Washington football quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is one of the more intriguing names in this year's NFL Draft, and his stock is seemingly rising as he has met with several teams who seem to be interested in quarterbacks. Jordan Schultz explained why he and some NFL teams seem to be high on Michael Penix Jr. heading into the draft.
“I would go back to the Arizona game, and I asked Jedd Fisch, who's now at Washington, was at Arizona, and I asked him about the Arizona game when they played the Huskies, and they basically dared Michael Penix to take the middle and short side of the field instead of the 25, 30-yard deep shots,” Schultz said on The Herd. “They put a safety 20-25 yards back. And they said to Penix, ‘we're gonna let you live in the middle of the field.' It's kind of like what the Bills did to Mahomes three years ago. And they said to Kansas City, ‘listen Patrick, you're great, we're not going to let Tyreek Hill beat us.' That's what the Arizona did to Washington. Penix took every opportunity he could in the middle of the field.”
It is an interesting dynamic to hear the current Washington coach talk about what he saw facing Penix when he was with Arizona. Hearing what opposing coaches think of players can be valuable in the draft process. Penix's coaches and teammates raved about him as well in multiple aspects.
“I'm all in on Penix, you know that. I love Michael Penix,” Schultz said on The Herd. “And I think he takes what the defenses give him. And I've told you as well that John Beck, his quarterback coach, has told me he's one of the most accurate throwers he's ever seen. Then I asked Kalen DeBoer about his leadership and he said he's one of the best leaders he's ever seen. And then this is the most important to me, I asked Ja'Lynn Polk and Rome Odunze, ‘what does Michael Penix do better than anyone?' And they said his accuracy is unparalleled. His ability to go back shoulder and his intelligence at the line of scrimmage is simply sensational.”
Schultz also received a picture of what Penix is doing to work on play designs.
Where will Michael Penix Jr. go in the draft?
While Penix is receiving some praise as of recently, and it seems like his draft stock is going up ahead of the draft, it still seems unlikely that he will go ahead of players like Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels and JJ McCarthy.
Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels seem like locks to go ahead of Penix, while JJ McCarthy is more debatable. However, those four seem likely to go in the top 10 of the draft. This means that Penix could go in the middle or late part of the first round.
It will be intriguing to see where Penix land, given his skill set along with injury history.
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