Michael Penix, Jr., begat Dorian Thompson-Robinson who begat Bo Nix who begat Williams, with Cam Rising rising to the occasion at times throughout the year, never more than in the Pac-12 title game win over USC.

One week after DTR had 299 yards and 5 total touchdowns in a win over No. 11 Utah, Rising had 415 yards and 5 total touchdowns in a 43-42 win over No. 7 USC. A week later, Nix had 334 total yards and 5 passing touchdowns in a win over No. 9 UCLA, and a week after that, Williams had 411 yards and 5 passing scores in a 45-37 win at Arizona.

In the end, it was Williams and Penix who earned 1st- and 2nd-team nods, with Nix, DTR and Rising — as well as Washington State’s Cam Ward and Arizona Jayden de Laura — earning honorable mention honors.

It was a gauntlet to the top if there ever was one, and the top ended up being the very top, as Williams became the Pac-12’s first Heisman Trophy winner since Marcus Mariota in 2014.

It was as fun as it was thrilling. It was appointment television.

And it’s nothing compared to what we’re going to see next year.

*****

Just based on who was forced to come back, the Pac-12 was in good hands.

The best of hands, really, and legs, as Williams still has 1 year until he is draft eligible.

But then, almost by the day, nearly the rest of the league’s quarterback positions got bolstered in impressive fashion, culminating on Friday, with the announcement that former Clemson quarterback and 5-star recruit DJ Uiagalelei is transferring to Oregon State.

That was just the latest major move in a league that has seen several of them.

First it was Penix announcing his return for Washington after passing for 4,354 yards and 29 touchdowns with 7 interceptions while leading the Huskies to a 10-2 regular-season record.

Then Nix announced his return to Oregon after a brilliant year ended on a sour note, as he finished with 3,389 passing yards, 504 rushing yards and 41 total touchdowns (14 rushing) with 6 interceptions for the Ducks, who lost 2 of 3 to close the season.

His return caused 5-star quarterback recruit Dante Moore to flip his commitment from Oregon to UCLA, where he’ll be joined by former Kent State quarterback Collin Schlee, who transferred to the Bruins after passing for 2,109 yards and 13 scores with 5 interceptions for the Golden Flashes.

And that’s the top of the conference.

Ward and De Laura are also returning for the Cougars and Wildcats, respectively, as is Arizona State’s Trenton Bourguet, who’ll have to fend off recent arrival Drew Pyne, who started 10 games for Notre Dame this year and threw for 2,021 yards and 21 touchdowns with just 6 interceptions.

And that’s not all: Colorado had possibly the best upgrade of them all, as new head coach Deion Sanders brought along his son, star quarterback Shedeur, to take over the Buffaloes’ starting position.

https://twitter.com/ShedeurSanders/status/1605672844989456394?s=20&t=9HDsiMAA6kSs-rthvpLFHQ

Williams, Nix, Penix. Ward, de Laura, Uiagaleilei. Sanders, Bourguet, Pyne.

That’s more passing talent than any conference in the country.

Watch out Pac-12 pass defenses. It’s about to start raining.

*****

And what about Rising?

He’s been curiously quiet since the middle of November, when after a 42-7 win over Stanford he responded that he believed it was his last game against the Cardinal. In recent weeks, there’s been buzz that both Rising and tight end Brant Kuithe might be returning.

If Rising does return, the Pac-12 would enter the season with nearly a half-dozen legitimate Heisman trophy candidates, including the returning 2022 winner.

How would you rank them?

Stay tuned for that, as we’re still waiting to learn about the quarterback position at both Bay Area schools.

Once those shake out, we’ll have a full sense of the pecking order.

For now, let’s just bask in the best collection of quarterback talent in the entire country.