Michael Penix Jr. Scouting Report
- Watched:Â Oregon (2022), Arizona, Oregon, Michigan
- Pros:
- Can read the full field as well as anyone in the class.
- Can get stuck on his first read sometimes, but generally does a good job getting through progressions pretty quickly.
- Manipulates coverage with his eyes and pump fakes well.
- Best in class in terms of avoiding sacks when pressured due to his awareness of where checkdowns are, where he can safely throw it away from the pocket, etc.
- Consistently good placement on deep throws, though he could use more touch sometimes.
- Good timing and placement on out routes and curls; throws the ball away from coverage/protects his WRs from contact.
- Cons:
- Will be 24 before his rookie season begins.
- Low release angle results in passes being batted at the line.
- While he does a good job of getting rid of the ball before taking sacks, his pocket mobility/ability to evade pass rushers is poor; his only move is to just backpedal or slide away to buy an extra split second.
- Shies away from contact; will sometimes throw it up for grabs to avoid taking a sack.
- Mechanics crumble under pressure and accuracy suffers big time as a result.
- Struggles to throw with touch.
- Throws intermediate passes more than anyone in the class that I’ve scouted but throws it worse than everyone.
- Long list of serious injuries during his college career.
- General:
- Tons of 4 or 5 wide formations.
- Took one snap under center across the four games I watched.
- Overall Take:
- Pro-readiness:Â 4th (out of 9)
- Potential: 7th
- Overall: 6th
- Number Grade (out of 100):Â 75
- When Michael Penix Jr. is on his A game, he’s as good as anyone in this class. A 6-year veteran in the collegiate ranks with a lot of starting experience, he has a relatively mature game; mostly getting through his progressions on time, scanning the full field to find his targets, and using his eyes to manipulate coverage. He’s constantly aware of who he can check the ball down to or who he can purposefully overthrow from the pocket if he needs to throw it away. And at his best, he can zip passes into tight windows with precision; protecting his receivers from big hits and throwing the ball where only his receivers can make a play. Having said all that, there are a few crucial flaws in his game that heavily weigh on his grade here. Penix will be 24 before he’s made his NFL debut; not a deal breaker by any means, but he’s been around for awhile now and I tend to think bad habits are likely to stay at this point. Penix really struggles with the pass rush; he tends to just slowly back away to try to buy an extra moment and has a terrible habit of sort of ducking for cover the moment he throws the ball to brace for hits. It reminds me a bit of my least favorite aspects of Josh Rosen’s game when he was coming out of UCLA. His funky low release allows defensive linemen to bat down a lot of passes at the line. And while he did a pretty nice job throwing the deep ball, those crucial intermediate passes that often make or break offenses were not kind to him; he struggles to throw with touch so he often sails passes too high when attempting to throw over the top of linebackers or squatting corners. Ultimately, I landed on a late 3rd round grade for Penix; the highs are too good to drop him much lower, but the concerns I have for his game are very serious. I don’t think he’s particularly ready to go from Day 1, nor does he have an exciting ceiling, but if you can coach some of the bad habits out of him, he can be an adequate starting QB.
- NFL Comparisons:
- Most Likely Comp:Â Nick Foles
- Peak Comp:Â Geno Smith with ankle weights
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