Hometown hero - Michael Penix, Jr., Washington
Michael Penix Jr. reminds me a lot of Tua Tagovailoa, not for the left-handed similarity alone. Penix has struggled with injuries throughout his collegiate career, but this past year he led one of college football's most prolific passing offenses. Penix displayed the ability to make tight-window throws and did it with anticipation and confidence. His pinpoint accuracy may be his most robust ability as a quarterback.
Still, he needs to improve his ability to consistently make multiple reads under pressure and seemingly becomes timid under a heavy blitz. Penix's ability to lead massive game-winning drives and consistently come through in the clutch impressed me the most this season, leading Washington to an undefeated regular season. Another attractive factor for Seattle is that Michael Penix Jr. may be available at whatever draft selection the Seahawks find themselves after the dust settles from the season. Penix would also have the chance to stay in Seattle as a pro.
A veteran college quarterback - Bo Nix, Oregon
Many quarterbacks in today's transfer portal era are hard to evaluate due to the different game tapes most athletes put on at different schools and differing points of their collegiate careers. That is an accurate depiction of what scouting Bo Nix is like. If evaluators were going strictly off of what they've seen lately, Nix would be a top-10 selection.
After a somewhat abysmal career at Auburn in terms of draft relevance, Bo Nix has supplanted himself as a top QB prospect this year at Oregon. Nix has always had excitement as a player, but he struggled to lead a highly proficient offense at Auburn. But since transferring to Oregon, Bo immediately proved to most college scouts he could translate his talent to production on the field.
Although Nix shows good intelligence and great ball placement, he may get buried in a deep quarterback draft class. But if Seattle does decide to look for a young signal-caller to groom for the future, I wouldn't be surprised if Bo Nix found his way to the Pacific Northwest.