Penix deserves time with a competant coaching staff.
November 4, 2025
Penix deserves time with a competant coaching staff.
22 comments
Boom. People are so pissy about him and it’s reallly driving me crazy. Most of these mistakes can be ironed out with GOOD COMPETENT COACHING. That’s the best QB (MR2) in franchise history he’s being compared to for the people in the back
wasting his talent in this goofy high school level, pop gun, shot gun, pistol clap offense.
I don’t think it’s a good idea to compare him to Ryan.
For example, can you compare the number of game winning drives in those 10 starts? How many of those were done in less than 12 seconds?
And yes, just like wins and losses, those probably have more to do with the team.
It will be interesting to see who had the better defense after their 1st year starting. Ryan had Abe rushing the passer but that was about it.
Penix is young and has to grow in the pocket. He has made some bad decisions with grounding multiple times, and doesn’t seem to be able to look past his first target. But he is extremely talented. With the right coaching staff who knows where we’ll be. Maybe after seeing what London was able to do in the red zone we’ll grow more accustom to lobbing it up to him or Pitts
I think the difference is, when I watched Ryan early on, he seemed inexperienced but not jittery. Penix has had multiple times when he seems like he is about to seize because he cant figure out what to do and I think throwing the ball into the ground like a spike because he got an unexpected snap is a great example of that.
But in the end, youre right, that all comes down to coaching. Having confidence to know what to do when it goes wrong, not feeling like you are snapping the ball with 00 on the play clock EVERY SINGLE PLAY, and having confidence that if you have an off play, your staff will have your back with a solid play call right after. I feel like he is expected to just go out and be a vet immediately, kind of how they are just expecting Bijan and Drake to make miracle plays and that be the offense, they expect him to just play at an elite level every play and bail at their lack of prep.
Gotta pump up those rushing stats. Make teams pay for blitzing and playing man behind it.
I said the same thing. He needs a coach that can develop his talents. Hes being made the scapegoat right now but it all comes down to horrible coaching, game planning and efficiency.
Bring on the downvotes but…
Desmond Ridder stats through first 10 games:
203/318, 2,038 yards, 63.8%, 8 TD, 6 INT, 172 yards rushing, 2 rushing TDs
Juries still out on Penix for me. Yes, probably closer to MR2 than Ridder but not obvious how much. Arm talent is there. Footwork seems iffy. Some bone headed (hopefully coachable) decisions in the clutch. Some total gamer plays in the clutch. Way too indecisive running the ball.
Except MR2 was actually a rookie for his first 10 career starts and led an ice cold comeback against the bears.
I have no doubt Penix could be a really good QB. But he’s nowhere close to earning an MR comparison. Maybe once we win a game because of him and not in spite of him.
In the critics’ defense…the whole point in keeping Penix on the bench behind Kirk for almost a year was so that he could be able to come in guns blazing. I was a fan of that strategy and still am. After all, he was considered to be arguably the most pro-ready QBs in his class. Matt Ryan was a special and incredible case that changed how rookie QBs were evaluated and paced, along with Joe Flacco.
In the supporters’ defense…Penix has not had a competent OC in all 10 of those games. I was willing to give ZR the benefit of the doubt when it was a 36 year old Kirk coming off an Achilles injury, but this continued offensive playcalling being the most predictable and elementary level is inexcusable.
Edit: Also, anyone who thinks the game hasn’t changed since 2008 is just foolish. The gamecalling is more complex. The players are more athletic. A lot of our favorite players of the 2010s would not cut it in the modern game. And that’s just an unfortunate truth.
He needs a good OC and a great route running TE/WR for easy completions
Penix has some jets idc what anyone says. You could see how quick his stride was on that scramble where he almost got in the endzone.
Falcons rise up! The future is bright
Yes, and he also needs a personal QB coach in the office season to work on his footwork. Hopefully he does that because sometimes he relies on his arm strength too much and some 15+ yard passes just end up being low passes to the ground.
I’m very critical of Penix having watched all this college games and still see him doing the same stuff he did at Washington where he will absolutely ghost a throw, a drive, a whole game and then come back with a vengeance and you think he’s got it all past him only for him to do it a few games later.
However. I will concede this offensive scheme is absolutely trash for him and that he needs a chance in a real offense. I’d also say go get him a true burner WR that can take the top off the defense and allow him to fully unleash his cannon. Then you’d have the monster of Drake London’s catch radius and then someone that could run under Penix’s deep ball if they over play Drake.
Thing is if they stick with Zac for another year and it’s more of the same inconsistent play by the offense and Penix, I think Penix is gonna go down with Zac as far as the Falcons may be concerned. He might be the next Darnold in the making.
Matt Ryan through first pass attempt:
1/1, 100%, 62 passing yards, 1 TD
Michael Penix through first pass attempt:
1/1, 100%, 14 passing yards, 0 TD
Matt deserved time with a competent staff too, fwiw. 😢
Ryan has more nfl iq from what I can tell but penix had more arm talent.
Matt Ryan also took pretty big jumps in his 3rd, 4th, and 5th years, and was constantly leading game winning drives.
Hopefully Penix can consistently up his game
I wouldn’t use Matt Ryan rookie stats as any form of a comparison. The NFL then vs now in regard to player safety has changed a lot. That has a big impact on passing stats.
Agreed, but…
Good luck trying to get a competent coach and GM hire with Rich McKay hiring/ as shadow GM with no 1st round pick.
