Potential Falcons QBs Michael Penix Jr. & J.J. McCarthy Dueling For College Football Championship

Michael Penix Jr. vs. J.J. McCarthy: Why Falcons fans should have their eyes on the college football national championship game.

It’s no secret that the missing piece to complete the Atlanta Falcons' offensive rebuild is a quarterback, and luckily for fans, the team should be getting a good look at two prospects this Monday during the college football championship game.

Both the Washington Huskies and the Michigan Wolverines feature top quarterback prospects in Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy, respectively.

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Each quarterback has made headlines for their performances on the field this season. Following Michigan’s win over Alabama in the playoff semifinals, former NFL head coach Jim Harbaugh (now coaching the Wolverines) declared McCarthy the greatest Michigan quarterback, with prospects in history even greater than NFL legend Tom Brady.

As insane as that may sound, McCarthy has proven himself to be a potential first-round selection, something that not even the GOAT was able to accomplish during his development at Michigan.

This season, McCarthy has completed 73.2 percent of his passes for the Wolverines while also throwing for 2,851 yards and 22 touchdowns in four interceptions. In the process, he has put himself on the radar of teams like Atlanta as a potential first-round selection after his true junior season

Penix's career, on the other hand, has taken a much longer road to becoming one of the top players in this year’s draft, with it taking six seasons before his magical run with the Huskies, where he has thrown for 4,648 yards, 35 touchdowns, and nine interceptions while quietly beating top teams as an underdog all season long.

On New Year's Day against the University of Texas, Penix was finally able to display his talents to a national audience that didn’t watch much of him due to the time of his games on the West Coast. 

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Against the Longhorns, Penix would throw for 430 yards while completing 29 out of his 38 passes and running three times for 31 yards rushing. The left-handed gunslinger who won the Maxwell Award (best college player this season) turned heads and opened casual fans' eyes and proved just how accurate his arm is and how much zip is on his passes, looking like the pro-ready man that the Falcons need to win a playoff game next season.

On Monday, the two quarterbacks will throw down and lead the top two ranked teams, but only one will finish the season undefeated and perhaps get drafted by Atlanta, becoming the future of the franchise.