The Atlanta Falcons have had an adventurous season already at the quarterback position.
Four QBs have already seen the field in regular season action for the Falcons: Cooper Rush, Jack Strand, Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa.
Rush is no longer with the Falcons, though, after Atlanta cut him a couple weeks ago to sign Andy Dalton.
So that means that if the cookie crumbled a certain way, Dalton could get onto the field and make it five QBs this season for the Falcons.
Obviously, that’s not really a recipe for success, but things have mostly stabilized lately with Penix at the helm.
The biggest intrigue these days is whether the recently signed Dalton could eventually leapfrog Tagovailoa on the depth chart.
It’s not a given that it’ll happen, and in Week 7, Dalton was behind Tagovailoa.
But if it did happen at some point, it’d increase the idea of a potential trade away of Tagovailoa.
Week 8 inactives were going to be the next chance to know who was QB2 and QB3, and about 11:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, we learned that answer.
Falcons Make Andy Dalton Change
For the second consecutive week, Andy Dalton is inactive.
He’s officially the emergency third quarterback, which means he can play if the first two are both injured — Penix and Tagovailoa.
Strand is inactive, too, but with no such means of getting into the game, making him the de facto QB4 at the moment.
This is the full inactive list:
Falcons inactives:
– QB Andy Dalton (emergency third quarterback)
– QB Jack Strand
– RB Brian Robinson Jr. (hamstring)
– DE Drake Jackson
– LB Divine Deablo (forearm)
– DB Billy Bowman Jr. (hamstring)
– CB Robert Longerbeam— Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) November 1, 2026
There’s one difference this week. Last week, Strand was the emergency QB3. This week, it’s Dalton.
That suggests the Falcons feel good about Dalton’s grasp of the offense — if he had to play, the Falcons would be comfortable turning to the “Red Rifle.”
Could Another Change Be Coming?
It’s hard to know whether Dalton has one more move up the depth chart in him, or if the Falcons will be content to keep him QB3.
When Dalton was cut by the Eagles, the Falcons didn’t wait too long to sign him in place of Rush. They clearly felt it was an upgrade there.
Whether or not Dalton can pass Tagovailoa at some point is simply something we’ll have to wait and see about.
For now, the depth chart goes Penix, Tagovailoa, Dalton, Strand. That’s one spot up for Dalton from a week ago.
Falcons Make Andy Dalton Change, Impacting Tua Tagovailoa