The Paradigm of Pocket Passing. Michael Penix.
Summary: Michael Penix is the truth. Here’s why.
Michael Penix is undoubtedly one of the biggest hidden gems out of the 2024 NFL Draft Class. It’s a stretch to call the 8th pick in the draft a hidden gem, but with the way the Falcons deployed him in his rookie season it’s a fitting term. Usually an NFL Franchise doesn’t go out and spend $45 million dollars annually over the course four years on a quarterback approaching 40 years of age while also drafting an NFL ready QB. The Falcons did with Kirk Cousins and immediately it blew up in the organization’s face when Kirk’s lack of mobility behind their suspect offensive line led to dreadful offensive output and his benching in favor of Penix. In a measly three game sample size Michael Penix showed generational flashes seldom seen for a rookie quarterback. There is a legitimate chance he ends up the greatest quarterback in Atlanta Falcons’ history. His story is a testament to will and determination to display his talents at Collegiate football’s highest level after going through the wringer with injuries. At Indiana University he never played over a half OF A SEASON in four years marred by bad luck and putting his body on the line as a dual threat quarterback. Two ACL tears in his right knee and a multitude of shoulder injuries later at Indiana, Penix would give football one last chance. He would transfer to Washington and evolve his pocket passing to lead two straight 4,500+ passing yard seasons. His second year eclipsing 4,900 passing yards, a mark that led the entire FBS. He lost the National Championship Game in his sixth season of college football to the Michigan Wolverines, but gained eyes and respect from the next level.
Despite his storied past of consistent injury the Falcons would take him with their eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. After committing a majority of assets to a 36 year old Kirk Cousins coming off an Achilles tear, the team was finished with deploying Kirk on the field. He was dreadful aside from one primetime game against the Buccaneers where he erupted against a decimated Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense early on in the 2024 NFL season. Penix came in and I honestly made it a personal mission to watch his games and assess his talent. What was to be seen from him in the pocket was quite impressive. The first game of his NFL career was a complete scratch with a blowout victory against the New York Giants that ended with a final score of 34-7. The next two games he would match up against some of the worst defenses in the NFL playing against the Commanders then Panthers. In the Panthers game it would start out uneventful with the score being 10-3 in favor of the Panthers until the 5:27 mark in the second quarter. It's 3rd and goal at the Panthers five yard line and the Falcons need to score a TD to have a shot at taking the game in a scenario where they could potentially make the playoffs with a win and a Tampa Bay Buccaneers loss. Penix takes the snap, surveys the field as the pocket begins to collapse, and steps up to avoid a sack. He then moves laterally, stiff arms a defensive tackle, dashes for the left pylon, and dives head first in traffic to squeeze inside the pylon and secure the Falcons TD. 10-10. The Panthers responded with a touchdown of their own to make the game 17-10 with 2:48 left still in the second quarter. Penix trots back out onto the field and goes to work immediately with a strike to Kyle Pitts and a phenomenal throw to Drake London. On the throw to London he extended the play to the left and with defenders running at him he delivered a high touch pass above the defensive back’s head for London to highpoint. This 26 yard completion with the clock at 1:55 put the ball at the Panthers 26 yard line. Bijan Robinson scampers all over the field the next couple plays to cap off another successful Atlanta Falcons touchdown drive after he finds the endzone. 17-17. That’s it for the first half surely. Nope.
Penix would get the ball back before halftime after the Panthers got stopped by the Falcons defense with 40 seconds at their own 19 yard line to get some more points on the board, most likely a field goal. He starts out with a throw in the pocket outside the numbers to Drake London for 19 yards and the next two plays are unfruitful to bring it to third down. With 62 yards to go for a touchdown and 21 seconds left it wasn’t looking great for Atlanta, but Penix made another big time moonshot play. Something that was quite impressive. He takes the shotgun snap at his own 38 and retreats another five yards to reach a depth of ten yards behind the line of scrimmage. Creating an immaculate pocket to sling the ball from. He steps up two yards and fires a missile to Ray-Ray McCloud that traveled fifty yards of distance in the air to take the Falcons to the Carolina Panthers twenty yard line. He put the ball directly in McCloud’s breadbasket. The clock ticks down to 12 seconds. Next play does nothing and there are now eight seconds remaining. The left side of the field is the short side. With the Panthers in prevent defense Michael Penix would take a three step drop and fire a ball on Drake London’s outside shoulder with anticipation to the left side of the field with a cornerback slightly trailing Drake London. TOUCHDOWN. Three seconds now on the clock. He had just completed an 81 yard drive in forty seconds to score a touchdown in a must win game. Insanity for a guy in his third full game in the NFL to do. Now it’s time for the second half.
