00:00The Falcons signed running back Brian Robinson to a one-year, $2.5 million deal.
00:04And Tua Tungvaloa spoke with the media yesterday.
00:08He got acquainted with the fine media folk here in Atlanta.
00:11But Andy and Randy got an exclusive conversation with him,
00:14and they did ask Tua about his mindset when it comes to competition.
00:17I don't think there's a change of mindset.
00:19I think at the end of the day, you're either a competitor or you're not.
00:22I think the biggest difference would be perspective on and the outlook of the game.
00:27Having kids, having a wife now, it does change, I think, who you are.
00:31And I think it's all good.
00:33I think it's all for the best.
00:34You know, some would call it growth.
00:35In terms of the aspect of the game, you either love to do this or you don't.
00:40And if you don't, you're going to get found.
00:41There's no two ways about it, you know, when it comes to the NFL.
00:45Sounds like a job in radio.
00:48If you don't love to do it, you're going to get found out.
00:51And I will say, you know, NFL, radio, very different worlds.
00:54But moving to a new location, getting a whole new team behind you, it is just such a refreshing
01:01feeling where you get to start again.
01:04It honestly brings you back to your social the other day where you were at Home Depot
01:08buying flowers and stuff.
01:09You're like, it's a new era.
01:10It is a new era.
01:12Why are flowers so expensive?
01:13Things are so different now.
01:14Yes.
01:15Things are so different now.
01:16And he's spot on.
01:19You know, he's at such a unique, he's in such a unique place where he's making a ton
01:24of money to go in and compete for a team that's not paying him, you know, and compete with
01:29a younger guy that it's, is it safe to say for Tua that this is not a, there's not really
01:38a lose.
01:39Like you can't really lose in this situation.
01:40I mean, I guess you can to the point where you might not get a big contract coming off
01:45of this one, but he's, he's in a good place.
01:48That's what we talked about earlier.
01:50This, he, that if he just comes in here and loses a job to Pennix and Pennix balls out,
01:58then he's probably going to be viewed as either a stopgap.
02:03Like, Hey, we need a quarterback to get us into our rookies ready or whatever, or which
02:09I, which may be a type of job that's kind of starting to go the way of the dodo, because
02:14I think teams don't just coaches don't feel like they have time anymore to do that.
02:20But I think he could be come to the point where he's viewed that as, is just a straight
02:24up backup quarterback, which is still fine because I have job pays like seven, eight
02:32million dollars, you know, um, that's where Justin Fields is now, you know, Justin Fields
02:38had three chances.
02:40I, I still don't a hundred percent believe the, that it was handled right in Pittsburgh
02:46with him.
02:47Um, I thought he kind of should have probably had, should have had a chance to fail more
02:53than he did there.
02:54Um, when, cause Russell Wilson essentially got healthy, he just came back and took the
02:59job and then that faltered.
03:00But in New York, he failed.
03:01He fought, he fell flat on his face in New York.
03:03He fell flat on his face in Chicago.
03:05Now he's in Kansas city.
03:06He's got probably the best backup job in the world.
03:09He's sitting in a room with Andy Reed and, and, and, and Patrick Mahomes.
03:13They're being to me now too.
03:15Yeah.
03:16So, I mean, those are, those are guys, $20 million tight end.
03:22That's crazy.
03:23And also a highly paid running back now too.
03:26Yeah, there you go.
03:26Um, so that's a great spot, right?
03:28That's a good spot to be in.
03:29And so I think it's, it's, it's, you're right.
03:31He can't lose.
03:32He's essentially a highly paid intern in a lot of ways.
03:36Cause he has a chance to win a job in, in, in, in work for the company for the next
03:41five,
03:41seven years.
03:42But he also has a chance to come in and serve his internship out, making his $1.6 million
03:49from this team and whatever the dolphins are paying him and then go to another organization
03:54and get paid more money to do the same.
03:59I have a, a couple of questions surrounding this for both of y'all.
04:03Is there any chance that both of these guys are on this roster in 2027?
04:09Any chance at all that both of them, Tua comes out, wins the job.
04:13Michael Penix is your backup all year.
04:14They signed Tua to an extension.
04:16Michael Penix stays here for his fourth year.
