Coaches address rising draft stock of Michael Penix Jr.

Coaches who previously "scouted, game-planned for and then faced" Michael Penix Jr. sound unsurprised that analysts have begun predicting that the Washington Huskies star could become either the fifth or sixth quarterback selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. 

"His arm talent is as good as I’ve ever seen," one coach told The Athletic's Bruce Feldman about Penix. "He can throw every single ball on a rope. I just wanted to blitz him. I felt like he didn’t handle pressure as some others. We lived and died by the blitz, but he got his yards." 

Unless most experts are way off regarding their forecasts, quarterbacks USC's Caleb Williams, LSU's Jayden Daniels, Michigan's J.J. McCarthy and North Carolina's Drake Maye could all be off the board before the 10th pick on April 25. 

New York Giants beat writer Paul Schwartz of the New York Post suggested on multiple occasions that Big Blue could possibly get Penix in the draft's second round. While Penix tore his right anterior cruciate ligament twice during his college career, Feldman noted that the signal-caller's "medical evaluations did get a thumbs up" this offseason. 

"You watch them, and there’s so much tape where you’re just blown away by all the throws he’s making into windows and with the touch he has," a different coach told Feldman about what Penix offered Washington. "And he’s just so accurate on all these big throws. He also didn’t need much room to throw it. The people around him didn’t even faze him." 

Feldman predicted that the Las Vegas Raiders would make Penix the draft's 13th choice. On Wednesday, well-known NFL insider Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post also mocked Penix to the Raiders at pick No. 13. 

"All the throws he makes are insane, but his ability to read coverage and manipulate pressures is high-level stuff," a third coach told Feldman about Penix. 

Plenty can change before the final Thursday of April, but it feels like Penix Jr.'s days of dropping to the second rounds of mock drafts are ending.