How Falcons are evaluating Tagovailoa, Penix: ‘Can’t say it’s an equal scale’

Tua Tagovailoa, meanwhile, has overcome a flared-up back injury to flourish in 11-on-11s. He threw 14 passes in 7-on-7 across Monday and Tuesday, which adds another layer to the Falcons’ evaluation process.

Penix is 59-for-89 passing in 7-on-7 this summer, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s pass-charting tool, while Tagovailoa is 36-for-50 passing in 11-on-11 and 6-for-14 passing in 7-on-7.

The Falcons are forced to weigh Penix’s performance in 7-on-7s against Tagovailoa’s in 11-on-11. It’s a tough process, Van Pelt said.

“You can’t say it’s an equal scale,” Van Pelt said. “In team, you got all the bodies around you. In 7-on-7, you don’t. It’s a little bit less stressful in a 7-on-7 situation, but you still have to make the right reads and accurate throws.”

During OTAs, Van Pelt said completion rate is a minute piece to the puzzle in the team’s quarterback competition. High completion rates, he said, are moot if they aren’t accompanied by aggression and a willingness to push the ball downfield.

Penix has pushed the envelope in 7-on-7s. He’s thrown 13 passes beyond 20 yards, a 14.6% clip, and another 27 in the 10- to 19-yard bracket. All told, 40 of his 89 attempts have gone 10 yards or farther.

Van Pelt believes the 26-year-old Penix is accepting the challenge of challenging the defense vertically.

“He’s trying to take the top-down throws, trying to throw it down the field a little bit more,” Van Pelt said. “And that’s a strength of Mike’s, to be able to push the ball down the field with his arm strength. So, you see that come out in his play.”

Tagovailoa’s aggression has increased, too, and he’s been efficient on deep shots, completing seven of nine attempts beyond 20 yards. Of his 50 passes in 11-on-11s, 18% have eclipsed 20 yards.

Over the past four practices, Tagovailoa is 25-for-35 passing overall and 5-for-7 passing on throws greater than 20 yards. Van Pelt said he’s “really come on” dating back to the start of the run.

“He’s getting better every day,” Van Pelt said. “I think he’s becoming more comfortable with the system and the play calls and protection adjustments and everything. It’s tough always coming into a new system, so picking that up.”

During Tuesday’s practice, Tagovailoa yelled, “CAN, CAN,” and checked the Falcons into a run play at the line of scrimmage. Van Pelt and coach Kevin Stefanski have emphasized command and huddle control this offseason, placing as much, if not more, value on getting play calls communicated than distributing the ball.

Since returning full go from his back injury, Tagovailoa has checked every box the Falcons set for him.

“I think the biggest thing that you can tell is he’s a veteran,” Van Pelt said. “He can see the field really well, and if the defense makes a mistake, he can see that and exploit it.”

Tagovailoa, who started 76 games across six years with the Dolphins, said he studies daily to master the offense’s verbiage. The Falcons run similar concepts to what he knows, just spoken with different verbiage so he has to reprogram his mind.

But all in all, Tagovailoa said he feels good with where he’s at.

“With the walk-throughs that we’ve had, you start to get more and more comfortable with the terminology, with seeing what the calls would be within the structure of the defense,” Tagovailoa said Tuesday. “Getting comfortable, but it’s still something that I need to look over, need to continue to study and continue to process.”

Penix has a similar learning curve with the system, but also with what’s being asked of him.

The Falcons have prioritized improving his comfort under center, which is something the team’s previous coaching staff opted against. Across nine starts last season, Penix took only one dropback from under center, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats.

During warmups, individual periods and throwing routes on air, the Falcons often have Penix align under center and do a full drop. He worked under center early in his college career, which offered a baseline of familiarity, but the Falcons’ pistol-heavy offense of the past two years largely took him out of those positions.

The Falcons’ new staff has immersed Penix in the under-center community, and he’s quickly adapted to it.

“I love his footwork,” Van Pelt said. “We’ve done a lot of under-center work with him to get him comfortable from under center, and just really proud of the way he’s progressed. Can’t wait for him to get back.

“He looks great, and I think it’s only going to help us in the run game, in the play-action game and the keeper game if we can get our quarterbacks to play under center.”

Penix’s health remains at the center of the Falcons’ quarterback battle. He told reporters July 29 it could be four weeks until he’s cleared, which puts him at a mid-to-late-August return to full participation.

Before he’s allowed to handle 11-on-11 work, Penix must be cleared by his independent doctor, with whom he said last week he still doesn’t have a follow-up appointment scheduled.

But the Falcons are pleased with the progress Penix has made, and Van Pelt said he’s looked “really good” during training camp.

“Throwing it really well right now,” Van Pelt said. “I think he’s healthy. He has not said anything about it. He’ll have good days and bad days where he doesn’t feel great, but I think he’s progressing where he should be.”

During OTAs, Van Pelt said he’d like to have his starter finalized near the end of training camp, which technically runs through Aug. 27. The team’s competition remains open, and Stefanski said the ideal time to name a starter “totally varies” depending on the team.

The Falcons, Stefanski said, are merely focused on the day — and practice — directly in front of them.

“We will get to that point when we feel it’s necessary,” Stefanski said about tabbing a starter. “But you probably can look up and down all 32, and it varies.”