Latest / The Facts with Jamal ๐บ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ / Kevin Stefanski tabs Tua Tagovailoa as QB1 for #Falcons over Michael Penix Jr for week one.
Transcript
- 0:01Legendary Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells had an interesting
- 0:04quote. If you have two quarterbacks,
- 0:08you don't really have none. You can apply that especially to
- 0:14the Atlanta Falcons. So earlier today, Kevin
- 0:18Stefanski made the decision to go into a tongue by Lower as the
- 0:24Week 1 starter next week against Pittsburgh.
- 0:30While it is really no surprise that, excuse me, Tour was going
- 0:36to be the guy for Week 1 after incumbent former number one
- 0:43first round draft pick Michael Pennants junior was recovering
- 0:47from injury, it just seemed like the logical choice to go with
- 0:51Tour, right? But here's why I explained they
- 0:58even after making such decision, Stefanski hasn't exactly given
- 1:04the fuller confidence on tour even after being named starter
- 1:11and why he is being essentially quiet on the Falcons long term
- 1:17signal call for this season. When Kevin Stefanski was hired
- 1:27this offseason along with new GM Ian Cunningham and franchise
- 1:34legend at quarterback Matt Ryan, who they got from CBS Sports
- 1:40after a couple years as an analyst, they bought all three
- 1:44with the belief that they needed to turn around franchise.
- 1:49That while the offensive skilled weapons Bajon Robinson, Drake
- 1:55London, Kyle Pitts and so offensive line they have had the
- 2:00personnel. The problem has been the
- 2:05instability at Corp. So this offseason they bought in
- 2:12tour as really giving competition to first round
- 2:17former incumbent star Michael Pence junior.
- 2:20Now me personally, I really did not have any belief in one or
- 2:26the other. Both of them have had Panics
- 2:30Junior and Tongue about Lola. Both had significant injuries in
- 2:36their college careers. Panics more so than Tour, but in
- 2:42the end, because Panics Junior was activated about a week and a
- 2:48half ago while still recovering from his knee injury, and
- 2:52despite participating in limited drills in practice, even though
- 2:57he's starting to ramp up, two of us named the guy today to really
- 3:03be the teams we'd once started. Here is why.
- 3:08However, in my estimation, this is really going to be his last
- 3:14legitimate opportunity to be an NFL * when he came out of
- 3:21Alabama in 2019. After the 2019 season, while he
- 3:26showed promise of being a potential franchise quarterback
- 3:32after having success Alabama, it was more of lingering questions
- 3:39about his health that kind of scared some teams off.
- 3:45Fast forward to when he was drafted by Miami a couple years
- 3:48or a year later. Let me just put it this way.
- 3:56His six years there were mostly up and down.
- 4:02He wasn't exactly on Brian Flores's way or when he took
- 4:09over his head coach. You can see how that one
- 4:12unfolded for yourself and how in a lot of ways Flores was, you
- 4:17know, right on the mark on that one.
- 4:20But to be real honest, talking about Lola only had one really
- 4:28good to your bowl line. Great season that you look and
- 4:32say you thought he was going to be able to capitalize off that
- 4:39but just wasn't able to. A rash of entries, including,
- 4:44unfortunately, that one year where he had gotten concussed at
- 4:50least three or four times and he suffered at worst two of them in
- 4:55a week. And no, I'm not joking.
- 4:58If you go back, he had gotten concussed in one game and then
- 5:03the following game, 'cause remember, they were playing on a
- 5:06short week. Yeah, it was ugly to the point
- 5:11where a lot of people were, including myself, 'cause I was a
- 5:15fan of his. Alabama, we're concerned about
- 5:19his well-being in that we all thought he was probably going to
- 5:23retire after that moment. Now credit to him for staying
- 5:29with it and even still playing right now.
- 5:35But if you couple you know, his time in Miami with not being
- 5:43really high on Brian Flores radar at that time, having
- 5:47limited success with then head coach Mike McDaniel after a one
- 5:52year wonder and a slew of injuries, it was really no
- 5:57surprise that in this offseason, Miami will reach them in March,
- 6:07essentially taking a record $99 million cap hit that charge
- 6:16money to part ways with her. That's tough.
- 6:21But you know what, that's pretty much the NFL for you.
- 6:27So when Kelvin Stefanski was flying to Atlanta to be a head
- 6:31coach, it was clear that he had his hands.
- 6:37Now, while the offensive skilled weapons that I mentioned were
- 6:39clearly there, the problem was they just didn't have the signal
- 6:44caller at a consistent level the last couple years to turn that
- 6:49team into a playoff contender. Wow.
- 6:56I was one of the people that were on the fence about how good
- 7:01Atlanta can really be. I kind of pointed out that they
- 7:07probably would be on the outside once again that the playoffs
- 7:12because if you're rolling the dice on 2 quarterbacks talking
- 7:19about lower and Michael Pennix junior to really be the guy you
- 7:26if you're Kevin Stefanski, that's not exactly a good
- 7:31ringing endorsement. But you know what we are talking
- 7:36about the same Kevin Stefanski that when he was in Cleveland
- 7:40throughout his handful of seasons there, you have to kind
- 7:46of get the guy to benefit of the Doubt.
- 7:48You see, he was the one the head coach who led that franchise to
- 7:53the first playoff win in over 2 decades and ended up being coach
- 7:59of the year. And a couple years after that
- 8:04despite 5 quarterbacks being injured throughout most of that
- 8:08season and having to rely on a 16 year fat and Joe Flacco who
- 8:14was probably watching football on his couch wondering if he was
- 8:19even going to play in the NFL again.
