Seahawks drafting Michael Penix would be fine with me
But is Michael Penix a first round pick? Seaside Joe 1766
Michael Penix Jr. lived literally an entire college life prior to getting to the University of Washington. He sent in college applications*, he had his fallback at Arizona State or wherever, he went to Ikea with his mom, he bought $300 textbooks that were never opened, he tried weed “for the first time”, and he got a degree in general studies that he will never use other than to fill in the education drop-down menu with “Associates Degree”.
*as a touted high school recruit, he probably didn’t do this
**in fact the whole opener was a lie, or better yet a picture of someone’s general college reality, but we need warnings to not take everything on the internet seriously
As is heavily discussed as “the big story of college football this week”, Penix suffered injury after injury at Indiana and with the help of a pandemic year, was able to transfer to Washington in 2022 with two seasons of eligibility remaining. The left-handed quarterback has thrown 66 touchdowns in 27 games for the Huskies, has a strong and accurate arm, is “the best thrower of the football since Joe Burrow” according to anonymous GMs, can scoot a little bit, and he’s going to be playing for a national championship next week against Michigan.
When I spent all of 2021 scouring college football for the most talented quarterback prospects (which started the Grayson McCall thing), I REALLY liked Michael Penix because few players actually look like NFL talents, even at that level. Except that he had barely played, had two serious knee injuries and a shoulder injury, and he had already had four years to prove himself.
Now Penix is one great game away from officially putting himself in the conversation as a top-3 draft pick, but there’s still hope left for Seahawks fans wondering if the gap betwen Seattle’s first round selection and where the UW QB gets selected will close itself to nil.
As good as Penix is as a college quarterback over the last two years, his history with injuries could terrify GMs picking in the top-10. Especially when they’ll have at least three quarterbacks to choose from who are currently ranked ahead of Penix on most boards, and it is so rare for more than three quarterbacks to go that early.
If you want the Seahawks to draft Penix or Jayden Daniels, I’m writing today to tell you that I could see it. And I’m not against it.
But the only “unhealthy skepticism” is no skepticism, and when the high wears off of a historic game (though not his first) and the dust settles over months of rigorous draft testing, will Michael Penix stand with the first round picks? Should the Seahawks be the ones to select him?