Taylor Heinicke
QB · FA · 32 yrs · exp 10 · Old Dominion
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QB · DAL
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Commanders film session: run defense has improved, but pass problems remain
Commanders film session highlights improvement in run defense, but pass defense remains a concern
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Michael Penix Jr. or Tua Tagovailoa? The answers matters now and in the future
The Atlanta Falcons have had a quarterback problem for years, a statement blindingly obvious to anyone who has been an Atlanta Falcons fan over the past few seasons. Since 2022, when the Falcons hastily traded Matt Ryan to Indianapolis in the wake of a failed effort to trade for Deshaun Watson , they’ve started Marcus Mariota , Desmond Ridder , Taylor Heinicke , Kirk Cousins , and Michael Penix Jr.; that’s more than one starter per season. In fact, they’ve had two different quarterbacks starting for the team in each of those four years, and they have not had one true franchise guy at any point in that span. Penix could still be that player, but it’s hardly a given. We enter 2026 with Penix recovering from ACL surgery, one of many such surgeries in his college and now NFL career, and with very little on-field to suggest he’s a potentially elite quarterback. He’s competing with Tua Tagovailoa, who is coming off a dismal season with the Dolphins where he was benched, and has dealt with scary concussions throughout his career. The only guys behind them are big-armed undrafted free agent Jack Strand and journeyman backup Trevor Siemien, so there’s very little chance of a Cinderella story if Tua and Penix don’t pan out. That makes the quarterback battle crucial on two fronts. It’s obviously important for this year, because the better player needs to have the reins of an offense richly veined with playmakers to help these Falcons shake off eight straight losing seasons and recapture hope and competence. But it’s also important for next year, because any outcome outside of Penix seizing this job and excelling will likely have the Falcons looking to draft, sign, or trade for a potential franchise option. The Falcons don’t want to continue to squander their talent. Bijan Robinson was the league’s most productive running back last year, leading the NFL in yards from scrimmage, but was stuck on a team that had a frequently anemic passing attack and blew far too many games. Drake London and Kyle Pitts are game-changing talents who have dealt with streaky, inconsistent passers throughout their careers. Jahan Dotson , Zachariah Branch, and Austin Hooper offer real talent—and in the case of Branch, really intriguing potential—but could see their production blunted if the quarterback position isn’t effectively settled. A great quarterback would have a passing attack with this many weapons humming. A good quarterback would have it looking capable, at minimum. As we’ve seen over the years, promising but inconsistent quarterbacks and shaky ones alike have conspired to make it look elite for shining moments and disappointing for long stretches. The Falcons badly need to figure out whether Tua or Penix is the right fit for these weapons and this passing attack. At his best, Tua can deliver timely, very accurate passes in the short-to-intermediate areas of the field, a skill set that plays well with the YAC capabilities of Bijan, Brian Robinson , London, and Branch, as well as Kevin Stefanski and Tommy Rees’ screen designs. Penix has been more inconsistent across the board in his brief career, but his ability to attack defenses deep opens up potentially devastating big plays for London, Pitts, and Dotson. There are significant stylistic differences here that might come into play if this ends up being a very close battle, but the likelier outcome is simply that one of these quarterbacks is more healthy and effective this summer and wins the battle outright well before preseason wraps. At the moment, my money would be on Tua, who had a head start as the healthy player earlier this summer and should be able to reliably pepper his supporting cast with short-to-intermediate passes the way Kirk Cousins did at his best last year. Whoever wins, however, will need to be good enough to at least partially unlock this passing game’s significant potential, lest their backup catapult past them midseason. Let’s say Tua grabs the starting job and lands som [... truncated ...]
