Who Should I Start? Michael Penix Jr. or Shedeur Sanders


Week 1 Projections

Fant.
Pts.
Rush.
Yds.
Rush
TD
Rec. Rec.
Yds.
Rec
TD
8.3 3.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Michael Penix Jr. News

Kevin Stefanski Not Speculating on Whether Michael Penix Jr. Could Win QB Job

Tuesday, August 25, 10:09 AM

Atlanta Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski is not speculating as to whether quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (knee) will realistically have a chance to win the starting QB job over Tua Tagovailoa, according to Josh Kendall of The Athletic. "I can't speculate on those types of things," Stefanski said. "I want to really stay in today with Mike and see how he does in practice. I really have to stay in the moment with this one. Let's see how he feels after today." Penix was cleared last week by his surgeon to return to full 11-on-11 practice work, and that happened for the first time in training camp on Monday. After tearing his ACL last year, Penix went 4-for-8 passing on Monday in 11-on-11 drills. He and Tagovailoa are expected to continue splitting first-team reps in practice, and there is still no timetable for Stefanski to name a starter for Week 1 of the regular season. Even though Tagovailoa has not been great this summer, he still figures to be the favorite to start in Week 1. Regardless of who is under center for Atlanta to kick off the regular season, they will be on a short leash and will have minimal upside as a QB2 in two-QB superflex fantasy leagues.


Week 1 Projections

Fant.
Pts.
Rush.
Yds.
Rush
TD
Rec. Rec.
Yds.
Rec
TD
8.6 8.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0

Shedeur Sanders News

Shedeur Sanders to Begin His Second Season as Browns' Backup

Monday, August 24, 6:27 AM

Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders famously fell to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, but he found the field for seven starts as a rookie and was eventually named a Pro Bowl alternate. He spent his second training camp in a battle with veteran Deshaun Watson, and on Monday, head coach Todd Monken named Watson as the starter, with NFL Insider Jordan Schultz reporting that Sanders will serve as his backup. Sanders looked sharp to start Saturday's preseason game against the Bills, but threw a late interception with the inconsistency that has plagued him throughout camp creeping into a live game scenario. While Watson did not perform any better on Saturday, completing only 41.7% of his passes and throwing an interception of his own, he showed enough throughout camp to win a battle with no obvious separator. Sanders has been drafted as the consensus QB29 throughout fantasy draft season, but Monday's news is certain to push him off of draft boards.


Michael Penix Jr. vs. Shedeur Sanders

Still trying to decide between Penix Jr. and Sanders? Check on the latest news to make sure both players are active and healthy. Our PPR projections show that Michael Penix Jr. is projected to score 8.3 points this week while Shedeur Sanders is projected to score 8.6 points.