Where does Michael Penix Jr. rank among QBs?

The Falcons’ postseason hopes lie squarely on the shoulders of Michael Penix Jr.

The bones of the roster are in place. The offensive line is returning four of five starters, the receiving core is among the best in football, and nobody has a better running back room than the one in Atlanta.

On the other side, the defense should be much improved from a year ago. The Falcons added several pieces through free agency, and then spent their first four picks on defenders, all of whom are competing for starting jobs as Week 1 approaches. However, perhaps the biggest improvement the Falcons’ defense will experience comes in the form of a coaching change. Defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake was a disaster last year, and Jeff Ulbrich stands to be a massive upgrade.

If Michael Penix Jr. improves off what he showed at the end of last season, the Falcons should be in pretty good shape. But not everybody is sold on him being the answer in Atlanta just yet.

Mike Sando of The Athletic recently ranked NFL quarterbacks, placing each of them into tiers, with the Falcons quarterback landing in Tier 4 and ranking 28th. Penix finds himself right behind Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, and just ahead of J.J. McCarthy and Daniels Jones.

In fact, Atlanta’s backup Kirk Cousins came in ranked ahead of Penix, clocking in at #25 and the final member of Tier 3.

To be fair, Michael Penix Jr. only finds himself this low because there really isn’t enough data to put him much higher on the list. He’s only played in three games, and while he made some incredibly impressive plays, he also left a lot to be desired in other areas. Penix completed just 58.1% of his passes and had three touchdowns compared to three interceptions. Those aren’t exactly numbers over a three-game sample size that are going to land him among the top 15 quarterbacks in the game.

This list also brings up an interesting phenomenon that a lot of Falcons fans would like to ignore. But is it possible that Michael Penix Jr. isn’t even the best quarterback on the team?

The answer is absolutely yes. When Cousins was healthy last season, he had a stretch where he was a top ten quarterback in the game. Now a year further removed from the torn Achilles injury, he’s probably better now than he was last season for the Falcons.

That’s a pretty high bar for Michael Penix Jr. to reach. But with Pandora’s box now open, there’s no turning back in Atlanta. Even if Penix experiences growing pains, he has to be the starting quarterback as long as he’s healthy.