There is a new era of Washington Huskies football underway with new head coach Kalen DeBoer, and his first major personnel decision was revealed on Tuesday. Michael Penix Jr. has been named the starting quarterback for the Huskies, outlasting veteran Dylan Morris and former five-star Sam Huard.

Penix takes over the Huskies offense after four seasons at Indiana. DeBoer was Penix’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks in Bloomington in 2019. The Hoosiers had one of the most explosive offenses in the Big Ten that year, averaging 432.8 total yards (third) and 302.4 passing yards (second) per game. Penix was the starter in Week 1 but split time with Peyton Ramsey. He enjoyed his best season in 2019 under DeBoer, completing nearly 69% of his passes for 1,394 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions.

The familiarity with DeBoer certainly appears to be one of the main reasons why Penix beat out Morris and Huard. Washington tight ends coach Nick Sheridan was also Penix’s offensive coordinator for the past two seasons in Bloomington.

So what does this move mean for the Washington Huskies? For starters, it suggests that prized 2021 five-star recruit Sam Huard isn’t ready to lead an offense just yet. The son of former NFL quarterback Damon Huard showed snapshots of his potential last year in limited fashion, but the only real film there is to gloss over is his one-touchdown, four-interception performance in the Apple Cup loss.

DeBoer and his staff didn’t recruit Huard to Seattle, so the young signal caller probably had his work cut out for him this offseason to convince them of his talents. The Huskies are relying on the safe bet in the experienced Penix rather than taking a step into the future that many Dawgs fans envisioned when Huard committed back in 2018.

It’s easy to imagine how much pressure there is for Huard, who comes from a bloodline of Washington starting quarterbacks and was a five-star for much of his high school career. He also had to deal with an offseason in which the Huskies were openly shopping for a transfer quarterback, as it was rumored Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener would return to Seattle after DeBoer was hired.

As for Morris, who started for the Huskies in the last two seasons, he’ll likely be the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart. His numbers look average (60.7% completion, 18 TDs, 15 INTs, 3,355 yards in 15 games), but those who watched him in his short tenure as the starter know that he was often erratic and struggled with consistency, especially in 2021.

When Morris threw an interception, the Huskies were 1-6. When he didn’t, they were 3-1, with their only loss coming against the Big Ten champion Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor. The offense with Morris was pitiful, but the passing attack somehow ranked fifth in a Pac-12 that was lacking in explosive passing offenses. Washington’s offense averaged just 323.4 total yards per game, its lowest since mustering up just 263.2 yards per game in its 0-12 2008 season.

For now, this appears to be the right move. Penix has two years of eligibility remaining, but there is concern about his durability as he has battled multiple ACL injuries in the past four years, including most recently at the end of the 2020 season. When he was on the field last year, however, he really struggled, completing 53.7% of his passes and throwing four touchdowns to seven interceptions.

DeBoer has complimented Penix plenty of times in fall camp on his consistency and his taking care of the football, so perhaps we’re about to see a career year from the veteran quarterback. For Sam Huard truthers though, this move may be a damaging blow for the kid that many thought would take the Washington program to new heights.