re: Does Michael Penix Jr have a strong arm?

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Josh Allens QB coach who has coached 100s of college & nfl QBs said

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“Deep ball accuracy travels!”

That text from a longtime quarterback evaluator encapsulated the overwhelmingly loved part of Penix’s game. Evaluators fawn over how precisely he throws deep passes. It was an attribute displayed to perfection in Washington’s 37-31 semifinal win over Texas in the Sugar Bowl — not to mention repeatedly over the course of the Huskies’ undefeated season — which saw Penix feather deep balls to wideouts Rome Odunze and Ja’Lynn Polk. Penix finished the win over the Longhorns with 430 yards passing and two touchdowns, as well as an impressive 76.3 percent completion rate.

“With what I just witnessed in person at the Sugar Bowl, Penix is an assassin and has absolute, total command of the offense and incredible poise, nothing fazes him,” one evaluator said. “J.J. McCarthy is a great athlete but not nearly the arm talent Penix has. Penix is the most accurate downfield passer I’ve ever seen in college, ever. And I’m not exaggerating. Texas had good coverage on a lot of those big plays and it didn’t matter. And the designed QB draws were daggers. [E]very time Texas thought they were figuring out how to stop Washington, Penix would rip off a 10-plus yard run for a first down.”

The deep ball precision is a skill that defined the two seasons of Penix’s pay for the Huskies, capping off a six-year college career that first saw him suffer four season-ending injuries with the Indiana Hoosiers from 2018 to 2021, before he transferred to Washington in 2022 and then posted back-to-back healthy campaigns with eye-popping numbers. In those last two seasons, Penix has thrown for 9,289 yards, 66 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, showcasing an ability to win in structure, from the pocket and with an element of deep accuracy that is extremely rare. But in some ways, it also masks consistency issues in short and intermediate routes.

“It’s a little odd, because he can throw into a bucket deep, but then he has some inconsistency with his accuracy on the shorter stuff,” an AFC scout said. “His throwing motion and mechanics are a little different, too. He definitely doesn’t have a classic over-the-top motion. But it’s not terrible, either.”

Ultimately, evaluators agreed that refining Penix’s timing and mechanics on shorter passes is doable and worthwhile, particularly given a level of long-ball precision that is more difficult to coach into existence.

“I’ve watched Penix for two years — he can really spin it [and] throws the best deep ball I’ve evaluated in 30 years,” one high-level NFL personnel man said. “I saw Penix in the wind last year at a practice and was astounded at how accurate he was on the seams, overs and deep balls. It really grabbed my attention. But the injury history is super scary.”

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Got a name? Where is he now?

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It's funny that the falcons have basically taken away what makes him great (deep passes) and have asked him to do what he sucks at (short). But alas the falcons have terrible coaches

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