04:18Well, sure.
04:19In that scenario.
04:19Yes.
04:20Yeah.
04:21That's, that's, Ali, it's the only way that makes sense financially.
04:24You're smart with money.
04:25You used to, you know how these financial things go.
04:28Like that's the only thing that's smart money.
04:30You got a quarterback that's costing you three or $4 million.
04:32And then maybe Tua's new contract would be, I mean, I don't know.
04:37I'm not going to sit here and guess at what they would have to pay him because you never
04:41know what that agreement might be.
04:42Cause he still would be getting paid by the dolphins a little bit, but that's financially
04:46the most, uh, what's a, uh, uh, responsible way to spend your money.
04:52It would, what would that do?
04:55To Penix's mindset though.
04:57That's where I'm at.
04:58Because I feel like that, that damages that.
05:01Is it financially responsible if you take something that is, that you have equity in
05:06and you just let Michael Penix's contract run out without at least attempting to do something
05:11with him and the other direction.
05:13If you've identified that he's not your guy and Tua is your guy, I just think that it would
05:19have to be a, you would have to thread the needle in order to talk me into that being
05:22a possibility in 2027.
05:23The second part of that is the other direction.
05:25If neither one of these guys were to work out next year, is that an indictment on Kevin
05:29Stefanski's offense?
05:30Like if you're like, man, you got two guys with all the talent in the world, you couldn't
05:34make it work with either one of them.
05:36You need both of these guys.
05:37No, how could it be an indictment on Stefanski when one of the guys has 12 games under his
05:45belt, hasn't stayed healthy, and was up and down under a different system?
05:52And then the other guy felled under what some think is one of the greatest offensive minds
05:57in the game today.
06:00Are you, how would it not, like, how would it not be on Kevin Stefanski?
06:04I know.
06:04Why is it on, why is it on Stefanski that, uh, that a guy that failed somewhere else came
06:08here and failed and that Michael Penix has, it didn't get better at what point does a
06:13player take any?
06:16But at the same time, there are health concerns with both, and I think that would be the variable.
06:20That would be the thing.
06:21If both were to fail, that would be the reason.
06:23So that says nothing about Kevin Stefanski.
06:25I agree with that.
06:26I think if there's an injury.
06:27I'm confused on how you think a guy that's already failed in the NFL and how a guy that
06:32has proven not much at anything yet, if they don't work out this year, it's all the coach's
06:38fault.
06:38No, no, I didn't say that.
06:39I said, is it an indictment on his offense if you can't make either one of these guys work
06:43at the position, because we've talked all morning about two of us saying he's competing.
06:46What is the future of that position?
06:48If he does win the competition, where do you go from there?
06:50Do you feel like you don't have to draft your guy in 2027?
06:54You say, when does the player have to take any responsibility?
06:58I would ask the same question to your statement of when does the coach have to take any responsibility?
07:02If you've handpicked Tua and you said, all right, man, we're going to sign this guy
07:08to come in and run our offense.
07:10Well, I think it's obvious why you handpicked him.
07:13Because he was cheap.
07:15Yes.
07:15Because he's had moments, had a year, had a good year, had one good year, one really
07:22good year, and he had another average year or two, right?
07:28I mean, is that fair?
07:29Is that a fair assessment?
07:31I would say so, yeah.
07:32Here's a scenario, so I just want to make sure I'm in.
07:34So, that's fair.
07:36And then you get a guy who has played 12 games.
07:40You don't know what you – you essentially don't – it's not like you're going into
07:45this year saying, I got two bona fide starters, I'm going to let them fight to the death.
07:48It's going to work no matter what of them is going to work out.
07:50Like, you really – you're not bona fide at the position, and you're honestly hoping
07:58one of them, I think, works out.
07:59The biggest question mark this team has had since No. 2 walked out of the building as
08:03a player, and still to this day, is that job.
08:07You're 8-9 the last two seasons, only 8-9 because of the quarterback position.
08:13The only reason I even bring this conversation up is because I have made the stand on here,
08:17and I will continue to stand, that if I'm a head coach, there's no way that I'm drafting
08:23a quarterback in the top 10.
08:25Cannot talk me into it.
08:27Don't care.
