Joel Klatt projects Michael Penix to the Las Vegas Raiders in NFL Draft
Michael Penix Jr. might have been the sixth quarterback taken in Joel Klatt’s final mock of the 2024 NFL Draft. Still, at No. 13, Las Vegas could get, in his opinion, one of the class’s more easily projectable prospects.
Klatt continued to speak highly of Penix during his show on Monday where he released the mock. To him and others, the Raiders, with Gardner Minshew, Aidan O’Connell, and Anthony Brown Jr., very much need to address the position. That’s why, with him being the last of the six, well-known quarterbacks, Klatt has them taking Penix Jr. at 13.
“Similarly, I think that the Raiders are sitting there and they’ve got to answer questions at the quarterback spot. They just do,” said Klatt. “They could go in a lot of different ways here but Michael Penix at 13 to Vegas makes a lot of sense to me.”
Penix Jr. comes out of college after a six-year career at Washington and Indiana. In total, he leaves with 13,741 yards and 96 touchdowns on 63.3% completion.
However, after several injuries in Bloomington, he arrived in Seattle and really took off. While with the Huskies, he threw for 9,544 yards and 67 scores. That includes last fall were he was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy and took them to the national championship.
For Klatt, he just doesn’t understand why some people can’t see it with Penix Jr. considering his collegiate tape. He is looking at a quarterback that has already been running offenses at a professional level for some time.
“He is one of the most polarizing players in the draft. I don’t know why though,” said Klatt. “This guy was asked to do, at Washington, exactly what he’s going to do in the National Football League. You don’t have to project.”
“We got to see him 15, 20, 25 times a game drop back and have to control the field from the pocket, make full-field reads. Make those reads that are combination routes that are adjustments down the field based on secondary look,” Klatt said. “He made those beautifully.”
Klatt also, as he often has in his evaluations, praised Penix Jr. for how he gets his receivers open. He is high on him because of how he throws and makes life easier on his weapons, especially in contested spots.
“I always make this point when I talk about Michael Penix because it’s my favorite one. He’s the best deep-ball thrower in this draft but it’s not just that. I think that that sells him short. He passes the football down the field,” Klatt stated. “When you watch the leverage and ball placement that he uses down the field, it is better than anybody in this draft and better than a lot of people that I’ve evaluated in the last few years.”
“He’s constantly putting his wide receivers and pass catchers in better odds. Giving them better ratios than 50-50 in a 50-50 situation. It’s tight coverage down the field and he’s always putting the ball on the offensive player’s side, throwing them away from the defender,” explained Klatt. “That’s a trait that I really love with Michael Penix.”
Penix Jr. being the fifth or sixth quarterback off the board isn’t anything against him with the position like it is in this class. It’s actually something that other teams later on, such as Las Vegas like Klatt predicts, could take advantage of assuming he’s still on the board.