cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Michael Penix Jr. /Washington

Michael Penix Jr.

QB · Washington · Sr · #9

Limited signal — not enough coverage for a story yet.

NOW IN NFLAtlanta — drafted 2024, Rd 1, Pick 8, #8 overall

Where He Ended Up · NFL

AtlantaEntering 3rd NFL season

#8Rd 1 · Pick 8
AtlantaEntering 3rd NFL season

QB · WASHINGTON · PAC-12

Michael Penix Jr.

  • 4
  • #9
  • 6-3 | 213 lb
  • Tampa, FL

CFB Zeitgeist QB Score

Awaiting

Heisman Heat

#17

1.8% win probability

Fan Belief

Awaiting

Player-specific FI not yet ingested. Falls back to team mood below.

Respect Gap

Awaiting

Coming online with player-level FI.

Reality Gap

Awaiting

Coming online with player-level FI.

ACCOLADE PROBABILITY

Heisman

1.8%

TOP QB AWARD

Davey O'Brien

CONSENSUS

All-American

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 5 · Apex

R15 · POTY finalist

Position-of-the-Year finalist. Among the nation's elite at the position.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career arc · Season-by-season Standing

3 seasons on the ladder

Peak: R12 All-American · 2023

2021

Indiana · QB

2022

Washington · QB

R08 · Watch-list name

Recognized

2023

Washington · QB

R12 · All-American

Elite

NFL Draft 2024 · Rd 1, Pick 8 · #8 overall · Atlanta

Development Trajectory · passing yards

2021–2023
9392021
4,6412022
4,9032023

+422%

Up 422% from first season to most-recent.

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#548 national
CFB
College
2 teams
2021–2023
NFL
NFL Draft
R1 · #8
Atlanta · 2024

Identity & Role

The durable bio layer: position, size, hometown, and roster role.

PositionQB
Class4
Jersey9
Measurements6-3 | 213 lb
HometownTampa, FL
Primary teamWashington

Recruiting Pedigree

How big the prospect was before college, and whether the later career arc beat that expectation.

Top pedigree 3-star No. 548 recruit
Composite rating 0.8749 HighSchool
Signed with Indiana 2018
Origin Tampa Bay Tech Tampa, FL, USA
Class Profile Context
2018 3-star | 0.8749 No. 548 recruit | HighSchool | Indiana

Transfer Arc

Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.

Portal moves 0 No portal entry on file
Latest destination -- --
Transfer stars -- CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility -- Transfer date TBD
Season Move Context
No transfer portal moves on file for this player.

Heisman Lens · 2023 Season · Final

Where the player landed at the end of the listed season — final nowcast rank, win/finalist/ballot probabilities, and the cleanest official Heisman placement on file.

HIGH CONFIDENCE· through week 19
Current nowcast#17Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#16Where the full season sim points
Win probability1.8%Chance to actually win the trophy
Finalist probability0.0%Chance to make the finalist tier
Ballot probability63.5%Chance to appear anywhere on a ballot
Best official finish#2Best completed Heisman placement on file

Heisman Futures

Not yet listed on major futures markets.

No achievements unlocked yet this season.

Selector Grid · 2025

AP
FWAA
AFCA
WCFF
SN
SI

Selector recognition fills in once the major honors lists (AP, FWAA, AFCA, Walter Camp, Sporting News, SI) are scraped and ingested.

NIL · Recruiting · NFL Draft

Market value, pedigree & pro outcome

Recruit stars

★★★☆☆

to Indiana

Composite

0.8749

#548 national

NFL Draft

2024 · Rd 1, Pick 8

#8 overall · Atlanta

Today’s Hot-Take

The Hot-Take engine fires when this player’s percentile profile crosses a defensible threshold (top 10% in a cohort, 100+ snap sample). When it’s quiet, the model is honoring its “must be defensible” rule.

Anti-Take

PENDING

The contrarian read fires when the rules-engine detects a stat that complicates the Hot-Take. Quiet here means the model hasn’t found a defensible counter yet — not that one doesn’t exist.

The Room on Michael Penix Jr.

Fan sentiment · Awaiting signal

The Room reads fan conversation around a player — who’s talking, what they believe, and how that shifts. It publishes once weekly volume rebuilds; for most players that’s in-season, when game-week chatter spikes.

Cohort divergence map

Cohort divergence reads how different fanbases talk about this player. Returns once weekly mentions clear the publish floor.

Rival Radar

How rival fanbases talk about Michael Penix Jr.

No rival-bucket mentions in the current season.

Signature Story

Awaiting candidate metric

He hasn't written his page yet — we'll start filling it in when there are enough snaps to rank against his peers.

