. He’s about to hitch. Now, Ray is about to come out of it. Remember I talking about being friendly to the quarterback. Coming down flat is a huge deal cuz you can see where this football is, where the ball placement is is so important. He looks like he crosses his face. Does a really good job of that. DB does a really good job of staying on him and the ball is out front. If it’s a millimeter, two yards behind him, guess what? It’s an incomplete pass. Here comes the accuracy part of Michael Penny Jr. Hitch up, let the football go, climbing the pocket. Nice pocket, too, as well. And now you got another big time completion moving the chains again. Nice job of anticipating that throw as well. And then the last part that I love, I want to talk about, of course, is the legs of Michael Penn. Understanding in these tough moments, sometimes it’s not there. Sometimes the defense wins. Those guys on the other side, they get paid too to make plays. On this particular play here, he does such a good job of understanding. Yeah, here’s pressure off the edge. Doesn’t panic. A lot of quarterbacks can panic in this moment and just throw away. But remember, this is the fourth and one call where he beats a guy to the edge. Watch what happens. Get a little pressure off the edge. Now, the decision to go. But the other part I love about this is your quarterback here is not just looking to run. It’s fourth and one. He could easily just try to go run and get this, which he does. But also, he does a good job of keeping his eyes down the field just in case somebody pops open. Look at his head. His head is telling you, I’m still thinking of throwing, but I’m in the running motion here. Does a good job getting outside. And then you see the speed here to get to the corner and gives up his body to get to the first down. And I let it play out. And then the extra effort to get there. And as we know, big time play stretching the ball out, picking up the for that fourth down call to get the first down and making a play. Last but not least, got to talk about this, the touchdown run here. Another opportunity for Michael P Jr. to show his toughness, but also to show the decision making that, you know, I wanted to throw it. It wasn’t there. And then the decision to go right now to make that decision. Now, he wants to work up here at the top. He wants to work this little slit, the slant route at the top by Casey. You look, he wants to throw it. Look at him. His arm is cocked. He’s ready to go. But look at this guy. This guy has an opportunity to possibly break on this ball here. He’s got his eyes inside. waiting for Ray Ray to come across as well on this little seam route here. He doesn’t like it. The decision to pull it down and go right now is unbelievable. I don’t know how he kept his knees up. Unbelievable job of keeping his knees up to dive in the end zone. But the decision to go right now didn’t like what he saw. Take off and then the extra effort to give your team a chance to go win the ball game. That is what you like. And I’m excited to watch Michael Penny Jr. go for the rest of the season. This guy showed you elite processing. He shows you the ability to be accurate. He shows you the ability to be tough. But then also the legs were a big part of this ball game. Can’t wait to see what he does for the rest of the season. And as he continues to play like this, Falcons fans, you should be excited as well cuz you have a quarterback that can get it done in multiple ways. And he’s ready for that big moment. I thank you guys for joining me. My name is DJ Shockley. This has been Falcons Film Review. We’ll see you next week.

Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. put his whole arsenal on display last Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. From clutch throws in the 4th quarter, to getting the job done on the ground with his feet. Penix Jr. has D.J. Shockley excited to break down some of his favorite moments of the 2nd year quarterback’s first start of the 2025 regular season.

00:00 – Intro
00:34 – Play One – Interpreting Coverage & Taking the Hit
02:31 – Play Two – Footwork & Timing in Clutch Situations
03:59 – Play Three – Sensing Pressure & Using his Speed
05:07 – Play Four – Decision Making & Toughness

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