Could the Vikings trade back into the 1st round for Michael Penix Jr.?
Is Michael Penix, Jr. the most likely option to be the next Minnesota Vikings quarterback? KFAN's Ben Leber thinks so.
Speaking on the 9-to-Noon show with Paul Allen Thursday, the former Vikings linebacker says that the Washington quarterback makes the most sense for Minnesota given their position at No. 11 in the draft and the potential for Kirk Cousins to stay another two years.
Leber says he expects the three top-rated quarterbacks: Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, and Jayden Daniels, will go 1, 2, 3 in the draft, and if Kirk Cousins signs a two-year deal with the Vikings ahead of the Draft, take that as a signal that the Vikings don't intend to trade up for any of them.
Instead, they're more likely to look at the second tier of QBs like Penix Jr., Oregon's Bo Nix, and Michigan's JJ McCarthy, and it's Penix that Leber thinks the Vikings will go for.
Jan 1, 2024; New Orleans, LA, USA; Washington Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (9) runs the ball during the fourth quarter against the Texas Longhorns in the 2024 Sugar Bowl college football playoff semifinal game at Caesars Superdome.
Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Rather than take him at 11 though – which he thinks is a reach – he thinks the most likely route is the Vikings draft for need at 11 (hello defensive line) and then trade back in to the latter half of the first round.
"They're not going to move up if they sign Kirk to a two-year deal," he told Allen. "My thought is we're taking a quarterback whatever somewhere in the top 2 picks ... but mostly likely it's not going to happen at 11 because you're going to overdraft ... because the top 3 guys are going to go in the top 3 picks, so you're looking at the fourth best quarterback, which you can probably get later in the round.
"If my money is on the absolute bet now it's we're getting back into the late 1st round to take Penix," he continued.
Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O'Connell have been observing Penix Jr and Nix at the Senior Bowl this week, and this has drawn attention from The Athletic's Alec Lewis, who said the Vikings' "attentiveness to quarterbacks is evident."
The Vikings were reportedly willing to give up a lot to trade up for Anthony Richardson last year, so expect the Vikings to do more than their due diligence on the QB prospects in this year's draft.
But Lewis notes that whether they take the plunge on a QB this year will depend on the "buy-in" from O'Connell, Adofo-Mensah, and the Vikings ownership, and that if the agreement and confidence isn't there, there's always the potential to wait for next year's QBs that include Shedeur Sanders of Colorado or Quinn Ewers of Texas.
Penix Jr.'s arm has drawn admiring comments from NFL scouts and executives, and Leber acknowleged on Allen's show that he is "outstanding at getting the ball down the field," though expressed some reservations about less challenging throws, saying he "didn't show a lot of touch" when throwing to running backs on angle routes.
