© Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA
Another Team Set to Compete With Broncos in the Bo Nix Sweepstakes
If the Denver Broncos want Bo Nix, Sean Payton can't overthink his position at No. 12 overall in the NFL draft.
The Denver Broncos have reportedly made calls about trading up and down in this week's NFL draft. We learned that on Tuesday.
Fast forward to Wednesday, and The MMQB's Albert Breer has followed up on that reporting by sharing some additional buzz on the Broncos and the 2024 quarterback class. According to Breer, the Broncos are one of two teams he's heard "connected" to Oregon quarterback Bo Nix.
"The two teams I’ve heard connected to Nix are the Broncos and Los Angeles Rams and both did get my attention just because I trust Sean Payton and Sean McVay implicitly on quarterbacks. If I were another team, I’d probably take note of that, too. For what it’s worth, I had one team tell me that Nix’s on-field analytics graded out highly, too," Breer wrote.
One eight-win season into the Payton era in the Mile High City, and a good chunk of Broncos Country no longer implicitly trusts the head coach on the quarterback subject. Despite all of the successes in New Orleans for a decade-plus — headlined by future Hall-of-Famer Drew Brees but also including Teddy Bridgewater, Taysom Hill, and Jameis Winston — many Broncos fans now question Payton's wherewithal on quarterbacks.
Payton is as confident as he's ever been in his ability to identify, develop, and coach quarterbacks, but not everyone in Broncos Country shares his outlook. We can debate the reasons why the Payton/Russell Wilson marriage didn't work out, but the way it ended and the lack of results in the standings left a bad taste in the mouths of many fans.
Nevermind that Payton improved Wilson's key QB metrics over 2022 almost across the board, including passing touchdowns (26 over 16), interceptions (eight over 11), and rating (98.0 over 84.4). It wasn't enough to overcome Wilson's limitations as a game-manager. He still took an insane number of sacks (45), and lost eight fumbles.
And when Jarrett Stidham failed to palpably elevate the Broncos offense in the wake of Wilson's benching — despite Payton's hyperbolic offseason comments that the journeyman was an NFL starter in potentia — it further alienated fans on his QB read. The 8-9 finish didn't help matters either, even though Payton moved the needle in the standings in Year 1 with the Broncos by three wins.
All this being said, when Broncos fans hear Nix again being connected to Payton, as he's been all offseason long, it's mostly greeted with a yawn and a shrug. Some of that may have to do with many pundits questioning whether Nix is a bonafide first-round-caliber QB while some of it is due to overall apathy and draft fatigue.
However, there's a reason why the Nix-to-Denver rumors have been incessant since the offseason began. The former Oregon star has been compared to Brees in the media, and his skill set and style seem to be a near-perfect match for Payton.
Throw in the fact that Nix is the most experienced quarterback in the 2024 draft class — with an NCAA-record 61 collegiate starts — and it's easy to see why and how Payton might be enamored. If there's some fire at the base of all the Nix-to-Denver offseason smoke, it could turn out to be ideal for the Broncos.
USC's Caleb Williams, LSU's Jayden Daniels, UNC's Drake Maye, and Michigan's J.J. McCarthy are all expected to be long gone by the time the Broncos go on the clock at No. 12 overall. As Breer wrote, the Broncos have done their "due diligence" on the entire QB class, and that includes checking on the price to trade up, but unless this becomes an unprecedented draft where five quarterbacks are drafted inside the top-11, Payton won't have to maneuver in order to get his guy at 12.
However, if the Broncos trade back, it will severely diminish their chances of landing Nix because the Las Vegas Raiders are desperate for a quarterback, sitting at No. 13. If Denver makes the smart play and drafts Nix at 12, the Raiders will likely take Washington's Michael Penix Jr. at 13.
But if the Raiders are in an unprecedented mood, perhaps they package a deal with the Atlanta Falcons at No. 8 or the Chicago Bears at No. 9 to leapfrog the Broncos and draft Nix. If that's how the cookie crumbles, the odds of Denver trading back would increase dramatically, and Payton's only recourse — outside of drafting Penix at 12 — would be to target a Day 2 QB like South Carolina's Spencer Rattler or Tulane's Michael Pratt.
Zach Wilson's arrival via trade earlier this week changes nothing for Payton and the Broncos. This team is still stuck in NFL purgatory because neither Wilson, Stidham, nor Ben DiNucci is a franchise quarterback.
Without that most precious and coveted NFL commodity, the Broncos are stuck in the AFC West doldrums — even with the considerable coaching acumen and experience Payton brings to the table. It's time for the Broncos to go back to the well, and while some fans may doubt Payton's QB-whispering expertise, I do not.
But it starts with biting the bullet, and having the intestinal fortitude to take a chance on a first-round QB, despite the other pressing roster needs Denver has to also juggle in this draft. We'll have our answers soon, as the NFL draft kicks off on Thursday night, April 25, at 6 pm MDT.
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