Where should second-tier QBs Michael Penix Jr. & Spencer Rattler be drafted? | The Exempt List
Yahoo Sports NFL writer Charles McDonald is joined by The Athletic's Nate Tice to talk about a trio of QBs expected to go to the latter half of the first round (or beyond) in this April's NFL Draft. A listener asks where do the guys scout Washington's Michael Penix Jr., Oregon's Bo Nix & South Carolina's Spencer Rattler. Nate explains why he grades Penix, who dazzled in his final year at Washington and in the College Football Playoff, as the potential worst of those three options and his QB7 in the draft class overall. Hear the full conversation on “The Exempt List with Charles McDonald” - part of the “Zero Blitz” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
CHARLES MCDONALD: --does lead us to a question on some of the guys that, yes, are not in the-- let's call it Caleb Drake, JJ, Jayden Daniels top 15 range. This is from Joey Hickman. "As quarterback landing spots seemingly are dwindling, what do you think happens to the Penix's, Nix's, and Rattler's in this draft? Where do you see them getting drafted and by who?"
For me, Michael Penix, I would suggest he get in a time machine and go get drafted by the 2015 Arizona Cardinals, where Bruce Arians is a head coach. He can sit behind Carson Palmer and learn how to play trebuchet quarterback for a few years.
NATE TICE: Yeah, no. I actually, of that next group-- so we're saying Rattler, Nix, Penix-- he's my three of that, those three. Overall, quarterback seven-- splitting hairs, really. But I view him more as a third rounder because of the medical stuff. I think he also-- he doesn't create, which is a prerequisite at the NFL level.
CJ Stroud isn't a quote-unquote "creator," as these other guys that we talked about earlier, Josh Allen all that. But that's because he is a machine from the pocket. But he still can run. Like, he's still a good athlete that can scramble a little bit. Penix can't. He's a guy, it's the opposite. It's like, as I watch him more, I get-- you cool on a more, and more, and more because you're left wanting a lot more. So yeah, of those three guys, he's my third one.
Having said all that, Rattler does things I do like, even if he's far from a perfect prospect. Not a great athlete, not overly big. Dude can spin it. Dude can do some things with the football that these other two can't. And he throws it like a legit dude. It's just that he has a lot of blemishes. Of course, the character stuff, he's had before.
But I have him-- he was just outside my top 50. I had him in the 50s, you know? I was like, in my next 10. So I have that same thing-- late second, early third round grade on him. But, again, it's not a guy that-- he has too many blemishes-- that I could see go in the first round. Like, I see none of these guys sneaking into the first around.
CHARLES MCDONALD: The combine is really concerning to me. What do what--
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
NATE TICE: The 4.96?
CHARLES MCDONALD: Yeah. What are you doing--
NATE TICE: At 200 pounds?
CHARLES MCDONALD: --running near-- I'm like, dude, that's offensive lineman speed nowadays. OK?
NATE TICE: That's what I ran.
CHARLES MCDONALD And I think a lot of people would have the questions for Spencer Rattler in general. What you been up to the past few years, buddy, you're not playing football? What do you got going on over there? Spencer Rattler to the Rams, I think, could be interesting. But--
NATE TICE: I could dig that. Yeah.
CHARLES MCDONALD: But do we want Stetson Bennett and Spencer Rattler in the same quarterback?
NATE TICE: In the same room? The SEC's bad boys.
CHARLES MCDONALD: [LAUGHING]