Every single year, draft prospects are weighed against one another and social media scouts will have you believe one thing while those in the NFL believe another.
It’s difficult for fans to compartmentalize players’ profiles for one reason or another. Every draft cycle fans will be extremely high on a prospect that falls on draft day.
It’s no different this year. Some Falcons fans, along with other clubs’ fan bases, consider Michael Penix a possibility for Atlanta’s 8th overall pick due to his play in the College Football Playoff against Texas, along with his gaudy numbers over the entire season.
In that same breath, many Falcons fans don’t think J.J. McCarthy is worth the 8th overall pick because he didn’t throw a single pass in the second half of the Penn State game and his lack of stats overall.
Well, that’s not how the NFL operates. Though production is a factor, it’s further down on the totem pole than transferrable attributes.
To confirm that notion, Benjamin Allbright reports that the league is much higher on McCarthy than the general public, alluding to top 10 potential, and much lower on Nix and Penix than the media and fans, describing them as Day 2 and 3 picks.
League is definitely higher on McCarthy (top 10) and lower on Nix/Penix (day2/3) than media/fans according to the people I talk to.
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) February 8, 2024
This doesn’t shock me at all. Michigan didn’t do much to accentuate what J.J. McCarthy can be in the NFL. Moreover, imagine the former Michigan quarterback in Washington or Oregon’s offense a couple of years from now.
That is the situation Michael Penix and Bo Nix, who are three and two years older than McCarthy, found themselves in this past season. Moreover, a lot of fans watched Penix in his best games — Orgeon, Pac 12 championship, CFP, etc. — rather than the entire body of work.
It’s difficult for fans to compartmentalize prospects in their assessment, so it’s not a surprise that Falcons fans may have it wrong with J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix, and Michael Penix.
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David Buono/Icon Sportswire
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