Next up for Johnny Manziel and Kurt Benkert is Michael Penix Jr.
The pair of former NFL quarterbacks have already ranked the 2024 draft class of QBs, as well as breaking down Caleb Williams and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels. Now, it's Penix, who Manziel is especially high on after the lefty led Washington to the national championship game earlier this year.
Get Manziel and Benkert's breakdown of Penix's NFL prospects below.
Johnny Manziel
A lot of people said he succumbed to the pressure in the national championship game and that he didn't make the throws. If you look at him and where his receivers were that day, they were off by half a step on everything. Those days happen and if you go back and you really look at where he was at his best, the semifinal game against Texas, that's as pro-ready of tape as you could ever see from a guy going into the NFL. You pair that with what he's done throughout this draft process and we're sitting here, three weeks before the draft, and I am so high on Penix.
That Texas game, there are a few plays where you sit there and you watch the Texas defensive players sitting there looking back like, "What just happened?" You sit there and you raise your hands up and you're like, "That guy just beat us because of who he is."
I think he has those kinds of intangibles that you need in the NFL. People can be down on him all they want, but I see him as the No. 2 quarterback prospect in this draft class.
Talking about fits, this is a guy who has no issues playing in cold-weather games after playing the last two seasons at Washington. But I keep going back to Minnesota. Penix is a guy who head coach Kevin O'Connell and quarterback coach Josh McCown could get their hands on and really, really do some damage.
Penix is without a doubt my vote right now on who I think would win Offensive Rookie of the Year and give Caleb Williams the biggest run for his money for that award.
Kurt Benkert
I love him and I love him more after watching his film again and again. Each time I'm like, "Dang, if you were to change the jerseys of the people and put him in an NFL situation, you were watching NFL film. These are NFL throws."
Penix was definitely throwing to some NFL receivers at Washington, but he was throwing balls that were specific and accurate with intention. He wasn't just tossing up bombs. Penix is the best downfield thrower in this draft, hands down. Intermediate downfield, up and away back-shoulder throws, seeing balls that wrap behind linebackers' ears in front of the safety.
In college some teams and coaches scheme up things that get receivers wide open. Penix's 4,900 yards are a little bit different than 4,900 yards that you see other guys have. He's not just throwing to wide-open receivers on posts because the safety bite. He wasn't playing Big 12 Air Raid football in the Pac-12.
Watching the games, he was having to offset receivers getting good, sticky man coverage. Penix was so accurate that good coverage couldn't even stop him sometimes. He didn't get the layups that some of these other guys get to rack up the stats. He had to earn all of it. And yeah, he had some things that he hit over the top because he had good receivers, but he had to be an accurate quarterback consistently over the entire course of the last two seasons at Washington to reach those numbers that he did.
Then, you look at how he's built. Penix is built to sling the rock. He's got massive hands. He's got a really cool three-quarters release, a prettier version of what Phillip Rivers did in his time as an NFL starter. I could see Penix finding a way to be in the NFL for 10-15 years because how he plays the game is what the league wants.
Not to mention he just ran a 4.40 40-yard at his pro day, and he didn't even run the ball in college because he was so accurate. So, if he's asked to run the ball if he needs to extend the plays, he has the ability to do that. You look at Justin Fields when he was coming out. He was not this great touted passer. He wasn't even like a great touted runner. He was a better runner in the NFL than he was in college because of how the way the game was played. I could see Penix being a good runner in this league on third downs, creating plays with his feet because he didn't really have to do that in college — but he can do it.
