FLOWERY BRANCH — Atlanta has a fond history with southpaws, from Tom Glavine to Michael Vick to Max Fried. In due time, Michael Penix Jr. will have the chance to join them.
The NFL draft is known for its unpredictability, but his selection left some folks perplexed even by its standards. The Falcons, fresh off giving veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins $100 million guaranteed, chose the lefty quarterback Penix at No. 8 overall, entrusting the Washington product with their franchise’s future.
Penix revered Vick growing up, even receiving a text from him before taking the podium for his introductory press conference Friday. Now, Penix hopes to electrify Atlanta in his own way. He’ll have to wait, with no guarantee of when that day will arrive. But few quarterbacks in the history of the first round are more equipped to handle whatever is coming his way.
“I know I’m going to put in a ton of work to make sure whenever I do step on that field, there’s not going to be a beat missed and I’m going to be successful within this offense and this team,” Penix said, later adding: “If I’m not on the field right away, I’m learning, but I’m still going to prepare like I’m going to be on that field because you never know what can happen.”
The conditions around this pick have been and will be debated. Ultimately, though, Penix is here. The Falcons fell in love with him. They fell in love with his story, how he’s persisted from overlooked recruit to wounded Hoosier to Heisman Trophy finalist.
Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot summarized their feelings: “If you believe in a quarterback, you have to take him.”
Belief is an instrumental aspect of the Penix story. There were plenty of times he could’ve released this dream or pivoted elsewhere. His path was anything but conventional. It’s the rarest of rare type story for an early draftee.
Penix subscribes to “Everything happens for a reason” thinking. When assessing his story, he assures you it was made possible by his faith. And if everything happens with purpose, there’s a reason he’s here now – even if he can’t explain it yet.
“God has his own plans,” Penix said. “And for me, to be in this position, I always say – and you’re going to hear me say a lot – I’m just blessed to be in this position. It took a lot for me to get here. I’m not sure yet (what the reason is). I still feel like there are things in the works.”
Penix comes from a faith-filled family. He’s been going to church and putting God first “as long as I can remember.” One can’t grow to understand Penix without grasping how important that is to his makeup. Everything he does and says will tie back to his roots.
“We know that without God, nothing is possible,” Penix said in a conversation Friday with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “All the accomplishments I have now, none of it would be possible without him, especially going through what I’ve been through.”
What he’s been through is a 1-of-1, Disney-esque tale. It’s a borderline impossible path when you recognize where he once was.
After starring at Tampa Bay Technical High School for two seasons, the former Tennessee commit chose Indiana – not exactly viewed as an esteemed program here in SEC country – over Florida State and South Florida because of ties with Hoosier coaches.
“I feel like I’m gonna be able to make a big impact coming in and I’m gonna create my own legacy,” Penix told Tampa Bay.com Dec. 20, 2017.
2018: Penix played three games before tearing his ACL, ending his season.
2019: Penix, guiding Indiana to its best start in nearly three decades, required surgery on his right sternoclavicular joint, ending his season after six games.
2020: After a 4-1 start, Penix tore his ACL again in the sixth game.
2021: Penix produced middling results in five games after returning.
Forget becoming a high pick; the odds of Penix becoming an NFL player at this point are low. He was getting lost in the mix. He could’ve even pursued other interests. He was pushed to the brink, wondering why God would allow this to happen to him.
“I did get to that point,” Penix said. “My dad, he used to always tell me growing up, ‘Never question God. He has his own plans for you.’ For me, when I got to that point, it was very hard. It was hard for me because I was questioning why. My dad reminds me, ‘He’s a perfect God.’ He has a plan for my future. So I had to get to that point where I just continued to build that relationship with my faith and get to the point where I wasn’t questioning him anymore.
“It’s just always knowing he has a plan for me, and he wouldn’t put me in a situation that I couldn’t handle. I was able to get a lot closer to him during that time and I feel like that’s what helped me get over that hump and be able to be where I’m at today. So I’m super blessed for all I’ve been through because it’s allowed me to get a closer relationship with God. The way I go about my business each and every day, I always make sure that I thank God first.”
In December 2021, Penix made what he now “definitely” considers the best decision of his life. He transferred to Washington, reuniting with coach Kalen DeBoer, his offensive coordinator in 2019. The Huskies already had a young starter in Dylan Morris, so Penix acknowledges it was a “gamble, I bet on myself.”
