University of Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders took to social media Wednesday to throw his support behind Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. prior to the start of the 2024 NFL draft on Thursday.

Sanders, who is a Pro Football Hall of Famer and one of the greatest cornerbacks in NFL history, suggested in a post on X that Penix is being unfairly overlooked by media members and draft experts:

Despite a spectacular college career that ended with him taking the Huskies to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, most prognosticators have Penix no higher than the No. 5 quarterback in the 2024 draft class, and he is far from guaranteed to go in the first round.

After beginning his college career at Indiana, Penix transferred to Washington and enjoyed two highly productive seasons.

His best statistical year came in 2023 when he completed 65.4 percent of his passes for 4,903 yards, 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. That was enough to earn him a second-place finish in the Heisman Trophy voting, and he contributed heavily to Washington going undefeated until its loss to Michigan in the national title game.

As Sanders mentioned, Penix did indeed struggle in the biggest game of the year, going 27-of-51 for 255 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

However, Penix's standing in the draft likely isn't related solely or directly to how he played against Michigan, and it may be more of a case of the quarterbacks ranked ahead of him being viewed as having more elite traits.

For most of the draft process, USC's Caleb Williams, LSU's Jayden Daniels and North Carolina's Drake Maye have been considered the top three quarterbacks in the draft, and there is a strong chance they come off the board with the top three picks.

Also, Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy has seemingly moved up draft boards since leading the Wolverines to an undefeated record and a national title last season, putting him in the conversation of being a top-10 or possibly even top-five pick.

Penix seems to be part of the next tier along with Oregon's Bo Nix, which puts him in the mix to be a first-round pick, although he could also fall into the second round.

While Penix is somewhat unorthodox as a lefty and isn't as athletic as the quarterbacks ranked ahead of him, the biggest concern may be his injury history, as he suffered a pair of torn ACLs while playing at Indiana.

Even so, Penix has a clean bill of health entering the draft, and he was largely healthy during his time at Washington.

While Coach Prime clearly believes Penix has a chance to be something special at the next level after watching him thrive in the Pac-12, that sentiment isn't shared by everyone.

The B/R NFL Scouting Department ranks Penix as the No. 87 overall player in the NFL draft and the No. 7 quarterback behind Maye, Williams, Daniels, McCarthy, Nix and South Carolina's Spencer Rattler.

Also, the B/R NFL Scouting Department does not have Penix coming off the board until the No. 70 overall pick in the third round of the draft to the New York Giants in its latest mock draft.

Taking Penix at that spot would be well worth the risk considering what he did in college, but based on durability and skill set concerns, it is fair to wonder if taking him in the first round would be good asset management.