The Atlanta Falcons don’t know who their quarterback will be in Week 1, but both signal callers share something in common: each is on a comeback, and each has a chance to make franchise history.
NFL.com’s Grant Gordon ranked both Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. among his top 10 contenders for the 2026 Comeback Player of the Year award, with Penix at No. 7 and Tagovailoa at No. 10.
Falcons’ Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa Make CPOTY List
For Penix, the comeback is physical.
The 2024 first-round pick is working his way back from a torn ACL, and Gordon called his return pivotal for the entire organization. Atlanta bet its future on Penix when it took him eighth overall in 2024, a stunning pick given the team had just signed Kirk Cousins to a massive contract that same offseason.
“With their recent roster gambles not paying off like they hoped, the franchise’s trajectory might well ride on the left shoulder of Penix,” Gordon wrote, adding that “Penix can change everything in Atlanta with a successful comeback.”
Penix has just 14 NFL games to his name, with 2,757 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions, and he must first be cleared for 11-on-11 work before he can even compete for the job.
For Tagovailoa, the comeback is about reviving his career altogether.
He’s included on the list after being released by the Miami Dolphins, who ate a record $99.2 million in dead money to move on from him.
“For the Falcons, he’s currently leading a QB1 competition because he’s running unopposed as Michael Penix Jr. continues on his own comeback journey,” Gordon wrote.
Tagovailoa’s early returns haven’t helped, his preseason debut left plenty to be desired. But the veteran has bounced back before, and there is a potential fit with his new head coach.
“He might be the perfect fit for Tagovailoa, having already brought the better out of Kirk Cousins, Jacoby Brissett and Joe Flacco in past seasons,” Gordon wrote of Kevin Stefanski.
Why a Falcons CPOTY Win Would Be a First for the Franchise
If either Tagovailoa or Penix were to take home the award, it would give the Falcons something they’ve never had.
“No Falcons player has ever won CPOTY,” Gordon wrote. “However, 2001 Falcons first-round pick Michael Vick won the award with the Eagles in 2010 and remains the only left-handed QB to garner the recognition.”
That both are on the list at all speaks to the strange spot Atlanta finds itself in. The Falcons have a genuine offensive foundation after locking up Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Kyle Pitts, but the entire season hinges on a quarterback room defined by uncertainty and recovery.
That being said, expectations are pretty low on the 2026 season because of that uncertainty. But that’s also what makes the comeback angle so compelling.
If either Tagovailoa rediscovers his Pro Bowl form or Penix returns healthy and seizes the job he was drafted in the first round for, the payoff could be a turnaround no one saw coming, and a first for a franchise still chasing one.
One thing that would put either quarterback atop voters list would be leading Atlanta back to the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
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