There are several landmark moments on the calendar every year en route to the draft: the early-declaration deadline; all-star games, like the Senior Bowl and Shrine Bowl; the combine. And, of course, the day that Dane Brugler releases his all-encompassing draft guide, “The Beast.” — with 402 player profiles and nearly 2,000 prospects ranked — dropped on Wednesday.
Both have Day 2 grades. To me, Nix is on the fringe of being worth a late-first round pick, if a team has a good offensive line and playmakers. Penix is probably higher on the Beast board than I’d have him. He’s a third-round prospect — closer to the back end of the top 100 than the middle. It’s hard to bet against him, as he’s obviously overcome a ton already, but he’s about to be 24 years old, has been hurt multiple times and is not a consistently accurate passer.