Michael Penix Jr. fantasy football preview 2025: Stats, season outlook, predictions
Michael Penix Jr. 2025 Fantasy Preview
2024: The Falcons selected Penix eighth overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. He entered an awkward situation backing up Kirk Cousins and didn't start until the final three games of the season. Penix threw 105 passes in total, completing 58.1 percent of them for 775 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions. Fantasy managers did not get a late season boost from him (outside of a productive Week 18), but he fed Drake London early and often in his starts. The left-handed quarterback was one of the older rookies in the league, turning 25 this offseason. The Falcons committed to Penix as the starter and his 0.13 EPA per play is an encouraging mark to build upon.
What's changed: Penix's supporting cast stays the same heading into his first season as opening day starter. Most of the Falcons' offseason upgrades were on the defensive side of the ball and Penix will still have the likes of Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and the rest of last season's playmakers to throw to.
2025 Outlook: The last three games of last season showed Penix adjusting to NFL speed and getting familiar with his targets. He does not run the ball, so passing volume and limiting turnovers will be keys to fantasy production for him. Penix is a low-end QB2 heading into 2025.
Get personalized fantasy football insights based on your league settings with FantasyLife+. Your league is unique, your advice should be too. Head to fantasylife.com and use code ROTO20 for 20% off.
**Projections from Spotlight Sports Group
Go to: All players | QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Report: Terry McLaurin remains 'dug in, frustrated' with the Commanders
Will the saga between Terry McLaurin and the Washington Commanders ever end? While no one knows when the contract dispute between the two sides will end, we should be approaching an unofficial deadline: Week 1 of the 2025 season. The Commanders need McLaurin. Reports out of training camp haven't been favorable for their wide receivers outside of Deebo Samuel. And McLaurin doesn't want to miss games. That would be a lot of money. Remember, after four days of training camp, he reported to the team after drawing fines of $50,000 per day for each day that he missed. So, while we should expect McLaurin to play in Week 1 — he's currently on the physically unable to perform list with an ankle injury — will he be playing under his current contract? Or, will the Commanders strike a deal with their top receiver before the first game against the New York Giants? There is seemingly a report every day about McLaurin and the Commanders, ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler offered the latest on Friday. "From what I'm hearing, there's still a pretty sizable gap in how they see the wide receiver market," Fowler said. "Washington's down here, Terry McLaurin's pretty high up here. I'm told the player is dug in, remains frustrated, not a lot of traction on a trade right now, even though I do know there are some teams that are interested, or have at least called. But right now, I'm told Washington does remain optimistic in this despite some of the smoke around all of the issues, and him still out of practice. They feel like, when push comes to shove, closer to Week 1, they can reach some sort of compromise. It's probably not going to be a situation where he plays out the year on his contract and plays on the franchise tag next year. Like, he needs some sort of contract. They are hoping they can find a sweet spot here, but they're sort of waiting each other out, and meanwhile, this could get ugly." Wait, it's not already ugly? Sure, this situation is tame compared to other contract standoffs we've seen in recent years. But with no movement between the two parties, it's fair to wonder if they can find that middle ground. The problem is, no one, outside of the Commanders and McLaurin's camp, really knows what that middle ground is. Is McLaurin not willing to take anything less than a contract with an average annual value of $30 million? We are now three weeks away from Week 1. Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury expressed frustration with McLaurin's absence on Friday. We are reaching a point where you wonder how much McLaurin's absence will impact the Commanders, even when he returns. Long holdouts often lead to slow starts. We shall see. This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Commanders, Terry McLaurin still not close on a new contract
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Kliff Kingsbury sends a message to Terry McLaurin
The Terry McLaurin saga continues. Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury fielded questions about McLaurin on Friday, and he didn't back down. First, he was asked about how much work he's getting with the wideout, then more questions followed. You'll notice a common theme in Kingsbury's answers: he puts a heavy value on getting his guys on the field. "Yeah, there hasn't been a ton of contact with him," Kingsbury replied. "He's been here, but he's been working with the trainers, so until he gets back on the grass, that's when we'll start building that back up." The next question is around McLaurin's relationship with Jayden Daniels and his understanding of the offensive scheme. "You know, that's one of those deals where it's time on task, and luckily, what they had last year built a lot of rapport and chemistry. Terry understands our system going into year two, so that should expedite the process, but to me, time on task together on the grass is really the only way that you can continue to build." Time on the grass was a common theme throughout Kingsbury's answers, so he was asked about the work he's getting with McLaurin in the classroom, and what the value of that is. "I think not as much as we would if he was a full go, there's no doubt. But, like I said, I'm huge on walkthroughs, on practice, and things like that because until you get on the grass and actually do it and feel the timing, feel the depths of routes and things, I don't know exactly how much you can get out of that. So, I think we're at the point where we need to start getting those guys, when they're available, out here and gelling and seeing what we are as an offense." Again, the common theme is getting the guys on the grass. You can read the playbook, study film, do walkthroughs and drills, but until you do a full workout at game speed, there's no real measure of what the offense can do. While most of the starters sat out against the New England Patriots, McLaurin's absence had a clear impact on this team. Their performance was not great, and the Commanders most definitely need him back on the field. The question still remains, though, will they open their wallets or force Scary Terry to play this season under his current contract with no extension, allowing him to hit free agency in the spring? This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Kliff Kingsbury sends messge to Terry McLaurin
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
What is a 'show cause' penalty in the Michigan football punishment?
Jim Harbaugh's NCAA coaching career is pretty much over -- at least until 2038. That's how long he'll be under show-cause penalties thanks to NCAA investigations into improprieties along the Michigan Wolverines' sideline. Harbaugh spent nine season rebuilding his alma mater into a powerhouse. He left to return to the NFL after winning a national championship in 2023 -- right as a handful of scandals began crash around his program. Harbaugh was already under a four-year NCAA show-cause order and was suspended from the game for a full year after a previous investigation showed he had improper contact with recruits in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. A 10-year sentence handed down Friday will run consecutively with that penalty. When his first show-cause order runs out Aug. 7, 2028, his new countdown clock kicks in. What is an NCAA show-cause penalty? A show-cause penalty is used by the NCAA in cases involving serious rule violations and effectively pin a coach to his or her infractions for a certain amount of time. These orders include specific punishments that follow a coach across any job he or she may be interested in taking in the future. In Harbaugh's case, the NCAA ruling "restrict[s] him from all athletically related activities during the show-cause period." That effectively bans him from coaching in the college ranks for the next 13 years. It doesn't necessarily mean teams can't hire him, but he'll be beholden to the NCAA restrictions throughout his tenure. An interested team could plead its case to why a coach should be freed from his sanctions to take a new job -- showing cause as to why this new program shouldn't be penalized for hiring someone who has a checkered past. They'd have to lay out their argument to an NCAA panel and report back to that panel every six months to update it on the coach in question's progress. The NCAA cannot fire coaches. They can make them incredibly difficult to employ and make almost every other candidate in a job search more appealing. That's the show-cause penalty in a nutshell. This article originally appeared on For The Win: What is a 'show cause' penalty in the Michigan football punishment?