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Cowboys 2026 roster rundown: QB Sam Howell
Sam Howell doesn’t have tons of NFL experience, but he plenty more than any other Cowboys backup quarterback’s had in a while. Even a month before training camp, Howell already feels like he’s here to fill a specific job regardless of the competition. Years in NFL: 4 Acquired by: Free agency (2026) Despite a historic run at North Carolina, setting school records for passing yards and touchdowns, Howell was still a mid-range prospect in the 2022 draft class. An athletic scrambler with poor throwing mechanics and questionable decision making, he lasted until until the Commanders took him in the fifth round. Howell was the third-stringer behind Carson Wentz and Taylor Heinicke . He did get a start in Washington’s regular-season finale, playing solidly as the Commanders stunned Dallas . 2023 was Washington’s first season after Dan Snyder’s ousting as owner, leaving the franchise in a state of flux. Ron Rivera stayed on as head coach, in what would end up being his last year, and Eric Bieniemy was brought in to run the offense. Moving into rebuild mode, they did not re-sign Heinicke and released Wentz. Jacoby Brissett was signed as a relatively inexpensive veteran to start, but Howell wound up beating Brissett for the job that summer. Howell started all 17 games that year. The first two went well, both Commanders wins with Howell playing solidly. But Week 3 was a disastrous 37-3 blowout loss to Buffalo in which Howell threw for picks and was sacked nine times. That game was far more indicative of the remaining season: Washington finished 4-13 and Howell wound up with just a 78.9 passer rating, throwing as many interceptions as touchdowns. The following March, Howell was traded to the Seahawks to be Geno Smith ’s backup. He only played a few snaps in one December game. In 2025, the Vikings traded for him to compete for their backup job. Near the end of August, the Eagles sent comparable picks to Minnesota to get him. Howell spent all of last year behind Jalen Hurts and Tanner McKee , never appearing in a game. With his rookie deal expired this March, Howell finally had some control over his future. He quickly signed a deal with Dallas in the first week of free agency. Years Left: 1 2026 Cap Hit: $2.5 million The most important detail in Howell’s contract is that it’s fully guaranteed. While $2.5 million isn’t too much for the Cowboys to eat, shoud they choose to, it does speak to their confidence in Howell making the roster this season. Role: Backup QB Roster Chance: 80% Howell’s 18 career starts, and none of them since 2023, aren’t exactly a wealth of experience. But considering they’re 18 more than Joe Milton ’s had, that experience feels like the entire reason Howell is here and got the guaranteed money. Even if Milton has a sensational camp and wins the backup job, Howell brings something that will help Dak Prescott prepare for games and elevate practices. Remember, Will Grier was beloved but hadn’t played a real game since 2019. And for as long as Cooper Rush hung around, he’d only had five career starts before the eight games in 2024. When Rush left for Baltimore last year, Dallas may have realized something was lacking in its inexperienced QB depth chart. Coincidentally, Andy Dalton (2020) was the last backup QB to have more experience than Howell. Still just 25, and having bounced around the NFL for the last few years, Howell may still have room to improve. It’s interesting that his last stop was Philadelphia , where he spent practices throwing against Christian Parker’s secondary. We don’t know if Dallas’ new defensive coordinator had a hand in signing Howell, but you’d assume they at least asked his opinion. The Cowboys, including Brian Schottenheimer, certainly knew him from his time in Washington as well. Again, Sam Howell’s guaranteed money isn’t enough to fully guarantee a roster spot. But it certainly works in his favor, as do Joe Milton’s mixed results in limited playing time. Both backup candidates will [... truncated ...]
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Fantasy Football: Do defenses repeat performances year-over-year?
We often turn to strength of schedule as a tool in determining a player's potential for success over the course of a season. In this study, we retreated to a dark corner of the fantasy library and compiled defensive data from 2015 to 2025, in an effort to see if fantasy points allowed to each position correlated strongly, somewhat, or not at all from one year to the next, hoping for a sticky stat or two to sink our teeth into. Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2026 NFL season Below is a position-by-position analysis of the best and worst defenses in terms of half-PPR fantasy points allowed last season, and what it all potentially means for 2026. When examining year-to-year fantasy points allowed across all positions, points allowed to quarterbacks had the highest correlation coefficient of 0.27, which is still on the lower end of moderate. The top-five defenses against signal-callers repeated their performance 30% of the time the next season, with an average finish of DEF13. On the other side of the spectrum, the defenses in the bottom five versus quarterbacks ended up there again 20% of the time, with an average ending rank of DEF22. Repeat offenders after the basement spot in 2024, the Cowboys struggled across the board against signal callers in 2025, and it wasn't even close. Dallas allowed the most passing yards (4,521) and the most passing touchdowns (35), they surrendered the highest number of rushing touchdowns to QBs (8), and the third-most rushing yards to the position (398). The Jets were tied with Dallas for the most passing touchdowns yielded, which is not ideal, but somehow they failed to intercept the QB even once throughout the entire 2025 season. Not one pick. The Commanders, Bucs and Titans were all pretty balanced in their defensive ineptness last season across both passing and rushing metrics. 2026 Outlook: The Commanders are likely to end up here again this season despite some efforts to improve, with the addition of Odafe Oweh and K'Lavon Chaisson as EDGE rushers, as well as their seventh overall pick, Ohio State's Sonny Styles, who will replace Bobby Wagner at LB. Questions remain, particularly at cornerback. The Jets are also likely to appear here at this time next year, but they did make some changes to help stifle enemy QBs, with a pair of new edge-rushers in free agent acquisition Joseph Ossai and No. 2 overall pick David Bailey. Some new tackles are also in the mix with David Onyemata and T'Vondre Sweat now in New York. Right now, it's not looking fantastic for any of these five defenses to climb much farther in 2026. Fantasy points allowed — best defenses The Vikings' defense went from fifth in 2024 to first against the QB position last season, yielding the second-fewest passing yards and touchdowns, along with being tied for first in the lowest rushing touchdown total to signal callers, at just one. L.A. was in the top 10 in 2024 but climbed up to second last year, thanks to the third-most interceptions, along with the third-fewest passing touchdowns and the fourth-lowest passing yards surrendered. The Bills shut down the pass last year, with just 170 air yards per contest, the lowest in the NFL, while the Texans and Browns were fairly well balanced, ranking in the top 10 in nearly all defensive categories versus signal callers. 2026 Outlook : The Texans, Vikings and Chargers could end up near the top again in 2026 and are all top 10 fantasy defenses in 4for4's early ranks. The Browns have been dominant for the last two seasons under play-caller Jim Schwartz, who is now gone, so they may take a step or two back, but still have the talent to be a top-10 defense. Visit 4for4 for more fantasy football analysis The running back position proved the second-highest year-to-year correlation in terms of FPA at .22, which makes sense as the good teams tend to remain that way, and game script is extremely important for running back production. The five defenses that finished [... truncated ...]
