PROJECTED: Rounds 1-2
The Heisman Trophy runner-up and one of the most productive passers in college football last season, Penix (6-2 1/4, 216) is one of the most polarizing prospects in this draft — and some coaches are believers, a lengthy injury history notwithstanding.
“The second-best quarterback in the draft, just as a pure film evaluation, is Michael Penix,” an AFC assistant coach said. “When someone is often injured, the concern is durability over time. Is his body going to wear down? I’m a f—ing coach, dude. I don’t give a s— about that. I think he’s got the biggest ‘it’ factor. He stands in the pocket and makes throws consistently. He took Indiana, they were (ranked) in the top 10. He took Washington to the national championship game. To me, he’s the guy. He plays with a ton of confidence. His guys love him.”
Penix was a three-year starter at Indiana, but suffered four consecutive season-ending injuries: a torn ACL in 2018, a right (non-throwing) shoulder injury in 2019, a torn ACL in 2020 and an AC joint separation in his left (throwing) shoulder in 2021. Sources say pre-draft medical exams confirmed Penix’s twice-reconstructed right knee is structurally sound; he also received a positive report in January from renowned surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who found no meniscus issue or other associated damage. Some teams still will give him a lower medical grade based on the repeat injury, but it’s nothing that would cause him to fail a physical. Penix’s lack of mobility — or perhaps reluctance to use it — is a bigger consideration for some teams.
“He’s going to need a lot of structure, because he had the best combination of protection and pass-catching threats,” an NFC executive said, referring to a loaded Washington offense featuring two probable first-round picks in this year’s draft, receiver Rome Odunze and lineman Troy Fautanu. “He got hit the least out of any of the top quarterbacks. And I think he rushed for [8] yards on the season. Then you’ve got to factor in the medical. He’s a two-time ACL guy. But arm strength? He’s got the strongest arm out of all of these quarterbacks we’re talking about. It’s just a matter of, your s—‘s gotta be set up pretty good to drop a guy like that off in it. Your protection’s gotta be strong. You’ve got to feel good about your offense, where he’s going to throw in rhythm. He’s not going to be an off-platform guy.”
Said an NFC quarterbacks coach: “He’s a little frail when you look at him, so you can see where some of the injuries have happened, where those other guys — they have escapability, they have mobility. He’s not as accurate as those top couple guys. He misses some throws, some of the plant throws, and his release is a little bit longer than some of those other guys, although he probably had the best combine workout of the guys who threw.”
At Washington, Penix reunited with Kalen DeBoer, who’d been his OC at Indiana in 2019, and threw for over 9,500 yards and 67 touchdowns in two seasons with the Huskies. Penix’s final college campaign was his best, leading FBS with 4,903 passing yards while earning second-team AP All-America honors.
“He’s played a lot of football. He’s a good thrower. The ball comes out quick. He processes fast. He’s accurate. He’s a natural thrower,” an AFC quarterbacks coach said, noting that Penix has never called a play in the huddle. “A lot of stuff is wristbanded (in the NFL), so he can read it. But there’s definitely going to be a little bit of time for him to adjust to an NFL type of offense and the verbiage and all that stuff. He’ll do it because he’s the right kind of kid and he’s smart enough.”
In 48 games (45 starts) over six seasons at Indiana and Washington, Penix completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 13,741 yards and 96 touchdowns with 34 interceptions. He also had 13 rushing touchdowns, but just 265 rushing yards total.
“Man, you wish he was just a little bit more, because you love the guy, you love the way he plays,”…
This article was originally published by a www.nfl.com . Read the Original article here. .