08:28I'm essentially telling myself that I'm going to get fired if I am drafting a quarterback
08:33in the top 10, to me.
08:35That's just how I look at it.
08:36So, if I'm Kevin Savansky, I'm trying to make, for a lot of reasons, either one of these
08:42guys work.
08:43And I think that if you're telling me that, what was two, a third overall, and then you
08:49go to Michael Penix, who was whatever overall, top 10 pick, that you can't make either one
08:55of those guys work if they stay healthy, but then you're going to go draft another guy in
08:58the top 10 the following season, and all of a sudden, he's going to be the guy?
09:00Yeah, but I don't, that, they come with so many caveats.
09:06I think that's a flawed argument.
09:08That's the perfect way to put it, because I think if the offense doesn't work, I don't
09:12necessarily think it's on the quarterback position this year for the Falcons.
09:15I think it, you probably had an O-line injury, or you couldn't find the depth of receiver
09:19that you needed, things of that nature.
09:21But how many quarter, I mean, that's, I just feel like that's kind of a, that's a, that's
09:29still adapting players of the system.
09:30I think that's a good point with you with the offensive line.
09:32Maybe it's, maybe it's just they don't fit what you want to do.
09:34Maybe they're not, they're, they're not going to do what you want to do.
09:37Um, but you've got a guy who's already, where Tua was drafted has nothing to do with, with,
09:45with him as, with, with, with, with the Falcons or Kevin Stefanski.
09:49They didn't draft him third overall.
09:52Where Michael Penix was drafted has nothing to do with Matt Ryan, Ian Cunningham, and Kevin
09:58Stefanski.
09:59They didn't draft him eighth overall.
10:00I agree with you on that.
10:01They inherited him, and the other guy's in here because he is a guy who has starter experience
10:06and is cheap.
10:07They're not responsible.
10:09If there's guys are failures, it just means that it's, it, it was proven what everyone
10:15already thought of them.
10:16And you go draft your guy, finally you get to go draft your guy.
10:22Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
10:23If they both, are they're both failures?
10:25They've proven what everybody already thought of.
10:26So you think they're both failures?
10:28That's what everyone's told us.
10:29That's what everyone has told us.
10:31I'm not even going to go down this, I'm not going to go down the rabbit hole, but I don't
10:34know who you're talking about.
10:34Half the damn, half the media and fan base in this city has told you Penix is a failure.
10:40So, it just proved it.
10:41I don't necessarily believe that.
10:44Did you say that, Allie?
10:45You, you shouldn't have said that.
10:47I can't believe you said that.
10:48That sounds like me, doesn't it?
10:49Three people in this room is not half the fan base.
10:54Mike, you could do a, you know, there's people in this station that love to do Twitter polls.
10:59You could do a Twitter poll and I guarantee you that you would be around half the fan
11:04base would think Michael Penix is already a failure and he's only played 12 games.
11:09I've already, I get told daily when I defend the guy.
11:12I'm apparently a fanboy team first guy because I defend the quarterback.
11:20I don't think he's a failure yet.
11:22But people already believe that.
11:24But people already believe that.
11:26So, no, I don't believe it's the coach's fault in his first year here if a guy who's
11:31only played 12 games and is coming off an injury doesn't necessarily have an all-pro year.
11:36I think that the overall point of conversation and why I brought up these questions is I
11:41just, the scenarios with which this competition goes well, I just, I'm having a hard time
11:48seeing it.
11:48I really am.
11:49And I appreciate Bo's positive outlook on the signings we've made and some of the
11:53things we're trying to do in 2026.
11:54And I just, like there is such a like 5% area where I feel like this quarterback competition
12:00goes one way and that quarterback wins it and he's starting 17 games.
12:05Like it's just, it's hard for me to fathom.
12:07It really is.
12:08And I hope I'm wrong.
12:09I hope you're wrong too.
12:11I hate to even put this out there, but weigh in on this on Twitter.
12:14Give us your takes about their quarterbacks.
12:17Is Bo Wright, is everyone saying they're both going to fail at 929 Morning Shift?
12:20I really hate to do that after we just got such a great conversation with Tua, with Andy
12:26and Randy, but we're going to ask the question at 929 Morning Shift.
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