Signature Moment

No signature moment on the ledger yet.

Returns once this player puts together a multi-game body of work — single-game flashes alone don't clear the bar.

A 3-act season arc returns once this player has six or more games on the ledger.

Scenario Explorer

Available for players with a qualifying signature metric (passing yards, rushing yards, receiving yards, sacks, etc.). The slider projects how a season finishes if the current pace holds.

Why the transfer arc matters

The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.

Michael Penix Jr.'s card is compelling because the national relevance arrived fast after a change in surroundings. The transfer path matters: when a player changes programs and still rises into the #17 tier, it usually means the role, production, and team fit all clicked immediately.

Current place #17 1.8% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load 49.4% Overall usage share
Profile quirk Transfer path 0 portal moves

2023 Season · Final

Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.

Last season

QB season snapshot

2023 season snapshot | final

2023 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level
Pass yards 4,903 36 TD | 11 INT | #1/382 (100th pct)
Completion rate 65.3% 363/556 completions | #128/383 (67th pct)
Yards/attempt 8.8 Explosiveness through the air | #56/382 (86th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-volume passer | Efficient | Vertical threat against FBS QB peers. The quickest read is whether the profile wins on volume, efficiency, explosiveness, or rushing value.

High-volume passerEfficientVertical threatPocket-leaning

2023 Season · Final

2023 season snapshot | final

Passing Efficiency

CMP
363 100th
ATT
556 100th
CMP%
65.3% 67th
Y/A
8.8 86th

Passing Production

YDS
4,903 100th
TD
36 100th
INT
11 5th

Rushing

CAR
35 61st
YDS
8 28th
YPC
0.2 19th
TD
3 77th

Game Log

Week-by-week box

No per-game rows for this season yet — the table fills in as box scores arrive.

Season-by-season tables Career rows + per-season box score

Traditional history

Traditional Stats

Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.

Season rows Career row

Season context · Team result + system

2021Indiana2-10HC: Tom Allen · Pass-heavy, slow tempo
2022Washington11-2HC: Kalen DeBoer · Pass-leaning
2023Washington14-1HC: Kalen DeBoer · Pass-leaning
SeasonTeam
2023Washington36355665.3%4,9038.83611156.8----
2022Washington36255465.3%4,6418.4318151.3----
2021Indiana8716253.7%9395.847101.9----
Career3 loaded seasons8121,27263.8%10,4838.27126147.4----
SeasonTeam
2023Washington3580.23--
2022Washington35922.64--
2021Indiana17-24-1.42--
Career3 loaded seasons87760.99--
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context

Advanced metrics second

Advanced Metrics

Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.

Usage Value Context
Passing WEPA

Opponent-adjusted passing value. Positive numbers mean the quarterback is adding more value through the air than a neutral peer would in the same environment.

Role share

How much of the offense runs through the quarterback once passing and rushing responsibility are blended together.

Peer percentile

Every percentile is compared against players at the same position and level, so an FBS quarterback is judged against FBS quarterbacks, not the whole sport.

Traditional first

The top tables stick to the stats fans already know from broadcasts and box scores. Advanced context is pushed underneath instead of replacing the basics.

Rush impact 8 3 rush TD | #295/408 (28th pct)
Usage 49.4% 89.9% pass share | 4.7% rush share | #89/428 (79th pct)
Passing WEPA +0.26 Opponent-adjusted passing value | #109/200 (46th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Passing Passing yards 4,903 #1/382 100th pct Volumevs FBS QB
Passing Pass TD 36 #2/407 100th pct Scoringvs FBS QB
Passing Completions 363 #1/383 100th pct Volumevs FBS QB
Passing Completion % 65.3% #128/383 67th pct Efficiencyvs FBS QB
Passing Yards / attempt 8.8 #56/382 86th pct Efficiencyvs FBS QB
Rushing Rushing yards 8 #295/408 28th pct Volumevs FBS QB
Value Passing WEPA +0.26 #109/200 46th pct Opponent-adjusted passing value | 154 weighted playsvs FBS QB
Usage Role share 49.4% #89/428 79th pct Share of team offensevs FBS QB
Passing Attempts 556 #1/407 100th pct Volumevs FBS QB
Passing Interceptions 11 #386/407 5th pct Turnoversvs FBS QB
Rushing Carries 35 #161/408 61st pct Volumevs FBS QB
Rushing Rushing LONG 13 #243/391 38th pct Metricvs FBS QB
Rushing Rush TD 3 #94/408 77th pct Scoringvs FBS QB
Rushing Yards / carry 0.2 #331/407 19th pct Efficiencyvs FBS QB
Usage Pass share 89.9% #62/428 86th pct Air-game usagevs FBS QB
Usage Passing-down usage 69.9% #46/428 89th pct Known-passing sharevs FBS QB
Usage 3rd-down usage 60.5% #98/428 77th pct Money-down loadvs FBS QB
Usage 2nd-down usage 53.0% #58/428 87th pct Middle-down loadvs FBS QB
Usage 1st-down usage 40.8% #103/428 76th pct Early-down loadvs FBS QB
Usage Standard-down usage 40.0% #108/428 75th pct Base-situation sharevs FBS QB
Usage Rush share 4.7% #282/428 34th pct Ground-game usagevs FBS QB
Ball Security Fumbles lost 1 #69/258 74th pct Turnoversvs FBS QB

