Michael Penix Jr.

OVERVIEW

Penix is a legitimate riser with a high ceiling and top ten potential, maybe higher. Don't be surprised if some team loves him enough to jump into the top 5 to grab him.  He had two healthy years at Washington after four, season-ending injuries/surgeries at Indiana, so that is still a concern. Even if he avoids another injury, there is the very real chance of arthritis impacting him from the old injuries at some point. Speaking of old, he will be 24 years old May 8.

Regardless, Penix is an aggressive triggerman who maximizes his 10.5 inch hands to drive passes with high rpms that get to their target a blink quicker than one might expect. As two-year starter at Washington, Penix was highly productive in offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb’s shotgun spread scheme.  After four season-ending injuries in his four years at Indiana, Penix became a legit NFL prospect in two years with the Huskies, including a sensational 2023 season.

He is still improving mechanics and anticipation, but his arm confidence and ability to attack the full width and depth of the field keeps defenses on edge. His mental toughness is  a strong selling point. Penix led the FBS in passing yards per game (326.9), was the Heisman Trophy runner up, led the Huskies to the national championship game (a loss to Michigan). 

ANALYSIS 

Strengths:  Aggressive passer deadly deep ball accuracy. He uses up all 53 1/3 yards of width and 60-plus yards deep. Amazing arm talent is helped with 10.5-inch hands that spin the ball so it drives quickly to its target. He will attack even small NFL windows with success. Throws well in the pocket or on the move. Has good mobility to run when necessary, but with his surgical history he should avoid it. Maintains calm demeanor which earned him great respect from teammates and coaches. A 37-8 record as a college starter (Indiana: 12-5,Washington: 25-3) and led the Huskies to the 2023 Pac-12 Championship and a spot inthe national championship game  … near-identical statistical seasons the past twoyears at Washington,becoming the first FBS player to pass for 4,500-plus yards in back-to-back seasons since Patrick Mahomes (2015-16).

Weaknesses: Although he played two healthy seasons at Washington, it is difficult to forget he had four season-ending injuries at Indiana. One of the reasons he did well at Washington was he was well protected, with only 16 sacks in 28 games. The medics cleared him, but he will be 24 years old as a rookie and those old injuries may shorten his career with arthritis. His Indiana injuries included two surgeries to repair a torn ACL in his right knee (October2018  and November 2020). He injured the sternoclavicular joint in his right shoulder (November 2019) and required surgery; suffered an AC joint separationin his left shoulder (October 2021).

Frankly: Were it not for four old surgeries we would be talking about this left-handed gunner as competition for the first pick in the draft. Again, we would not be surprised if some team jumps into the top five to draft all this talent. There is reason to be concerned over the length of a career that begins as a 24-year old rookie and even if he stays clear of future surgeries, will he be the rare surgical survivor who avoids arthritis? We remember another great lefty, Hall of Famer Ken Stabler, who could have kept playing were it not for the remnant issues from multiple knee surgery 

 STATISTICS

YEAR (GP/GS)   CP-ATT           CP%    YDS       TD    INT     CAR    YDS    AVG    TD

2018: (3/0)        21-34             61.8   219          1       0         5         45       6.4      0

2019: (6/6)        110-160        68.8   1,394       10     4         22       119     5.4      2

2020: (6/6)        124-220        56.4   1,645       14     4         18       25       1.4      2

2021: (5/5)        87-162           53.7   939          4       7         17       -24      -1.4     2

2022: (13/13)   362-554        65.3   4,641       31     8         35         92        2.6      4

2023: (15/15)   363-555        65.4   4,903       36     11       35           8         0.2      3

Total: (48/45)   1,067-1,685  63.3   13,741     96     34       134     265     2.0      13

Tracking 2023 Season: 

Week 14: In the Pac-12 title game, a rematch of their October thriller, Washington again outlasted Oregon, this time 34-31. Penix completed 27-of-39 (69.2 percent) for 319 yards and one touchdown and threw this 10th interception of the year. — JH

Week 13: In the 115th Apple Cup, Penix threw for 202 yards and two touchdowns — both to his fave target Rome Odunze, as Washington drove for a game-winning field goal late. Penix did throw one pick, his ninth of the season, and completed 18-of-33 passes, his second lowest of the season (following his 13-of-28 performance against Oregon State).— JH

Week 12: Penix struggled in Washington's 22-20 win over Oregon State. The left-hander had season-lows in completion percentage (46 percent) and yardage 162.  To his credit, he threw two touchdown passes and avoided interceptions, and posted a season-best 22 yards on the ground. But his Heisman chances likely took a serious hit since other contenders had strong performances in Week 12.  — JH

Week 11: Penix completed 24-of-42 (57 percent) for 332 yards and two touchdown passes as No. 4 Washington outlasted No. 18 Utah, 35-28. Both TD passes went to Rome Odunze, including a long of 44 yards.

