ESPN Names Penix Second Best QB In 2023

Washington's quarterback should be considered one of the favorites for the 2023 Heisman
In this story:

Michael Penix Jr. set Husky Twitter on fire when he announced his return to college football in early December of 2022. The transfer from Indiana had arguably the greatest season a Washington quarterback has ever had in 2022, and has garnered the attention of the national media. 

ESPN released their rankings of the top 10 quarterbacks for the 2023 season on Monday and listed Penix at number two, right behind 2022 Heisman winner, USC's Caleb Williams. 

"A promising career seemed to have lost its promise. But Penix got healthy and moved to Washington to reunite with head coach Kalen DeBoer, his 2019 offensive coordinator at [Indiana]," ESPN's Bill Connelly wrote. "Most of his receiving corps and both offensive tackles return, too. There's plenty of talk about USC's potential out West, but the ridiculously resilient Penix and Washington could be major factors in the Pac-12 and top-10 races"

If the offensive line can keep Penix upright and healthy once again in 2023, he has a chance to cement himself in the record books. After setting the single-season record for passing yards at Washington, and throwing for the third-most touchdowns in one year, he could assert himself as the greatest quarterback in Husky history.

Realistically, it's fair to expect a little bit of regression from the historic numbers that he put up in 2022. However, even if the numbers are a little bit lower than last season's, he has a chance to move as high in the school record books as third in both passing yards and touchdowns in his career.

So far this spring, it doesn't look like Penix has lost a step, and seems ready to live up to the hype he's gotten from the national media. If he can live up to those expectations this fall, he could find himself in New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Follow Roman Tomashoff of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @rtomashoff34 or @UWFanNation

Have a question? Message me on Twitter!


Published
Roman Tomashoff
ROMAN TOMASHOFF

I've followed the Huskies for my entire life, and to be in a position where I get to cover them full-time is nothing short of an honor. After graduating from Lasell University in 2019, I moved to Seattle to pursue my dream of working in sports media. While writing for the Husky Haul, I also covered local sports for the Everett Daily Herald before the COVID-19 pandemic. After being hired by Realdawg.com in February of 2021, I also transitioned into doing a lot of entertainment writing, as I work on a variety of magazines as a contributing writer for Centennial Media, and have also contributed to Emmy Magazine, as well as Walt Disney Television Studios.