By Scott Salomon
Michael Penix Jr. opted out of last Saturday’s Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama and the question is, whether it helped his stock, or hurt it.
That seems to be the multi-million dollar question.
After three days of practice and after 30 of his teammates on the National squad opted-out of the game, Penix Jr., the starting quarterback for the National team opted-out as well as he did not want to risk injury and wanted to rest on the laurels of his solid week in practice.
He really could have gone in, played one or two series, like Spencer Rattler and Bo Nix did, and then held a clipboard. Instead, he chose not to play at all. That could lower his draft stock and raise that of Rattler and Nix who just wanted a shot to impress the scouts, and they did as each tossed a scoring strike in the first quarter.
Thank you to @JimNagy_SB and @seniorbowl for an amazing week down in Mobile. What an environment and experience. Just getting started.💯 pic.twitter.com/EDzkeEuVqM
— Spencer Rattler (@SpencerRattler) February 5, 2024
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Due to Penix Jr. opting out, Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman got most of the reps. While Hartman was just mediocre, going 7-of-25 passing, you have to give him credit for playing in the game. He left it all on the field and showed the scouts that he has what it takes to play on Sundays.
Penix Jr. saw his stock rise and then fall during the week in Mobile as he was inaccurate and not crisp in some of his passes. He could have used the game reps to cement his position as a top tier quarterback, but then again, he has over 40 games of film that scouts can watch to see how good he really is against good competition.
His explanation for not playing was as follows:
“First of all, I came in to do whatever I could do to make an impact – to make my presence felt – just come out here and enjoy competing at a high level,” Penix, Jr. told Sirius/XM NFL Radio. “And I feel like I’ve been doing that all week.”
The signal caller was happy with what he did in practice. He did not display what he could do under adverse conditions, like he will have to do in the NFL.
He then said that his agents and management team decided that he should not play in the game.
It should be noted that the stadium did sell out for the first time since 2010 when Tim Tebow was invited to play in the game. They wanted to see the best of the best. Unfortunately, they could not see Penix, Jr., who I thought should have won the Heisman Trophy as the best collegiate player in the country.
“It’s been a collective decision between me any my team,” Penix Jr. said as he continued to pass the buck. “Just making sure, just checking off all the boxes and just thinking about everything that’s right here in front of me. So, that’s all it was.”
Will Reichard, the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history, a kicker from Alabama, made the trip, participated in all the practices and played in the game. He had this to say after the game.
Thank you to @JimNagy_SB and @seniorbowl for the incredible week in Mobile! Grateful for the opportunity and couldn’t have asked for a better week. pic.twitter.com/101yOaK52H
— Will Reichard (@WillReichard) February 6, 2024