“I wanted to start having fun again, get back to that point where I’m just playing football like I was as a little kid,” he said.
Mission accomplished: He threw 67 touchdowns to 19 interceptions over the next two years – staying healthy and looking better than ever – while the Huskies went 25-3 over that time.
Penix led Washington to the final Pac-12 title in 2023. His career peaked with his performance against Texas in a College Football Playoff semifinal: Penix went 29-for-38 passing for 430 yards with two touchdowns, leading the Huskies past the more talented Longhorns. His draft stock, at least in the eyes of outsiders, soared.
Then the correction: Penix and company were overwhelmed in the championship game against Michigan. Penix’s flaws, from his lacking mobility to wonky mechanics to his reliance on the supreme weaponry and offensive line around him, came to roost.
Truthfully, Penix is one of the tougher quarterback evaluations in recent memory. It’s why he wasn’t expected to be drafted so early. This imperfect science is complicated enough, but Penix throws all sorts of wrenches into it:
- The list of injuries is concerning, but at what point does he get credit for overcoming those and staying healthy for consecutive years?
- The age (he turns 24 next month) is unideal, but Bill Parcells always preached experience’s importance. Is it a plus or minus? “That’s not an issue,” Fontenot said confidently Thursday.
- Penix doesn’t possess great mobility, but he consistently showed he can win from the pocket. When the playoffs roll around, that is always most important. But having some level of escapability is increasingly necessary.
- The mechanics aren’t clean, but it’s not like he’d be the first to succeed with technical oddities. It didn’t stop him from leading the nation in passing in a good conference.
- Since 2022, Penix went a combined 6-0 against teams quarterbacked by Bo Nix, Caleb Williams and Quinn Ewers. Last season, Nix’s and Ewers’ teams (Oregon and Texas) were 0-3 against Washington and 24-1 against everyone else. Of course, those guys weren’t playing defense, and when Penix faced the Wolverines’ NFL-lite unit, he was annihilated. It’s difficult to toss that impression aside.
- Penix benefited from the talent around him, but so did Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence and many other top signal-caller prospects. We knock players in good positions but also question those such as Josh Allen (Wyoming), working with much less and facing far inferior talent.
“Every exposure with Penix, we were very excited about it,” Fontenot said. “Look, if you look at his history, he’s been through some things (over) his career. The injuries he went through earlier in his career. Being able to bounce back and do the things he was able to do at the University of Washington.”
It’s said when a team misses on a player, it’s often because of lacking intangibles. That’s one area that absolutely won’t be questioned with Penix, no matter the nitpicking. The Falcons are betting their entire franchise on this young man – who admittedly won’t be as young by the time he plays – being capable of winning a championship, something Vick, Steve Bartkowski nor Matt Ryan could achieve.
And like the team had in Ryan’s earliest days, it hopes Penix, whenever his time comes, will step into a good situation, just as he had at Washington.
Penix had a dynamic supporting cast in Seattle. DeBoer is now the answer to the age-old question, “Who will replace Nick Saban at Alabama?” Penix’s receivers – Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan – all can call themselves NFL players. His offensive line will have multiple draftees. The Huskies, while falling short in the title game, will ride the high of 2023 for years.
In Atlanta, the Falcons hope they’ll treat Penix to comparable NFL circumstances. Their past three top-10 picks – tight end Kyle Pitts, receiver Drake London, running back Bijan Robinson – put legitimate skill-position talent around him. Their new offensive coordinator, Zac Robinson, might not still be the OC by the time Penix starts – if the Falcons’ offense is halfway decent, he’ll be a head-coach candidate – but he will play a role in Penix’s development. A Sean McVay pupil, he’s worked with Jared Goff, Baker Mayfield and Matthew Stafford in recent years.
It’ll take time before Falcons fans truly get to know Penix as a player. In the meantime, he’ll make the most of whatever’s in front of him. These situations tend to work themselves out. Maintaining patience will surely be challenging, but Lord knows, Penix has seen tougher times.
“I’ve been through adversity where the game was taken away from me,” Penix said. “This is different. I’m healthy. It’s a different wait. But those times taught me different things. It taught me how to prepare at another level. It taught me how to use every bit of knowledge that I can to continue to get better, even though I was off the field. So as far as taking mental reps, the preparation day in and day out, the preparation I put into going about my business – knowing I couldn’t be on the field – it’s just going to enhance now that I’m at another level.
“I have so many things I want to accomplish. So I just look forward to it all.”
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