Michael Penix Jr., Washington Football News: Draft Scout Player News

08/15/22 - QB Michael Penix Jr., rSr/2024, Washington

One guy has been here. Has won here. Maybe not as consistently as the fan base would have liked him to, but enough that he is a legitimate threat to start in the Huskies' opener. Another guy is the one whose left arm is thought to have been kissed by the football gods - the five-star recruit who throws a divine deep ball and is dripping with natural talent. And then there is Michael Penix Jr. - the transfer from Indiana with little luster on his résumé. He has never played more than six games in any of his four college seasons. He completed fewer than half his passes in all three of the Hoosiers' losses last year, in which he played all of five games.

But as Washington's first football game draws nearer, it is Penix who has been just consistent enough in practice, just knowledgeable enough in this system - that it should come as no surprise if he is the Huskies' starting quarterback when they open against Kent State on Sept. 3. "He's got a real strong, powerful arm," Huskies receiver Ja'Lynn Polk said of Penix. "I think a lot of people will see that real soon." This wasn't Polk predicting who will be behind center when UW's season begins. He was complimentary of fellow Husky quarterbacks Dylan Morris and Sam Huard, against whom Penix is competing. But it was clear that Polk, like others in the program, have been impressed with what they have seen from the fifth-year junior thus far. No, you won't see Penix's name on any NFL mock draft sites. He doesn't make scouts salivate or fans fawn out of pure wonder. However, there is enough of a track record to suggest that not only could Penix win this quarterback battle, but that he could provide enough production to lead UW to a successful season. - Seattle Times

rSr/2024