NFL Analyst for ESPN Louis Riddick was on NFL Live this week and was asked if he thinks Michael Penix Jr. is the Atlanta Falcons franchise quarterback back. Riddick said “No, personally I don’t.”, and also talked about how he expects Atlanta to make a “big move” at quarterback this offseason and explains why he thinks the Falcons signing free agent quarterback Malik Willis makes perfect sense.
The Morning Shift reacted to what Riddick had to say, explained why they think Willis is as much of an unknown as a starting QB as Penix Jr. is, explained why they think the Falcons aren’t in position to swing for the fences for a free agent quarterback like Malik Willis right now, and also explained why they believe it would be a mistake for the Falcons to sign Willis or any other free agent quarterback.
“I do think Michael Penix is an unknown, I don’t think we know what we have in him, but I don’t think you know what you have in Malik Willis either, and I think that to make another mistake on signing a quarterback in free agency that’s probably going to be overpriced I’m not ready for us to do that. I’m not ready for us to swing for the fences. Our roster isn’t good enough for the swing for the fence.” Mike Johnson said
Mike finished his thought by saying “If you felt like you were great everywhere else and you felt like you had a good running game and a stout defense and it was gonna be a top ten unit then you go man you know what we’re just one guy away lets swing for the fences and pay him whatever he needs and lets bring him home, but we’re not there, we’re not there to gamble on something like that.”
In his two years in the NFL Michael Penix Jr. already has more starts than Malik Willis, so when it comes to starting experience Penix has more. Both QBs have shown the ability to play quarterback at a high level in the NFL, but neither have done it consistently enough in their brief careers, so while the Falcons presumed starting QB is an unknown, Malik Willis is an unknown all the same.