Ex-NFL Player Predicts Jets Will ‘Shock the World’ With QB Move

Getty Former Washington QB Michael Penix Jr throwing around the football at the NFL Combine.

A former New York Jets wide receiver thinks the team will make waves on draft day in April.

Rob Carpenter predicted on social media that, “Joe D gonna shock the World when he picks [Michael Penix Jr] at [pick] 10.”

The six-year NFL wideout was responding to a post talking about the Washington quarterback being a lock to hear his name called in the first round “after his impressive Pro Day.”

Jets Could Create a QB Pipeline Behind Aaron Rodgers

Jets general manager Joe Douglas seemingly left the door wide open for his team to potentially select a quarterback with the No. 10 overall pick in the first round.

“The draft is going to present a lot of interesting possibilities at that position [QB] as well. So we are exploring that. We’ve got our coaches and scouts out on the road working out a bunch of different positions,” Douglas revealed at the Annual League Meeting.

GM Joe Douglas didn’t close the door on the #Jets potentially taking a QB with the No. 10 overall pick, ‘the draft is going to present a lot of interesting possibilities [at the quarterback] position as well. So we’re exploring that. We’ve got our coaches & scouts out on the road…

With all of the moves the Jets have made in free agency and via trade, they have flexibility heading into the draft. That has created plenty of speculation on social media that the quarterback position has entered the realm of possibilities for Gang Green especially early.

However, Rich Cimini of ESPN said Douglas’ comments reeked of a “smoky” quotient.

“While the Jets need a young quarterback in their pipeline, assuming Zach Wilson is a goner, the idea of them drafting one that high seems unlikely. Yes, the future is important, but they need a player who can help them now and maximize quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ window. He turns 41 in December,” Cimini explained.

Instead, Cimini believes the Jets are interested in flipping the pick to a “quarterback-needy team, which would allow them to acquire a top-100 pick.”

A Smoky Outlook at Penix’s Draft Stock

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated told Rich Eisen on “The Rich Eisen Show” that, “No. 1 the medical is very important [for Penix] and I think we all know that. Different teams are going to have different medical grades on him. One [person] I talked to said, the medical grade isn’t great but you can work with it.”

Penix has a very troubling injury history dating back to his days at Indiana. He tore his right ACL twice and has suffered “multiple season-ending injuries”, per Lance Zierlein.

Credit to Penix he was able to overcome the injury issues in his final season at Washington. He appeared in all 15 games and put up some record-breaking numbers in the process.

Penix completed 65.4% of his passes, threw for 4,903 passing yards, and finished with a 36 touchdown to 11 interception ratio.

In addition to the injury factor, Penix is 23 and will turn 24 ahead of the 2024 season.

Breer argued because of that age there “might be a little less growth potential” with someone like that. In other words, he is who he is. On the other side of the coin, younger players could transform into something else.

“I’m just not sure the NFL en masse has been as high on Michael Penix as people on the outside have been,” Breer explained to Eisen.

That is the same thing NFL guru Benjamin Allbright has been saying on social media for months. He said the league is “lower” on Penix “than media/fans according to the people I talk to.” He also labeled Penix as a “day 2/3” player which means somewhere outside of the first round.

Head coach Robert Saleh said at the Annual League Meeting that the Jets will “obviously” add another quarterback to the room this offseason, per Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic. Will that come in the first round? We’ll have to wait and see.