Michael Penix Jr. Fantasy
- Height / Weight
- 6'2" / 216 lbs.
- Date of Birth (Age)
- May 8, 2000 (23)
- Experience
- Rookie
- Drafted
- 2024 / Rd. 1 / Pk. 8 (ATL)
- College
- Washington
Season Logs
Game Logs
Michael Penix Jr. News
The Atlanta Falcons selected Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft on Thursday night. This is the first real surprise of this year's draft after the Falcons signed quarterback Kirk Cousins this offseason. Injuries are the main concern for Penix, but besides that, he showed plenty of long-term upside in his two seasons with the Huskies, culminating in a national championship appearance earlier this year. The 23-year-old lefty will obviously enter his first season in the NFL as a clear backup in Atlanta, but this pick will give the Falcons insurance with Cousins returning from a torn Achilles in 2023. This selection will be debated for a while, especially given all of Atlanta's needs on defense.
The Las Vegas Raiders are thought to be high on Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr., and if the QB market starts drying up quickly in the first round of Thursday night's NFL draft and they feel the need to trade up in order to avoid being shut out, the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 5 and the Tennessee Titans at No. 7 are two teams that people think are willing to trade down. The Raiders would love to be able to get up high enough to take LSU's Jayden Daniels to reunite him with head coach Antonio Pierce, but they know they might not be able to do that. The Raiders have talked with the Arizona Cardinals about what it would take to trade up to No. 4, but Vegas' interest in that pick would likely cool off significantly if Daniels is among the top three picks, as expected.
University of Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has seemingly been rising up draft boards this offseason, and NFL insider Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports that he could enter the discussion to be one of the first four quarterbacks off the board. "It's been assumed the top four QBs are Williams, Daniels, Maye, and McCarthy," Russini wrote "But don't be surprised if Penix enters the discussion come Thursday." Penix, who will be 24 years old during his rookie season, had a monster two-year stretch with Washington after four injury-riddled campaigns at Indiana. In 2022 and 2023 combined, the lefty posted 9,544 passing yards, 67 passing touchdowns, and 67 interceptions. He ran between a 4.51- and 4.57-second 40-yard dash at the Huskies' Pro Day, so his 226 career rushing yards might not demonstrate his full rushing ability.
Depth Chart
- Offense
- Defense
FS | Jessie Bates III |
Micah Abernathy | |
NT | LaCale London |
LDE | Zach Harrison |
RDE | David Onyemata |
Ta'Quon Graham | |
LOLB | Arnold Ebiketie |
DeAngelo Malone | |
LILB | Kaden Elliss |
RILB | Nate Landman |
ROLB | Lorenzo Carter |
SS | Richie Grant |
DeMarcco Hellams | |
RCB | A.J. Terrell |
Mike Hughes | |
NB | Dee Alford |
Clark Phillips III |
LS | Liam McCullough |
K | Younghoe Koo |
P | Bradley Pinion |
QB | Taylor Heinicke |
RB | Bijan Robinson |
Tyler Allgeier | |
LWR | Drake London |
SWR | Rondale Moore |
TE | Kyle Pitts |
LT | Jake Matthews |
LG | Matthew Bergeron |
Jovaughn Gwyn | |
C | Drew Dalman |
Ryan Neuzil | |
RG | Chris Lindstrom |
Kyle Hinton | |
RT | Kaleb McGary |