Week 10: Washington outlasted USC 52-42, with Penix completing an efficient 22-of-30 (73 percent) and throwing two touchdowns. 

Week 9: Penix and the Huskies got back on track as Washington outscored Stanford, 42-33. The Heisman candidate threw for 369 and four touchdowns, completing 21-of-38. 

Week 8: Penix's Heisman chances may have been dinged a bit with his two-interception, zero-TD performance, and because Washington managed just 15 points in edging Arizona State. Penix did throw for 275 yards. — JH

Week 6: In 2023's biggest showdown to date, Penix outdueled Bo Nix and continued his march to serious Heisman consideration with a four-TD day. The No. 4 Huskies remained unbeaten, edging No. 5 Oregon, 36-33. Penix finished 22-of-37 for 302 yards, with two of his scoring throws targeting receiver Rome Odunze. — JH

Week 5: The lefty completed 30-of-40 for 363 yards as Washington held off Arizona, 31-24. Despite the big numbers Penix, remarkably, did not throw a touchdown pass. — JH

Week 4: Penix continued his blistering start to 2023, throwing four TDs in Washington's dominating 59-21 win over Pac-12 opponent Cal. Penix was again very efficient, going 19-of-25, though he did throw his second pick of the season. Two of his touchdown tosses went to WR Rome Odunze, emerging as Penix's go-to target. — JH

Week 3: Penix Jr. completed 27 of 35 passes for career-high 473 yards and four TDs as Washington thumped Michigan State 41-7. The Huskies racked up a whopping 713 yards of total offense and moved to 3-0 on the young season. — JH

Week 2: In Washington's victory over Tulsa, 43-10, Penix threw for 409 yards, completing 28-of-38 (73.7 percent). He threw one interception.

Week 1: Washington won their first game vs. Boise State 56-19. Penix was 29-of-40 (72.5 percent) and threw for 450 yards and five touchdowns. He did not throw an interception. — JH

Week 0: DNP

HISTORY — from University of Washington profile 

2023: Preseason All-America Third Team (Athlon)

2022 Achievements and honors

* Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year

* All-America Third Team (Pro Football Network)

* All-America Honorable Mention (Pro Football Focus, Phil Steele)

* All-Pac-12 Second Team

* All-Pac-12 Second Team (Associated Press, Phil Steele)

