Ian Cunningham on Falcons QB competition, Gervon Dexter trade

Most assume it’ll be Tua or Penix under center in Week 1, and the decision really seems to come down to Penix’s health. Tua had every opportunity to take the job and run with it during the preseason, and he laid stinker after stinker.

If Penix were 100%, this probably wouldn’t be much of a decision. But he was only cleared for 11-on-11 work last week, and how comfortable he feels in a brand new offense is really unknown to the public. The Falcons know, however, and they’re probably pretty damn sure who’s starting Week 1. They just have no incentive to make the Steelers aware of their plans until the last possible second.

On Gervon Dexter, Cunningham said that when you can get a player of that caliber for that price, you pull the trigger.

Cunningham also mentioned that Dexter is a late bloomer to the game of football, having spent his younger years more focused on basketball, and highlighted how big the combination of him and Maason Smith will be in the middle of the Falcons defensive front.

That will be a focal point come Week 1. The Falcons pass rush was the most promising storyline of the entire 2025 campaign. For two decades it was totally anemic, but they finally broke that stretch by finishing second in the league in sacks with a franchise-record 57.

So what does the new regime decide to do? Essentially blow the whole thing up. There are a ton of new faces across the defensive line who’ll be taking starting reps this season, and we should know pretty quickly whether this front office has an eye for talent at one of the most important position groups in the sport.