- 8:23Stefanski balling men. And it worked.
- 8:27I mean Cleveland made it to the playoffs once again.
- 8:31Flacco will end up winning comeback player of the year.
- 8:34Now that's actually surprising. And Stefanski won Coach of the
- 8:39year for a second time. So I think if anything, Kevin
- 8:45Stefanski proved throughout his time in Cleveland, he has been
- 8:50able to actually do more with less and actually have had
- 8:57success. So maybe if you're a Falcons fan
- 9:02or on Arthur Blake, you're probably hoping that, you know,
- 9:08with a much better offensive cast around as far as skill set
- 9:12players, you can probably do the same for our franchise, right?
- 9:18But unfortunately, therein lies the problem.
- 9:23While there was no denying that, where has the players to get it
- 9:27done and the defense, you know, unfortunately, whether it was
- 9:30due to injuries or suspension, some case, you know, we'll see
- 9:36about the but you look at the skilled roster on the offensive
- 9:43side, you say yourself there's absolutely no way they can miss
- 9:48the playoffs once again. Again, it all boils down and
- 9:55begins and ends with the court. The reality is, look, even
- 10:03though turning by lower is the Week 1 starter, it does not mess
- 10:10necessarily. I'm sorry, it does not
- 10:12necessarily rule out Michael parents Junior possibly getting
- 10:17a chance to maybe kind of say my story is not over yet.
- 10:26Now, mind you, he's going to be inactive for next Sunday's
- 10:30giving his pets book Fell and Cooper Rush will be the backup.
- 10:41But that does not necessarily mean that Tour moving forward
- 10:50will be the clear cut. Started the rest of the way now,
- 10:56mind you, because he was still recovering from his ACL injury
- 11:02in November of last year. He had been not only obviously
- 11:10recovering, but he had only done individual work to the side and
- 11:14wasn't, you know, fully given the OK for 11 or 11 train drills
- 11:20into the little leak of the final train camp practices.
- 11:28Now, while Stefanski still is aware that Pennix was clear, he
- 11:37needs time obviously to really ramp up as far as practices in
- 11:42game like scenarios, which is understandable.
- 11:45I mean, if you had gone through, as I said, with Michael Penn's
- 11:49junior's case being injury written at first Indiana, then
- 11:53Washington, you come into a week with many questions about your
- 11:57durability. You're going to need some time
- 12:00to really recover. So while Tour is going to be the
- 12:04start for Week 1, one thing is perfectly clear that does not
- 12:10solidify his place as the starter for the entirety of the
- 12:16season and work. I can simply sit here and say
- 12:22for a distance, you know, if I'm Kevin Stefanski, just, you know,
- 12:32I'm going to go with Tour. No decision afterwards.
- 12:39That's why I said to begin. It's why I think Tour is going
- 12:43to probably be on a short leash and this could be his last
- 12:49opportunity as a start. Unfortunately, This is why and
- 13:00more so, this is the reality of the NFL.
- 13:04You know, you, if you're a former first round pick, you're
- 13:07going to get many opportunities to kind of rewrite the narrative
- 13:11of your own career. But at a certain point, those
- 13:17chances are going right now. But what makes it matters even
- 13:21worse is that, you know, with everything that I have life,
- 13:26we're tongue by low from his time in Miami.
- 13:29It's not exactly in his faith according to some people close
- 13:37to the team. His train camp was kind of like
- 13:43a mixed bag. Now mind you, he had missed some
- 13:46time with a back tightness issue, but that was just, you
- 13:52know, nothing too major. But then when you really looked
- 13:57at, you know, when he was able to practice and even got into
- 14:00some pre season games, it was up in the air.
- 14:06He was not been. He wasn't able to really handle
- 14:10the snap at times. Being on the centre and his way
- 14:19of trying to push the ball down the field even in practices have
- 14:23been a growing concern. But Stefanski reiterated that
- 14:29only because you know, Pennex junior was still recovering from
- 14:37his ACL injury. And of course, you have feder
- 14:40and Cooper watch there has really did a factor backup.
- 14:43It only makes sense that again, ton by low will be the guy.
- 14:49The question, however, is for how?
- 14:53Because look, if you're in the land, Falcons fan, you can sit
- 14:59here and say that the last eight or nine years of this team have
- 15:04been pretty much not where you thought it would be.
- 15:08And look, even though this team is loaded with playmakers
- 15:11offensively and with even a few bright spots offensively, the
- 15:17biggest problem has been the Russian roulette changing of
- 15:22quarterbacks that held this team back from reaching where they
- 15:27thought they could. And look, I believe that he
- 15:32might be 1 of only a handful. I believe based off everything I
- 15:37said about Kevin Stefanski, that he can actually do a lot better
- 15:42than let's say, 70% of coaches that probably don't have two
- 15:50coaches a year awards by doing more or less.
- 15:54So I'll give him that. And look, as far as the AFNFCSI
- 16:00apologize, it's really wide open.
- 16:04You know, I mean, the only team I could probably see winning the
- 16:08defense and once against Carolina, Tampa, I don't know,
- 16:13I'm on the fence of them. And with the Saints and Kelly
- 16:18Moore, you know, after finishing somewhat decently strong last
- 16:24year, maybe a second year under Moore's tenure as head coach
- 16:29could signal some good things to come.
- 16:32But for the purposes of the Falcons, will quarterback play
- 16:39once again be their biggest downfall?
- 16:44And well, if he doesn't pan out the first couple games, let's
- 16:51say, could this be the end? October talking about what was
- 16:56time, not just as a starter but in the NFL.
- 17:02All of that will be remained to be seen.