Matt Ryan had 82 rushing yards hist first 10 games?!
22 comments
Boom. People are so pissy about him and it’s reallly driving me crazy. Most of these mistakes can be ironed out with GOOD COMPETENT COACHING. That’s the best QB (MR2) in franchise history he’s being compared to for the people in the back
wasting his talent in this goofy high school level, pop gun, shot gun, pistol clap offense.
I don’t think it’s a good idea to compare him to Ryan.
For example, can you compare the number of game winning drives in those 10 starts? How many of those were done in less than 12 seconds?
And yes, just like wins and losses, those probably have more to do with the team.
It will be interesting to see who had the better defense after their 1st year starting. Ryan had Abe rushing the passer but that was about it.
Penix is young and has to grow in the pocket. He has made some bad decisions with grounding multiple times, and doesn’t seem to be able to look past his first target. But he is extremely talented. With the right coaching staff who knows where we’ll be. Maybe after seeing what London was able to do in the red zone we’ll grow more accustom to lobbing it up to him or Pitts
I think the difference is, when I watched Ryan early on, he seemed inexperienced but not jittery. Penix has had multiple times when he seems like he is about to seize because he cant figure out what to do and I think throwing the ball into the ground like a spike because he got an unexpected snap is a great example of that.
But in the end, youre right, that all comes down to coaching. Having confidence to know what to do when it goes wrong, not feeling like you are snapping the ball with 00 on the play clock EVERY SINGLE PLAY, and having confidence that if you have an off play, your staff will have your back with a solid play call right after. I feel like he is expected to just go out and be a vet immediately, kind of how they are just expecting Bijan and Drake to make miracle plays and that be the offense, they expect him to just play at an elite level every play and bail at their lack of prep.
Gotta pump up those rushing stats. Make teams pay for blitzing and playing man behind it.
I said the same thing. He needs a coach that can develop his talents. Hes being made the scapegoat right now but it all comes down to horrible coaching, game planning and efficiency.
Bring on the downvotes but…
Desmond Ridder stats through first 10 games:
203/318, 2,038 yards, 63.8%, 8 TD, 6 INT, 172 yards rushing, 2 rushing TDs
Juries still out on Penix for me. Yes, probably closer to MR2 than Ridder but not obvious how much. Arm talent is there. Footwork seems iffy. Some bone headed (hopefully coachable) decisions in the clutch. Some total gamer plays in the clutch. Way too indecisive running the ball.
Except MR2 was actually a rookie for his first 10 career starts and led an ice cold comeback against the bears.
I have no doubt Penix could be a really good QB. But he’s nowhere close to earning an MR comparison. Maybe once we win a game because of him and not in spite of him.
In the critics’ defense…the whole point in keeping Penix on the bench behind Kirk for almost a year was so that he could be able to come in guns blazing. I was a fan of that strategy and still am. After all, he was considered to be arguably the most pro-ready QBs in his class. Matt Ryan was a special and incredible case that changed how rookie QBs were evaluated and paced, along with Joe Flacco.
In the supporters’ defense…Penix has not had a competent OC in all 10 of those games. I was willing to give ZR the benefit of the doubt when it was a 36 year old Kirk coming off an Achilles injury, but this continued offensive playcalling being the most predictable and elementary level is inexcusable.
Edit: Also, anyone who thinks the game hasn’t changed since 2008 is just foolish. The gamecalling is more complex. The players are more athletic. A lot of our favorite players of the 2010s would not cut it in the modern game. And that’s just an unfortunate truth.
He needs a good OC and a great route running TE/WR for easy completions
Penix has some jets idc what anyone says. You could see how quick his stride was on that scramble where he almost got in the endzone.
Falcons rise up! The future is bright
Yes, and he also needs a personal QB coach in the office season to work on his footwork. Hopefully he does that because sometimes he relies on his arm strength too much and some 15+ yard passes just end up being low passes to the ground.
I’m very critical of Penix having watched all this college games and still see him doing the same stuff he did at Washington where he will absolutely ghost a throw, a drive, a whole game and then come back with a vengeance and you think he’s got it all past him only for him to do it a few games later.
However. I will concede this offensive scheme is absolutely trash for him and that he needs a chance in a real offense. I’d also say go get him a true burner WR that can take the top off the defense and allow him to fully unleash his cannon. Then you’d have the monster of Drake London’s catch radius and then someone that could run under Penix’s deep ball if they over play Drake.
Thing is if they stick with Zac for another year and it’s more of the same inconsistent play by the offense and Penix, I think Penix is gonna go down with Zac as far as the Falcons may be concerned. He might be the next Darnold in the making.
Matt Ryan through first pass attempt:
1/1, 100%, 62 passing yards, 1 TD
Michael Penix through first pass attempt:
1/1, 100%, 14 passing yards, 0 TD
Matt deserved time with a competent staff too, fwiw. 😢
Ryan has more nfl iq from what I can tell but penix had more arm talent.
Matt Ryan also took pretty big jumps in his 3rd, 4th, and 5th years, and was constantly leading game winning drives.
Hopefully Penix can consistently up his game
I wouldn’t use Matt Ryan rookie stats as any form of a comparison. The NFL then vs now in regard to player safety has changed a lot. That has a big impact on passing stats.
Agreed, but…
Good luck trying to get a competent coach and GM hire with Rich McKay hiring/ as shadow GM with no 1st round pick.
Matt Ryan had 82 rushing yards hist first 10 games?!