ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mike Tannenbaum stumps for Michael Penix Jr.: 'If he's healthy, he's a Top 5 player'

With just a few days until the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit, it’s looking more than likely that four quarterbacks will be drafted not only in the first round, but perhaps the Top 10. And ESPN NFL Draft analyst and former NFL general manager Mike Tannenbaum thinks there should be a fifth: former Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr.

Tannenbaum took an opportunity to stump for Penix as not just a first rounder, but a potential Top 15 pick during ESPN’s NFL Nation Mock Draft on Tuesday. His argument was spurred on when both the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders — a pair of quarterback needy teams — passed on taking Penix with the No. 12 and No. 13 picks in the exercise.

And Tannebaum’s argument focuses not just on how Penix could be a boon for the Raiders, but how AFC West teams need the firepower to keep up with the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert.

“But same analysis: If you’re in the AFC West and you have Justin Herbert and you have Patrick Mahomes four games a year, Gardner Minshew is a great bridge quarterback like a Jacoby Brissett, but Michael Penix, if he’s healthy, he’s a Top 5 player,” Tannenbaum said. “Take advantage of the opportunity, assuming that the medical checks out.”

And if those teams do pass on Penix, Tannenbaum says he’d anticipate a team trading back in to the first round to try and draft him. A pick somewhere in the 20s was proposed a potential range for that to happen, which Tannenbaum thought might be too late of an estimate.

“Yes, but I’m not so sure Michael Penix will be there in the 20s because his upside is so compelling,” Tannebaum said.

Ultimately, while Minshew is a capable option for the present, Tannenbaum thinks the Raiders would be mistaken for passing up a future with Penix.

“I don’t know how you could pass up Michael Penix if you’re the Raiders,” Tannenbaum said. 

Penix sent a letter about his injury history to NFL general managers

In the letter posted to The Players’ Tribune, Penix addressed his lengthy injury history, which has been a knock on him during the draft evaluation process. Penix sustained four season-ending injuries during his time at Indiana, including a torn ACL in his freshman campaign in 2018 and then again in 2020.

“I hear it all the time. ‘He’s been injured, what happens if he gets injured again?’ Haven’t I shown you what that looks like? Haven’t I put almost 2,000 plays on tape since my last injury? Since my ‘fourth-season ending injury in 4 years’ that’s constantly mentioned whenever my name is brought up? Truth is, I’d be more worried if I had never been injured,” Penix wrote. “We don’t all come back the same. I can’t speak for those that have never gone through anything. But I can speak on me. I’ve seen how deep my foundation is… For most people that’d be the end of their story. But there’s more to my story, and I own every page of it.

“This isn’t a solo journey for me. There’s been plenty of other guys who were cut from the same fabric, who experienced the same challenges, and displayed the same resilience. Guys you would’ve lost money on, if you bet against them. Guys like Thomas Davis, who went on to make three Pro Bowls after tearing the same ACL three times… Frank Gore, who had a 16-year Hall-of-Fame-level career at runningback after tearing his ACL twice in college. So I have no problem taking all the MRI’s and X-rays you ask of me. 

“Truth is, it’s an EKG that will tell you everything you need to know about me.”