Former Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr selected No. 8 overall in 2024 NFL Draft

Former Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr is taking the next step in his football career, hearing his name called on Thursday in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Penix was selected No. 8 overall by the Atlanta Falcons.

Penix, who was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy this year, led Washington to a 14-1 record and loss in the National Championship game.

He led the nation in passing yards with 4,903 and was third in passing touchdowns with 36. He finished with 9,544 passing yards in his two seasons at Washington with 67 touchdowns. He holds five of the top 10 single-game passing yard performances in Washington program history.

Before Washington, Michael Penix Jr spent four seasons with the Indiana football program, totaling just 21 games played. He threw for 4,197 yards and had 29 touchdowns to 15 interceptions. It was his 2019 and 2020 seasons that made him a household name. He threw 24 touchdowns and just eight interceptions and totaled 3,039 yards. He was 10-2 as a starter in those two seasons.

Michael Penix Jr played the 2019 season at Indiana under then-offensive coordinator Kaleb DeBoer. In his one season with DeBoer he threw for 1,394 yards and 10 touchdowns to four interceptions. A season-ending injury kept Penix out of what could have been the first bowl victory for Indiana since 1991.

Then, another season-ending injury in 2020 kept Penix from playing in another bowl game in a season when he helped Indiana reach No. 9 overall in the AP Poll and put together numerous record-breaking performances.

Penix would follow DeBoer to Washington ahead of the 2022 season.

“Man, I feel like everything happened for a reason,” Penix said postgame following a 37-31 win over Texas in the College Football Playoff Semifinal. “Coming out of high school, I’m going to be honest, when I committed to Indiana University, my dad, he didn’t really want me to go there. He didn’t understand why I was going there. So that was something that was hard for me, just having somebody that I love the most not really, he didn’t see my vision. But obviously, it led me to Washington.

“Going to Indiana helped me meet Coach (Kalen) DeBoer and our relationship that we built throughout the years has been amazing. I wouldn’t want to play for anybody else. So I’m super blessed.”

Coming into the draft, NFL scouts and GMs were cautious and a bit worried about the injury history for Penix.

Penix addressed that in an open letter by The Players’ Tribune.

“Truth is, I’d be more worried if I had never been injured,” he wrote. “We don’t all come back the same. I can’t speak for those that have never gone through anything. But I can speak on me. I’ve seen how deep my foundation is. I know the storms I’m prepared to weather. For most people that’d be the end of their story. But there’s more to my story, and I own every page of it.”