Player Standing

Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.

AWAITING CLASSIFICATION

On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex

AWAITING CLASSIFICATION · Rung None of 16

Why he’s here

Standing classification populates when honors, Heisman, and roster signals all align.

What moves him up

What moves him down

Accolade streams

StatusAwaiting tracker

Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.

Splits

Per-game splits

Splits fill in once box scores from at least three games land for this season.

Box-score Savant card waits for a season-stat snapshot above the cohort floor. Returns once enough box-score volume lands.

Advanced Savant · QB · 2023

Percentile Card

Advanced opponent-adjusted percentile bars are coming soon for this player.

P4G5All FBS
EPA / dropback
awaiting
CPOE
awaiting
Success rate
awaiting
Explosive rate (20+)
awaiting
aDOT
awaiting
Deep-ball accuracy
awaiting
Pressure-to-sack
awaiting
3rd-down EPA
awaiting
Red-zone TD rate
awaiting
Play-action EPA
awaiting
Scramble EPA
awaiting
Turnover-worthy play rate
awaiting

Advanced Savant

Opponent-adjusted advanced metrics with a cohort filter.

Advanced opponent-adjusted metrics are coming soon for this player. Selected cohort: P4.
Peer Comparator returns once this player clears the Savant metric floor (4+ scored bars).
DNA Match awaiting data — similarity scores compute once season stats clear the volume gate for this position cohort.

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Jedd Fisch

Pass share

44.9%

370 pass / 454 run

Plays / game

63.4

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

9.3%

268 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2021–2023

2 coaches
2021
Jimmy Lake
Washington
2022
Kalen DeBoer
Washington
era →
2023
Kalen DeBoer
Washington

Coaching transition mid-career: Jimmy Lake → Kalen DeBoer. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.

HometownTampa, FL
Height6'3"
Weight213 lb
Class4
PositionQB
Jersey9

Trophy Case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

3 entries
🥇

ALL-AMERICA

Named All-American (2023)

1 selectors honored him

🏅

POSITION AWARDS

Maxwell

2023 season

🎖

ALL-CONFERENCE

All-Conf mention (2020)

All-Big Ten

Trophy Case · Detail

Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.

Heisman

Best official finish: #2

Finished in the top end of the Heisman vote on a completed ballot, which is a cleaner historical signal than model-only attention.

Finalist

1 finalist season

Invited into the official finalist tier in 2023. That belongs in the trophy case, not buried in a table.

All-America

1 All-America selection

National selector recognition is one of the strongest non-Heisman signals on a player card and should sit near the top of the showcase.

All-Conference

1 all-conference honor

Conference-level recognition helps anchor whether a player is merely statistically loud or actually viewed as elite within his competitive lane.

Votes

Heisman votes in 1 season

Even lower-volume award recognition is worth preserving because it marks seasons where a player entered the national conversation.

Honors Timeline

Season-end distinction and week-by-week recognition on one timeline.

Season Honor Scope Team / Selector Context
2023 Maxwell position_award Washington | Maxwell winner | QB
2023 All-America (WCFF) all_america Washington | WCFF first | QB
2020 All-Big Ten all_conference Indiana | Big Ten QB

Heisman By Year

Modeled rank and official finish by season.

Season Team Role Latest Model Forecast Win Finalist Official Finish Points Context
2023 Washington QB4 #17 #16 1.8% 0.0% #2 finish 1701 W19 snapshot | Pac-12 | Official finalist
2022 Washington QB4 #17 #19 1.4% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Pac-12
2021 Indiana QB4 #624 #717 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Big Ten

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2023 Washington Pac-12 QB 4 No. 9 | 6-3 | 213 lb | Tampa, FL
2022 Washington Pac-12 QB 4 No. 9 | 6-3 | 213 lb | Tampa, FL
2021 Indiana Big Ten QB 4 No. 9 | 6-3 | 213 lb | Tampa, FL