Jeremy Pernell: NFL Combine’s Medical Tests Can Prove Pivotal in Draft

There are two first-round talents whose medical histories will factor heavily into where they are drafted this week: defensive lineman Laiatu Latu and quarterback Michael Penix Jr.

Washington Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr. / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

This is the second in a three-part series Jeremy Pernell previewing the 2024 NFL Draft. • Part 1: Draft Top-Heavy With Offensive Talent

The NFL combine provides important information about the top prospects who are selected to participate.

Verified measurements and athletic testing numbers get all the headlines, and scouts certainly use that data to quantify what they've seen on tape.

But what you might not realize is that the most valuable information that is gathered in Indianapolis comes from the comprehensive medical tests that are conducted.

By the time the combine takes place in late February, personnel people have already devoured hours and hours of tape on a player. They have verified testing numbers on players dating all the way back to high school. They have GPS tracking data from their college games.

At that point in the evaluation process, nothing will affect a player's overall grade more than how his medical testing goes.

Texas defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat was a projected second-round pick prior to his DUI arrest on April 7. His draft stock took a hit because of it, but he'll still get drafted higher than he would have if his combine physical had raised a serious red flag.

The exams are quite thorough, and they often discover injuries that didn't heal cleanly or uncover degenerative issues.

Heck, they'll even reveal injuries a player may not even know he has — as was the case this year with Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry. During his medical evaluation, doctors found that McKinstry had a Jones fracture in his right foot.

I bring up this vital step in a player's evaluation because I want to highlight two first-round talents in the 2024 draft whose medical histories will factor heavily into where they are drafted: defensive lineman Laiatu Latu and quarterback Michael Penix Jr.

Latu originally signed with Washington in 2019 and played in 12 games as a true freshman. Unfortunately, he suffered a neck injury during a preseason workout prior to the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.

The injury left him with some lingering numbness, and it was eventually decided he should sit out the season in hopes that the injury would resolve itself. It didn't. After the season, Latu underwent cervical fusion surgery to address the issue.

Afterward, the University of Washington medical staff arranged for Latu to meet with five specialists nationwide over Zoom to discuss his prognosis. Despite not having the benefit of conducting an in-person exam, the consensus opinion was that it wasn't safe for him to play again. The Husky medical staff refused to clear him, and he didn't play in 2020 or 2021 after he was advised to "medically retire" from football.

In late 2021, Latu sought the opinion of renowned orthopedic spine surgeon Dr. Robert Watkins, who performed neck surgeries on Peyton Manning and Danielle Hunter, as well as back surgeries on Rob Gronkowski and Dwight Howard, among several other professional athletes. He's one of the most respected doctors in the field.

After a three-hour battery of tests, Watkins cleared Latu to return to football — but Washington still would not clear him to play for the Huskies.

Latu transferred to UCLA in January 2022 and was a two-time first-team All-Pac-12 performer, collecting 23.5 sacks and 36.5 tackles for loss as a Bruin. He was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team All-American this past season and became UCLA's first-ever winner of the Lombardi and Ted Hendricks awards. He played in every game (25) at UCLA and showed no lingering effects of his neck injury.

Penix originally signed with Indiana in 2018. Injuries marred his stint with the Hoosiers, limiting him to just 21 games and ending all four of his seasons in Bloomington prematurely.

He appeared in three games as a true freshman in 2018 before suffering a season-ending Grade 3 ACL tear in his right knee in October. The following season, in November, Penix dislocated the sternoclavicular joint in his non-throwing shoulder — ending his season. In November 2020, Penix re-tore the same ACL in his right knee. His 2021 season ended after only five games after he suffered a dislocated joint in his throwing shoulder.

After that season, in December 2021, Penix transferred to Washington, following his coach, Kalen DeBoer, who had taken the Husky job two weeks earlier.

In two years at Washington, Penix made every start (28) and showed no lingering effects of his previous injuries, becoming one of the nation's top quarterbacks. He threw for 9,544 yards at Washington while tossing 67 touchdown passes. Despite playing in an offense that prioritized stressing the defense with vertical passes downfield, he completed 65% of his throws (725 of 1,109).

This past season, Penix was named second-team All-American and won the Maxwell Award. He was also the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, the highest-ever finish for a Husky.

Latu and Penix submitted themselves to medical testing at the combine and most likely did so again at each of their top-30 visits with NFL teams.

I've heard some teams have given both players clean bills of health. I've also heard some teams have taken Latu completely off their boards because of the nature of his injury or at the very least have "yellow" flagged him. Some teams have also significantly adjusted their grade on Penix because of his injury history at Indiana and question his longevity in the league.

Without a clear consensus, I want to preface tomorrow's top 100 with the caveat that I will be ranking both players under the assumption that both are fully cleared medically. There are too many variables to consider otherwise.

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