After one of the most successful seasons in Huskies program history, Michael Penix Jr. is preparing for one of the biggest moments of his football career.
Penix is less than a month away from the NFL Draft, something he’s worked toward as he developed into a Heisman Trophy-caliber quarterback. The Tampa, Florida, native led college football with 4,903 passing yards last season.
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Washington held its Pro Day on March 28, and Penix participated on the field in drills displaying his athleticism and conditioning. He said in an interview with ESPN that he felt healthy, and he accomplished some things he set out to achieve.
“I feel like (I) possibly answered a lot of questions,” Penix said. “I felt good being able to run, to be able to jump. Obviously, I wanted to do that, to show that I’m willing to compete. And I want to write my own story, write my own narrative. And I feel like I did that today, and I’m super blessed.”
According to Ben Glassmire of Huskies Wire, Penix ran a 4.46-second time in the 40-yard dash.
On the skills challenging his mobility and athleticism, Penix leapt 36 1/2 inches on the vertical jump, according to Field Yates of ESPN.
Penix said in his meetings with NFL teams he’s told them they can expect a professional work ethic he carried with him both at Washington and Indiana, where he began his college career from 2018-21.
“They’re going to get a guy that’s going to help lift the team up, help elevate everybody around them,” Penix said. “That’s what I feel like I’ve been able to do at two different places, and I’ve been super blessed to be able to have great players around me to help up my game and continue to allow me to become better day in and day out. So I’m just super blessed, and they’re going to get a winner.”
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Penix’s southpaw style will bring intrigue to the 2024 NFL Draft class, which boasts two Heisman Trophy winners at quarterback in last year’s winner Jayden Daniels of LSU and 2022 recipient USC’s Caleb Williams.
For teams looking for a pro-style quarterback with a cannon arm, they can find one in Penix. He said he’s more than an athletically talented gunslinger with a knack of picking things up quickly on the gridiron.
“I don’t know where they think my football smarts is, but I just hope that they – I just want to show them that I can do it all as far as learning the playbook,” Penix said. “I know I get questions about, ‘You haven’t been under the center a lot. How do you feel about that?’ Just show that I’m comfortable doing that, comfortable calling plays in the huddle, stuff like that, so just showing those type of things that I possibly couldn’t show within the last couple seasons.”
