Yahoo Sports NFL analyst Nate Tice is joined by fantasy analyst Matt Harmon to discuss the possible moves for Atlanta in finding its starting quarterback for the 2026 season. Check out the full conversation on “Football 301” – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
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Video Transcript
Okay, two roads diverge in the woods here for the, for the Falcons.
Mm-hmm.
One, you basically, you cut Kirk Cousins, but you just bring him back on, like, a more palatable deal here.
Yeah.
That, that’s po- because then, again, you can stay committed to Michael Penix, see what that looks like.
Mm-hmm.
Kirk Cousins, obviously, people have been trying to get Kirk Cousins to Kevin Stefanski and the Browns.
Well, now you just bring Kevin Stefanski to the Falcons, and Kirk Cousins and him- – finally get to reunite there.
that makes a lot of sense.
And I, by the way, I actually thought Kirk was acceptable, for the Falcons when he was starting last season.
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He was!
He was- He was … he was acceptable.
He was better than- ’cause he could actually move a little bit, as opposed to what he was- Way better than the year before … in 2024.
Yes.
Totally.
Yes.
So I think that’s actually, I think that’s actually plausible, especially if they do believe in Michael Penix still, and I know it’s a totally new front office, but Matt Ryan, for what it was worth, you know, kind of has in his media availability, has said like, “Oh, we still believe in Michael Penix.”
So I think that’s one possible thing.
The other possible path, I do think they are an interesting Malik Willis team.
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If he’s not just, it’s, it’s going to the Dolphins- Ah … it’s set it and forget it there.
I think they make sense as a, as a Willis team, because you can really lean into, like, a zone-heavy run game, which is what Stefanski probably wants to do, and it’s definitely- Mm-hmm … what they were doing under Zach Robinson with Bijan Robinson.
You could even potentially bring Tyler Allgeier back.
I know Allgeier actually is a really interesting free agent this off-season, but you could potentially keep him around.
Yes, he is.
No one’s talking about him either.
It’s crazy.
You’ve got a good, you’ve got a good little kind of rushing attack there with those guys.
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and Malik Willis, you mentioned some of it was designery and everything, but when he actually did have to- … push the football last year, he was willing to test tight windows.
Yes.
He was willing to push it downfield, which that overlaps really well with Drake London’s game, who I’m very fascinated to see how he’s deployed in this new offense.
So yeah, I think that would be the more exciting path.
and, and I don’t know if I don’t know what Falcons fans’ appetite would be for that, if they see it as just kind of another half measure at the position.
But I think you are recover- Mm-hmm.
If you’re, if you’re done with Penix, and you’re like, “This isn’t gonna work,” you’re recovering from a huge miss at quarterback.
You took him eighth overall, you have to kind of do the, the half measure stuff there for a little bit, and I think that would be a fun pairing.