SEATTLE — Michael Penix Jr.’s wait is over. The 2023 Maxwell Award winner and former Washington quarterback already knows where he will begin his NFL career.

Penix, the 2023 Heisman Trophy runner-up, was selected eighth in the first round by the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday, becoming the fourth quarterback off the board in the 2024 NFL draft. He is the second quarterback in Washington history to be picked in the first round, following Jake Locker, who was selected eighth overall in 2011.

Penix was the first Washington player drafted in the first round. The Chicago Bears took wide receiver Rome Udunze with the ninth round.

“I’m just ready to see where I’m going so I can help a team win football games,” Penix stated on March 28.

Penix spent two years in Washington, updating the program’s record books. He set the single-season passing record in 2022 after moving from Indiana, and he broke it again in 2023, throwing for 4,903 yards. He had a 25-3 record in purple and gold and led the Football Bowl Subdivision in passing yards throughout both of his seasons at Montlake.

The left-handed signal caller from Tampa, Florida, holds nearly all of Washington’s junior and senior passing records. His 9,544 passing yards are third most in program history, after only Jake Browning and Cody Pickett. Penix played 28 games for the Huskies, 25 fewer than Browning and 12 fewer than Pickett.

Penix guided Washington to their first Alamo Bowl triumph in 2022, defeating Texas 27-20. A year later, he led the Huskies to their first College Football Playoff victory, defeating the Longhorns again in the Sugar Bowl, 37-31. Penix threw for 430 yards and two touchdowns, with 31 yards rushing to lead Washington to its first CFP championship game.

He went undefeated in three games against archrivals Oregon, including a 34-31 win in the Pac-12 title game.

“It did fly by,” Penix stated on March 28. “When I came here, I had no idea what to anticipate. I just wanted to win football games and have fun again, and I was successful. That made me feel extremely blessed. That’s what’s kept me going: having individuals who supported me throughout the journey, the entire process, no matter what.”

Despite his accomplishments, championships, and program records, Penix’s stock varied during the pre-draft process. His medical background, in particular, concerned draft experts.

Throughout his four years at Indiana, the 6-foot-2, 217-pound quarterback sustained four season-ending injuries. He tore his right ACL throughout his freshman and redshirt seasons. A fractured right clavicle halted his sophomore season, and he separated his right AC joint as a junior in 2021. He switched to Washington the following season and did not miss a single game in his two years there.

Following Washington’s 34-13 loss to Michigan in the CFP title game, Penix competed in the Senior Bowl and was selected a starter before opting out of the game.

Penix, Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, and Oregon’s Bo Nix were among the only elite quarterbacks to participate in the NFL combine throwing workouts. Penix also threw at Washington’s pro day on March 28 and ran the 40-yard dash in an unofficial timing of approximately 4.5 seconds. He also had a 36.5-inch vertical jump and a broad jump of 10 feet and 5 inches.