Orlovsky knows what Daboll knows, what you and I know, what former USC quarterback (and soon-to-be No. 1 overall pick) Caleb Williams knows, what fans of the Oregon Ducks and Washington State Cougars wish they never knew:

Penix has the arm strength, accuracy, intellect, processing ability, leadership traits, etc., to be a top-five pick.

The Tampa, Fla., product proved it in a dominant two-season stretch — setting UW records for passing yards in a season, passing yards in a game and total offense while leading the nation in passing in back-to-back years. He won the Maxwell Award — which honors the nation's most outstanding player — in 2023, while finishing as the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy (the highest finish of any Husky).

More important, he went 25-3 at Washington — including a Sugar Bowl win over Texas, a Pac-12 championship and a combined 5-0 record against Oregon and WSU.

He helped transform a 4-8 team, one touchdown at a time.

"I mean, the dude can flat-out spin it," Williams said on The Pivot podcast this week. "I say it to people when they ask me, 'Who's [on] your top list?' Michael Penix is right up there. I've seen him do it right in front of me, spin it. You've seen it on TV. He's one of my favorite guys in this draft class."

But, the injuries.

Cue the copy-and-paste caveat, the unshakeable shadow, the constant question mark. The 6-foot-2, 216-pound passer's four seasons at Indiana each ended with injuries — torn ACLs in 2018 and 2020, and shoulder injuries in 2019 and 2021. He played 20 games in four campaigns.

The narrative, then, is that NFL teams are wary of investing in an injury-prone passer at their most important position.

But is that really true?

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