Penix was widely praised for his natural arm talent and presence of mind within the pocket throughout the pre-draft process, and he’s put those traits on display in his 12 games as a starter during his first two seasons. NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah compared Penix’s ability to throw the ball to Joe Flacco in the days leading up to the draft, a player his new head coach has achieved success with. Flacco went 4-1 as a starter in Cleveland in 2023 after joining the team in Week 12 and won Comeback Player of the Year. Penix has some of the same high-quality skills for Stefanski to maximize.
Atlanta’s new head coach was asked about developing young quarterbacks at the combine podium, and he emphasized the importance of surrounding them with a structure for success.
“As coaches and clubs, we want to do all that we can to insulate those players and put them in a system, put players around them to allow for development of young players,” he said. “I think there’s countless examples of players that maybe their development takes time.
“It could take seasons, and I think there’s great examples of MVPs in this league where it didn’t click right away for them. And just understanding that as part of the process. But I do think it takes a lot of people to set the course for those young players at that position because it’s a hard position to play.”
While speaking with the local media at the combine, Stefanski shared a similar message about employing a growth mindset and expressed how seriously he takes fostering development with each of his players. During her time covering Stefanski in Cleveland, Russo saw those words put into action.
“It was very individualized because players are individual people,” Russo said. “They have different parts of their skill sets that are stronger, weaker, etc., that they need to address. And so that dedication to that aspect of meeting the player where they’re at, looking at specific things in their game that they want to improve, being able to look at what’s really strong in their game and being able to maximize that was something I think he was really good at and instilled in his staff as well.”
When it comes to the quarterback room in Atlanta, Stefanski wants everyone to speak the exact same language. This helps prevent misunderstanding and clarifies the objective for a player. It also reinforces the terminology and philosophy of the Falcons’ new offensive playbook.
Stefanski has familiarity with those who will be working most closely with Atlanta’s quarterbacks, which is offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and position coach Alex Van Pelt. A former quarterback at Notre Dame, Rees joined the Browns staff in 2024 and has worked with Stefanski the past two seasons. Van Pelt played quarterback in the NFL for 10 seasons and was the Browns’ offensive coordinator from 2020-23.
“When you’re in that quarterback room, you want to make sure that the voice is singular,” Stefanski said. “Even though it may be multiple people, the voice and what you’re telling the player is singular. … That’s part of the benefit of having Tommy Reese, having Alex Van Pelk, these are guys that I’ve coached with, guys that I believe what they believe. We’re all speaking the same language.”