Easton Stick Shines in Falcons Preseason Opener, Makes Case for Bigger Role

“It’s about being able to go out there and operate our offense efficiently,” Yates said Monday after practice. “It’s tough to get threes and fours a lot of reps in camps. That’s always going to be a tough thing, but just to see them handle our offense, get some completions, move the ball up and down the field, [and] try to score some points.”

Stick started the game with a bang, threading a pass to David Sills V after evading the Lions’ pass rush, but the offense struggled to get going after that. They finished with a punt on five of their first six possessions, but that likely had more to do with the rushing attack than anything Stick put out there. 

​​The early drives sputtered, in part because the run game never found traction – Elijah Dotson and Nate Carter combined for just four yards on seven carries in the first half. That left Stick in frequent long-yardage situations (three of their five third downs were seven yards or further), but he eventually broke through with a crisp six-play, 70-yard drive capped by a 13-yard touchdown to Chris Blair.

The 2019 fifth-round pick, whom the Falcons signed earlier this offseason from Los Angeles, played his whole career with the Chargers. He suited up for five games in 2023, starting four, completing 63.8 percent of his passes for 1,129 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception.

“Obviously, Stick’s been in the league,” Michael Penix Jr. said. “He knows what [the game] looks like, he knows how to play the position at this level. He’s been in there during game-time situations when he was in LA and (Justin) Herbert went down.”

Stick is locked in a battle with Emory Jones for the third quarterback spot, but his steady play may have given the Falcons something more valuable: quarterback insurance. 

If the front office gets a suitable offer for backup quarterback Kirk Cousins, Friday night’s performance showed that Stick could be more than just a camp arm. Stick could be a reliable next man up for the Falcons, taking his $1.2 million price tag into consideration vs. Cousins’s $25 million salary.