Penix and the Falcons would get the ball back after a defensive stop and on the first play he drops back, has a mike blitz screaming at his face and throws a low dart to McCloud once again in between a poorly executed Carolina Panthers zone coverage. The throw up the seam was a solid one, but McCloud couldn’t corral it, swooping the ball up into the hands of a Panthers defensive back. Interception. A stat that goes against Penix when people look back on it yet he didn’t make a bad pass. The Panthers score a touchdown shortly after the costly Falcons turnover and the game is knotted up at 24-24. Penix gets his turn once again and takes the Falcons down the field on a solid drive carved out by numerous Tyler Allgeier rushes to get to the edge of Field Goal range. When faced with 3rd down and 11 yards to go, Penix has his first little blunder. He drops back and looks for it all when the team is teetering on the edge of Field Goal range. He surveys the field and then needs to drop it down to a checkdown or short route even if it doesn’t get the team a first down. Kyle Pitts was wide open for him to throw it to, but Penix opted to keep looking for a throw that would guarantee a first down. The edge of the pocket begins to collapse after some time. He wants to rip it to the left sideline, but a defensive end clogs the passing lane and forces him to pull the ball down and step up into the pocket to create a big play. On the right side though there was a breach from Panthers defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. He bounced off of a weak Kyle Pitts chip, swims inside the Falcons right tackle, and brings down Penix for a two yard loss. Here comes Falcons kicker Riley Patterson who is meh from 40+ yards and with that two yard loss the kick is from 52 yards out. Patterson blows and when it pans to his eyes you know it’s a miss so of course he boots it to the right. No good. The Panthers get the ball back and chew up the clock until there’s one minute left in the third quarter with a long drive capped by another touchdown. 31-24 Panthers. Now the pressure was on Penix and he immediately made his mark with a long throw off of a nice play action play to Drake London once again. He places it in a tight window over the cornerback and between the safety. Another 40 yards from that throw to London takes the Falcons to the Panthers 26. A huge play to end the third quarter. In the fourth the action would continue on.
On the same drive but a few minutes into the fourth quarter the Falcons were looking good after an insane Bijan fourth down conversion on a run where he should’ve lost a couple yards, but somehow crossed the first down marker. After an assortment of penalties the Falcons were faced with a 3rd down with 20 yards to go for a first. Penix would take the snap and quickly release a ball on a rope to Drake London from the Panthers 30 yard line while London was between three defenders. A big time throw in a miniscule window to score a touchdown to bring the game back to even at 31-31. In the end the Falcons came up short in overtime due to their horrid defense, but Penix solidified himself as a gamer that day. The week prior against the Commanders he also led a potent offensive attack that saw the team jump out to a 17-7 lead against the dangerous Commanders. The Falcons would cave with many ups and downs and give up 17 unanswered points to Jayden Daniels and Washington to make the score 24-17. With four minutes and change on the clock Penix would engineer a long, surgical drive to take the Falcons down to the Commanders five yard line. After a botched wildcat formation play the Falcons would find themselves 26 yards out from the endzone and looked about done. They got the ball back to the Commanders thirteen by the time it was fourth down. Penix already had several huge conversions on 3rd/4th and long, but the Falcons had to have a touchdown on this very play. Penix takes the snap with 1:23 on the clock and whips a pass that was gutsy with pinpoint precision. Past the cornerback’s outstretched arms and between Bobby Wagner he delivers a beauty with Commanders safety Jeremy Chinn draped all over his target Kyle Pitts’ shoulders. TOUCHDOWN! This throw was all I needed to see despite the Falcons defense losing the game in OT.
Despite two losses in electric fashion, Penix displayed something in these two games. An elite pocket presence behind a dreadful offensive line. He made some mistakes, got greedy on occasion, and left some throws on the table, but his game was fascinating to watch. He possessed two traits in these games while in the pocket. He delivered throws outside the numbers with stellar velocity and accuracy frequently for one no matter what the distance of the throw was. The second trait was his ability to constantly manipulate the pocket to give him time and space to operate. This creates plays that otherwise wouldn’t be afforded to the Falcons if not for his heroic efforts. Penix could be a generational talent, a Falcons legend. Just to think he did all this in two real, competitive games is mind boggling and proves he is indeed up next.
