The Lessons of Michael Penix Jr.
Last year's draft-day stunner is another reminder for GMs: Think for yourself. If you've got conviction on a quarterback, don't give a damn about anything else.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In his timeless epic “Start with Why,” author Simon Sinek shares the tales of trailblazing entrepreneurs. True innovators who challenge the status quo share the same traits. They’re fearless. They see a world others cannot. The Wright brothers, MLK, JFK, Steve Jobs, Herb Kelleher and a man named Ron Bruder are all featured. Today, Bruder pioneers youth employment opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa.
Standing at a crosswalk one day, Bruder asked his daughters what the signal “Do Not Walk” meant. They answered correctly, but then he offered a challenge.
“How do you know it’s not telling us to run?”
Few in the NFL choose to run.
Groupthink is a virus this time of year. The cause? Ego. Too many GMs and head coaches fail to invite sincere debate inside of their pre-draft meetings. The area scout with a fresh take on a prospect is too often pacified, patronized, ignored and — over time — becomes too scared to speak his mind. Vibrant debate that forces the key decision-makers to think outside the box isn’t conducted nearly enough.
Teams play it safe, select the player they’re expected to take and an opportunity is lost.
Conversely, the teams capable of seeing something different in quarterbacks forever have an edge.
To the extreme, Andy Reid saw Brett Favre 2.0 in Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes. Before Mahomes even took over as the starter, that was his recruiting pitch to free agents via FaceTime. There’s also Detroit’s Brad Holmes viewing Jared Goff as more than a McVayvian puppet, Green Bay’s Brian Gutekunst gambling on an ultra-raw quarterback out of Utah State named Jordan Love (with Aaron Rodgers already in town), Philadelphia’s Howie Roseman taking a swing on a QB known most for a title-game benching in Jalen Hurts (with Carson Wentz already in-house). Buffalo’s Brandon Beane was well aware his constituents preferred the polished Josh Rosen. He drafted the feral Josh Allen.
As the 2024 draft approached, the general consensus declared Michael Penix Jr. a clear tier below Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy because the general consensus was that Washington Huskies quarterback benefited from a ridiculously talented receiving corps. Penix’s rocket arm was good enough to finish No. 2 in the nation in passing yards in 2022, No. 1 in 2023 and, sure, the game footage resembled ’98 Randall Cunningham in a Lambeau monsoon but, honestly? Like you, like most, I didn’t think much of it because all skepticism made sense.
Penix didn’t have much athleticism. The list of lefty QBs who’ve excelled in the NFL is short, too.
A few days before the draft, a west coast scout brought up Penix’s name unprompted because he believed everyone had Penix all wrong.
Wide receivers didn’t make the QB in Washington, he promised. Penix made those three receivers.