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Is anyone advising Brandon Aiyuk?
When it comes to Brandon Aiyuk’s slowly-growing collection of ill-advised social media videos, some feel comfortable jumping to conclusions about his mental health. I’ve got a far more pragmatic question. Who’s advising him? Per NFL Players Association records, Aiyuk continues to be represented by Ryan Williams of Athletes First. Aiyuk’s online antics ( most recently , he posted a video in which he wears a Commanders hat and say’s he’ll be “back on tour this fall,” before directing viewers to go to “www.Commanders.com to get your tickets and watch us rock out”) are creating a bad impression. Either Aiyuk is doing this on the advice of his agent, or he’s acting against his agent’s advice. If it’s the latter, at what point does the agent fire the player? In 2020, agent Drew Rosenhaus severed ties with receiver Antonio Brown at a time when Brown had been acting erratically and irrationally. Shouldn’t Williams do the same with Aiyuk, if Williams has been telling Aiyuk to knock it off with the videos and he keeps doing it? It’s possible, in theory, that Aiyuk is implementing a deliberate strategy aimed at getting himself released by the 49ers, so that he can sign elsewhere. Even so, there’s no subtlety whatsoever regarding his desire to play for the Commanders. Which surely makes the Commanders uncomfortable. If Aiyuk is simply going rogue on a regular basis, why wouldn’t Williams cut him loose? It would be frustrating to continue to tell a client to not do something that he continues to do. For now, Aiyuk continues to make it clear that he wants to join the Commanders. Even if no one knows that the Commanders even want him
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The most brutal section of the Cowboys’ 2026 schedule
The NFL’s 2026 schedule dropped Thursday night , and with it came the layers of context that are when the Cowboys face their various opponents throughout this year. Expectations are high entering this season, with many believing in Christian Parker and this revamped defense being enough to send the Cowboys back to the postseason. Yet, the layout of the schedule this year is far from ideal. Everyone knows the NFL is a marathon, not a sprint. Still, how a team starts out can often dictate their season. While nobody wins a Lombardi in Week 1, only 2.4% of teams that start 0-3 (since 1990) go on to reach the playoffs. Similarly, only 1.7% of teams that start 3-6 end up making the playoffs. A poor start to the year is never impossible to overcome, but it can absolutely be detrimental for the future. Morale can take a hit, players can tune out their coaches, and entire fan bases can stop caring (and stop showing up), which always makes owners more trigger-happy with their coaches. While it would probably take a catastrophic year for Brian Schottenheimer to even be in serious jeopardy this season, the Cowboys were dealt no favors in the first half of their schedule. In their first nine games, only three of them are legitimate home games. The clash with the Ravens will officially be a home game, but it’s taking place in Rio de Janeiro – the first NFL game to ever happen in the Marvelous City – so it won’t really carry the typical advantages of playing on the home field. Of those three remaining true home games, one is against the division rival Commanders . Washington is used to traveling to Dallas, of course, so that’s one more manner of diluting the homefield advantage factor. And the second game, of course, is a Thursday Night Football showdown, giving the Cowboys just four days to host the Buccaneers after a road game against the Texans and their ferocious defense. The third such game in this span is a noon game hosting the Cardinals. On paper, that one isn’t all that ominous, though fans know all too well that the Cardinals have always had the star’s number regardless of venue. Even so, for those keeping track at home, that’s one true home game without any sort of dilution to homefield advantage. And the road games in between there are no joke, either. Starting the season off with John Harbaugh’s debut as the Giants head coach gets followed up with the aforementioned Texans. Then it’s back-to-back games against the Packers and Eagles, two franchises that have delivered plenty of heartbreak to this fan base over the years. And the ninth game is against the Colts , who started 8-2 last year before injuries derailed their season. Going 3-6 over that span is entirely possible. It may not be probable – one would venture to guess the Cowboys will be favored in four or five of these contests – but a couple unlucky bounces could easily get the team to 3-6 or worse. And if that happens… well, the odds of getting back to the playoffs are obviously not great. The back half of the schedule isn’t a cakewalk either, though a three-game home stretch and a rare mini-bye after the Thanksgiving game are certainly welcome surprises. The Cowboys will need to hit the ground running in 2026 if they want to prove their offseason buzz was more than just that, because the schedule makers have left very little room for error. What part of the schedule worries you the most?
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