* Manning Award Finalist

* Davey O'Brien Award Semifinalist

* PFF All-Pac-12 Second Team

* Pro Football Network All-Pac-12 Second Team

* Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll

2022: Started all 13 games in his first year at UW ... finished the 2022 season as the No. 1 passer in NCAA-FBS as the nation's leader in passing yards per game (357.0) ... second in passing yards, with 4,641, a new UW single-season record ... broke Cody Pickett's 20-year old record for passing yards ... also No. 1 in FBS in total offense and third in completions per game in the final rankings ... only the second Husky ever to surpass 4,000 yards in a season ... finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting ... suffered just five sacks all season ... also broke UW, single-season school records for total offense, total offense per game and total offense per play ... joined the UW roster prior to spring football practice in 2022 ... voted a team captain ... started the season opener against Kent State, completing 26-of-39 passes for 345 yards, no interceptions and four touchdowns ... also ran for 27 yards on four carries ... four TD passes vs. Kent State tied for seventh-most in UW single-game history ... 20-for-27 for 337 yards, one interception and two touchdowns in the win over Portland State ... 84-yard TD pass to Jalen McMillan vs. PSU was tied for seventh-longest pass in UW history ... 24-for-40 for 397 yards, no interceptions and four touchdowns in the win over No. 11 Michigan State ... 397 yards were eighth-most in UW history while his four TD passes -- which matched his total vs. Kent State -- tied for seventh ... named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week following win over the Spartans ... also won weekly honors from the Manning Award and Davey O'Brien Award ... 22-for-37 for 309 yards, no interceptions and two touchdowns in the win over Stanford ... 33-for-48 for 345 yards, two interceptions and four touchdowns, at UCLA ... threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Seattle Mariners game on Oct. 5 ... 33-for-53 for 311 yards, one interception and no touchdowns, at Arizona State, where he rushed for a score ... first Husky since Cody Pickett (2002) to pass for 300 yards in six straight games ... 53 pass attempts were ninth-most in UW single-season history ... shattered the UW single-game passing yards record with 516 in the win over Arizona ... completed 36-of-44 passes, with four touchdown passes and no interceptions, while also rushing for 13 yards and a TD on three carries vs. the Wildcats ... his 36 completions were also a school record, as were his 529 yards of total offense ... named one of the Davey O'Brien Award and Manning Award players of the week following the Arizona game ... once again made the Davey O'Brien weekly honors list after the win at California, where he tied his week-old record for completions, going 36-for-51 for 374 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions ... 30-for-52 for 298 yards, one touchdown and one interception vs. Oregon State ... fell just two yards short of his ninth straight 300-yard passing game, but still set a new school record with eight in a row ... completed 26-of-35 for 408 yards, two touchdowns and one interception to lead Washington to a 37-34 win at No. 8 Oregon ... threw TD passes of 76 and 62 yards ... just the third Husky ever to throw two TD passes of 60 or more yards in the same game ... named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week after the win over the Ducks ... also made Pro Football Focus' team of the week and was one of the Manning Award's weekly honorees ... 19-for-31 for 229 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in Washington's 54-7 win over Colorado ... led Washington to a thrilling, 51-33 win over Washington State in the Apple Cup, passing for 484 yards, the second-highest passing yards total in UW history, behind only his 516 earlier in the season vs. Arizona ... 25-for-43 for 484 yards, three touchdowns and one interception at WSU, while also rushing twice for 34 yards – two touchdowns of 30 and 4 yards ... threw TD passes of 27, 46 and 75 yards in Pullman, with the third of those coming on the first play of the second half ... named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week following the Apple Cup ... also named to the Manning Award's player of the week ... named Valero Alamo Bowl Offensive MVP after leading the Huskies to their 11th win ... as 32-for-54 for 287 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, in the win over Texas ... won the UW coaches' offensive skill player of the week eight times in 13 games in 2022 ... named the Offensive Most Valuable Player at the team's postseason awards banquet, where he also shared the Apple Cup Play of the Game Award, alongside Jalen McMillan, for their 75-yard touchdown pass at WSU ... one of five finalists for the 2022 Seattle Sports Star of the Year.

—at University of Indiana—

Spent the 2018 through 2021 seasons as a quarterback, playing in a total of 20 games over four seasons ... team captain in 2020 and 2021 ... went 12-5 as a starting QB ... over four years, completed 342-of-576 passes for 4,197 yards, 29 touchdowns and 15 interceptions ... also rushed for six TDs ... top seasons was the shortened 2020 campaign, when he earned second-team All-Big Ten and was named the team MVP ... started six of IU's eight games in 2020, completing 124-of-220 for 1,645 yards, 14 TDs and four interceptions ... a Davey O'Brien Award semifinalist in 2020 ... as a RS-junior in 2021, started the first five games prior to a season-ending injury, completing 87-of-162 passes for 939 yards ... prior to injury, led the Big Ten in passing yardage, yards per game, passing TDs, completions and attempts ... as a redshirt freshman in 2019 (under offensive coordinator and QBs coach Kalen DeBoer), started six games, completing 110-of-160 attempts for 1,394 yards, 10 TDs and four interceptions ... also played in three games as a true freshman (thus retaining a year of eligibility) ... 21-for-34 for 219 yards, one TD and no picks over those three games ... 

High school: Played QB at Tampa Bay Technical HIgh School, where he threw 61 touchdowns and just six interceptions in 24 games (two seasons) as a starter ... also rushed for 16 TDs ... Hillsborough County Player of the Year as a senior ... passed for 2,165 yards, 30 TDs and five INTs as a senior, when he also had 449 rushing yards (on just 37 carries) and 10 rushing TDs ... as a junior, named to the Tampa Bay Times All-Hillsborough County team ... 2,078 yards, 31 touchdowns and just one interception as a junior ... also played baseball and ran track (jumps, sprints) ... played for coach Jayson Roberts at Tampa Bay Tech.

2022

passing
ATT	YPA	PCT	YDS	INT	TD	COMPLETIONS
554.0	8.4	0.653	4641.0	8.0	31.0	362.0

rushing
YPC	TD	YDS	CAR	LONG
2.6	4.0	92.0	35.0	30.0

fumbles
REC	LOST	FUM
0.0	0.0	2.0