The Atlanta Falcons were forced to start Cooper Rush at quarterback for the first two weeks of the season. The results were just as bad as you'd expect. But on Thursday night, Michael Penix Jr. returned, and the Falcons looked like a new team, going on the road and defeating the Packers 35-14. Maybe this team has the juice? And maybe that will translate to strong production that fantasy football managers can depend on?
Maybe, though that fantasy value likely won't be evenly applied across the board. Assuming the team sticks with Penix and he stays healthy, here's how fantasy managers should view the team's top players going forward.
Drake London fantasy outlook
People talk a lot about Penix being a bust, and I'm not necessarily going to challenge that assertion. What I will say is that even if Penix fails to live up to his draft status, he can still be a plus for the team's weapons, especially compared to the team's other quarterbacks.
Take wide receiver Drake London, for example. He's actually been really good with Penix under center! In his past seven games with Penix starting, London has 53 receptions for 845 yards and six touchdowns. Or put it this way: London entered Week 3 with six catches for 80 yards. In Penix's first start of the season, he had nine catches for 194 yards.
Will he do that every week? No, of course not, because 194 yards is a lot of yards! But London is an elite receiver who doesn't need elite quarterback play to be good. He just needs competent quarterback play. He didn't have that in Week 1 and Week 2, but he has something that at least resembles competence now. He's a solid fantasy WR1 going forward, and even if Penix regresses some, he'll continue to have a high floor and ceiling.
Bijan Robinson fantasy outlook
Speaking of "194 yards," that's what London had receiving and it's also wht Bijan Robinson had on the ground, though he added two touchdowns to the tally as well.
There's really not much to say here about Robinson, who was still playing well when Rush was the quarterback. Thursday showed us that the move to Penix probably raises his floor, but it doesn't do too much for his ceiling. He had 173 scrimmage yards in Week 1 with Rush under center; he's going to be an elite fantasy RB1 no matter who the quarterback is.
(Trying to think of something else to say here, because I like to have three paragraphs in each section, but IDK. Robinson's talent and production are just so undeniable that all I can really do is to keep repeating that he's a top-two fantasy running back who you should start every week and who there's no use trying to trade for if you don't have him because the fantasy manager who has him shouldn't even think of trading him away.)
Kyle Pitts fantasy outlook
Alright, so now is when I start to get a bit more pessimistic. Kyle Pitts has shown so far in 2026 that it doesn't matter who his quarterback is; he's going to be bad no matter what.
A lot of the Pitts hype came about because of how well he played at the end of the 2025 season with Kirk Cousins under center. The argument was basically "Pitts is finally breaking out," but perhaps the argument should have been "Cousins is making that guy look good?!?!?" (That's obviously an exaggeration, but we collectively should have questioned the circumstances of Pitts' late breakout a little more than we did.)
Anyway, Pitts has two receptions for 20 yards so far this season. The talent exists, but the production has dropped sharply this season. If Pitts gets back on track, it's not going to be because of which quarterback is in the game. It's going to require Pitts to figure some things out about his own play. Until then, he's a risky fantasy start. We can call him a high-end TE2 because of upside and positional scarcity, but it doesn't mean you should be starting him right now.
Michael Penix Jr. fantasy outlook
Lots of positive things have been said about Michael Penix Jr. Does this mean you should consider trusting him as your fantasy QB1, though?
I think it's safe to say "not yet." Penix was really good on Thursday, but it wasn't a great fantasy performance. He only scored 14 fantasy points; in Week 2, that would have only made him the QB20. That's definitely an improvement on Rush, who was QB34 in Week 2 (there are 32 NFL teams), but it's not something that screams "rush out and add this guy."
Penix provides a solid boost to this offense, but he isn't a quarterback who puts the team on his back. He gets the ball to London. His play opens more things up in the run game. He's not, though, going to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns most -- if any -- weeks. Penix is a low-end QB2 with the upside to develop into a mid-range QB2 if he can continue to play well. There's value there, but that value is mostly only a huge deal in Superflex leagues or for managers who are streaming at the quarterback position.
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