Michael Penix Jr.: QB · Washington · #9.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Michael Penix Jr.
Picks you apart underneath and protects the ball. The six seasons span two programs and two head coaches: Tom Allen and Kalen DeBoer. Another came in 2023: All-America (WCFF). On tape: 473 passing yards and 4 passing TD against Michigan State, Week 3, 2023.
Play style
High-percentage passer who protects the ball. Loses the matchup on improvisation.
Checkdown vs gunslinger · 3rd-and-long
Where the completions actually land
51.0% completion on 3rd-and-8+, but only 27.3% conversion-per-dropback — 42.3% of completions land short of the sticks.
Where completions land is fact — whether incompletions were aimed deep is intent, not recorded here, so this card counts completions only. checkdown by design
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
5 of the team's 37 inside-the-5 carries (13.5%).
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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| Season | Team | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Washington | 363 | 556 | 65.3% | 4,903 | 8.8 | 36 | 11 | 156.8 | 87 |
| 2022 | Washington | 362 | 554 | 65.3% | 4,641 | 8.4 | 31 | 8 | 151.3 | 82 |
| 2021 | Indiana | 87 | 162 | 53.7% | 939 | 5.8 | 4 | 7 | 101.9 | 41 |
| 2020 | Indiana | 123 | 219 | 56.2% | 1,649 | 7.5 | 14 | 4 | 136.9 | 48 |
| 2019 | Indiana | 110 | 160 | 68.8% | 1,394 | 8.7 | 10 | 4 | 157.6 | 74 |
| 2018 | Indiana | 13 | 24 | 54.2% | 123 | 5.1 | 0 | 0 | 97.2 | -- |
| Career | 1,058 | 1,675 | 63.2% | 13,649 | 8.1 | 95 | 34 | 146.3 | 74 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Washington | 35 | 8 | 0.2 | 3 | 13 |
| 2022 | Washington | 35 | 92 | 2.6 | 4 | 30 |
| 2021 | Indiana | 17 | −24 | −1.4 | 2 | 9 |
| 2020 | Indiana | 18 | 25 | 1.4 | 2 | 25 |
| 2019 | Indiana | 22 | 119 | 5.4 | 2 | 24 |
| 2018 | Indiana | 5 | 37 | 7.4 | 0 | 13 |
| Career | 132 | 257 | 1.9 | 13 | 30 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2023 season · 15 games
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| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 56-19vs Boise State | 29/40 | 450 | 5 | 0 | 11.3 | 92.7 | Clean 2-TD game |
| Wk 2 | W 43-10vs Tulsa | 28/38 | 409 | 3 | 1 | 10.8 | 90.4 | 3 TD passes |
| Wk 3 | W 41-7@ Michigan State | 27/35 | 473 | 4 | 0 | 13.5 | 98.2 | Season-high 473 yds |
| Wk 4 | W 59-32vs California | 19/25 | 304 | 4 | 1 | 12.2 | 92.9 | 4 TD passes |
| Wk 5 | W 31-24@ Arizona | 30/40 | 363 | 0 | 0 | 9.1 | 84.1 | |
| Wk 7 | W 36-33vs No. 8 Oregon | 22/37 | 302 | 4 | 1 | 8.2 | 89.2 | 4 TD passes |
| Wk 8 | W 15-7vs Arizona State | 27/42 | 275 | 0 | 2 | 6.5 | 41.4 | |
| Wk 9 | W 42-33@ Stanford | 21/38 | 369 | 4 | 1 | 9.7 | 54.4 | 4 TD passes |
| Wk 10 | W 52-42@ No. 24 USC | 22/30 | 256 | 2 | 1 | 8.5 | 90.5 | |
| Wk 11 | W 35-28vs No. 13 Utah | 24/42 | 332 | 2 | 0 | 7.9 | 88.6 | Clean 2-TD game |
| Wk 12 | W 22-20@ No. 10 Oregon State | 13/28 | 162 | 2 | 0 | 5.8 | 85.6 | |
| Wk 13 | W 24-21vs Washington State | 18/33 | 204 | 2 | 1 | 6.2 | 53.1 | |
| Wk 14 | W 34-31vs No. 5 Oregon | 27/39 | 319 | 1 | 1 | 8.2 | 87.8 | |
 Bowl | W 37-31vs No. 3 Texas | 29/38 | 430 | 2 | 0 | 11.3 | 97.7 | |
 Bowl | L 13-34vs No. 1 Michigan | 27/51 | 255 | 1 | 2 | 5.0 | — | |
| Total | 363/556 | 4903 | 36 | 11 | 8.8 | — |
Week 1 · 2023
W 56-19
vs Boise State
450 yds · 5 TD · 0 INT · QBR 92.7
Dominant 37-point win at home against Boise State.
With J. McMillan — 8 rec · 95 yds · 2 TD · 19 rush yds (1 car) · 1 TD · J. McCallister — 41.8 yards per punt · 5 punts · 3 inside the 20
The plays that mattered most
Pass Profile · Completions by yards gained (PBP)
Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from
Totals here are the box score's. Play-by-play lists 538 passing plays (351 completions) against the box score's 556 attempts (363 completions), and the depth buckets use play-by-play.
Adjusted ANY/A
8.9020 of 212 QBsSack rate
1.9%17 of 212 QBsRarely sacked (17 of 212 QBs) and still 20 of 212 in Adjusted ANY/A.
Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.
Short
0–9 ydsMiddle
10–19 ydsDeep
20+ ydsOverall 65.3% completion on 556 attempts · 72 deep completions averaging 32.2 yds.
Is he a different quarterback when it matters
Each situation vs his own 2023 baseline
No situation moves him more than 42 percentile points from his baseline.
Deltas are vs. this player’s own season baseline, never a league average. League sack rate by down is shown as context because sack attribution isn’t incompletion-denominated.
Splits · Per-game
2023 season · 15 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 325 | 2.9 | 9.0 | 0.9 |
| Road5g | 325 | 2.4 | 9.3 | 0.4 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-78g | 373 | 2.9 | 10.2 | 0.6 |
| Weeks 8+7g | 274 | 1.9 | 7.5 | 0.9 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kalen DeBoer
Pass share
59.5%
575 pass / 391 run
Plays / game
64.4
15 games
Scheme: Pass-leaning.
Player standing · 2023
The trophy is in the case.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #3 at the position.
Selector Grid · 2023
Career, closed
Gone at #8 overall.
How it ended
Six seasons, at Indiana and Washington, 13,649 passing yards, the Maxwell Award (2023) — drafted at #8 overall by the Atlanta Falcons.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
The role got bigger.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AMERICA
Named All-American (2023)
named by 1 selector
National awards
Maxwell
2023 season
ALL-PAC-12 · 2ND TEAM
All-Pac-12 2nd team (2023)
Coaching lineage · 2018–2023
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Tom Allen and Kalen DeBoer.
Next stop · NFL
Atlanta FalconsEntering 3rd NFL season
Atlanta FalconsEntering 3rd NFL season
