​The Atlanta Falcons are still searching for their next franchise quarterback. It’s been five years now since Matt Ryan left a rather sizable hole at the top of the depth chart in the most important position in the NFL.Heading into the 2026 season, Atlanta has two fundamentally flawed options with a lot of similarities: Michael Penix is an oft-injured southpaw who was part of the historic 2024 draft class at quarterback, but as yet hasn’t proven he can hack it at this level. Tua Tagovailoa is also an oft-injured lefty whose best football appears to be behind him.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdd it up and you have one of the league’s worst quarterback situations. According to Jordan Dajani at CBS Sports, Atlanta has the fifth-worst QB room in the NFL right now.”If it’s not Tagovailoa, then it will be Michael Penix Jr. under center for Atlanta. The former No. 8 overall pick is recovering from the third torn ACL of his football career, and is just 4-8 as a starter. Penix is averaging one touchdown pass per start and has completed fewer than 60% of his passes. As a prospect, it was hard not to be intrigued by his arm, but Penix just hasn’t been good enough. His bad throw percentage (24%) ranked worst in the NFL last season, according to Pro Football Reference.”Tagovailoa at least gives the Falcons the highest ceiling they have had at quarterback in the post-Matt Ryan era, but that’s not saying much.First Desmond Ridder tried and failed, then Kirk Cousins also failed, and Michael Penix Jr. is well on his way to failing, as well. If Tagobailoa proves to have a better chemistry with Atlanta’s key skill players then head coach Kevin Stefanski has to give him the ball and pay no attention to Penix’s status as a former top-10 overall pick.If Penix looks no better in 2026 and Tagovailoa can’t get back to the form we saw earlier in his career with the Miami Dolphins, it will be time to reset at this position around one of the top QB prospects in the 2027 NFL Draft.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: NFL analyst ranks Falcons QB situation among league’s worst