Do Seahawks like Michael Penix? GM weighs in after his pro day

Mar 29, 2024, 3:37 PM | Updated: 4:35 pm

Seattle Sports

The Seattle Seahawks have two quarterbacks who were everyday starters during the 2023 season on their roster in Geno Smith and Sam Howell, but an impressive pro day by UW Huskies QB Michael Penix Jr. on Thursday has put him back in the conversation as a potential NFL Draft option for the hometown pro team.

Michael Penix Jr. shows off athleticism at UW Huskies pro day

In an NFL.com mock draft by Charles Davis published Thursday, he has the Seahawks taking Penix with the No. 16 overall selection in the first round of next month’s draft. And on Friday’s edition of FOX’s The Herd, host Colin Cowherd made the case for Seattle to get Penix in the draft.

Penix, who will turn 24 in May, twice tore an ACL early in his college career while at Indiana, but he turned heads at UW’s pro day by running the 40-yard dash in 4.51 and 4.57 seconds, as well having an impressive vertical jump of 36 1/2 inches. Adding that to his arm strength and deep ball accuracy can only help his draft stock.

Michael Penix Jr. full pro day highlights – watch every throw

Are the Seahawks as high on Penix as these insiders think they should be? After all, it’s hard to ignore the fact that new head coach Mike Macdonald’s staff includes offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and offensive line coach Scott Huff, who had the same positions with UW during Penix’s two years with the Huskies.

Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob talks weekly with Seahawks general manager/president of football operations John Schneider during the offseason leading up to the NFL Draft, and this week it meant catching up with Schneider after he attended Penix’s pro day on Montlake. Hosts Dave Wyman and Bob Stelton put Schneider on the spot to see if he would tip his hand Penix. So did he?

Read what Schneider said, or listen in the podcast in the player below or the video player atop this story, to judge for yourself.

Seattle Seahawks GM John Schneider on Michael Penix Jr.

“Well, obviously, Coach Grubb likes him a lot, thinks the world of him. Coach Huff (too), so we feel like we have great information on him. You know, for us, he’s just always been a real steady performer, and what a great job he did this year going to the national championship game and everything.

“So yeah, it was great to go see him, he had a real nice workout (Thursday). Not getting into comparing quarterbacks or anything like that with J.J. (Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy), but he seems like a really cool person. Obviously we know what kind of competitor he is, but he threw the ball like, I don’t know, 95, 100 yards today a couple times. He really, like, threw it downfield real far, so it was it was a good day for him. So we’re all happy for Michael.”

The John Schneider Show airs weekly during Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob leading up to the NFL Draft, typically at 4 p.m. Thursdays. Find podcasts of every episode of the show here.