If you find the quarterback you wanted from the start, then it doesn’t really matter where you draft them. That’s how Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton felt on Day 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft.
When Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton met with the media after the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, one thing became pretty clear early on — Sean Payton got the quarterback he was pining for through the whole pre-draft process.
However, the process wasn’t lacking in stress in that room for Payton and Paton. They had expected a team like the New York Giants to throw a wrench into things, but it ended up being the Atlanta Falcons who shocked everyone.
“Honestly, we felt like the Giants were the joker team in that there were three teams at the front that needed quarterbacks, Payton said last night. “Right, we all knew those teams: Chicago, Washington and New England. Then we knew there was a second stretch of Minnesota, Denver and the Raiders. So we kept [saying], ‘Man, are the Giants going to take one?’, because that then impacted how the last three were going to be. So when they didn’t, I think I said to George, ‘We think Minnesota likes [QB JJ] McCarthy. We don’t know this, but we think the Raiders like [QB Michael] Penix, and we like Nix. Let’s get on a conference call with all of them and say none of us spend any money. We think we know this.’ (laughs) Then Atlanta took Penix and then all of the sudden we’re paying attention to the team behind us. It got a little crazy there for a minute. The process was long and thorough, and man we’re excited. We’re excited. This was the night, tomorrow is the night where everyone says, ‘We got our guy.’ I told George, I said, ‘I think we’re in a position right where we’re at.”
If you are asking yourself why Denver ended up taking Bo Nix at #12 and didn’t bother attempting to trade back, then you can see why. The Falcons taking Michael Penix changed their entire dynamic and there was no way the Broncos were going to take a chance with the Las Vegas Raiders right behind them on letting Nix slide by.
Then the media asked Payton some questions about Nix the player and you could just see his demeanor change. He became quite animated and excited to talk about the Broncos new first-round quarterback and that is certainly something to get excited about.
“He’s extremely smart,” Payton said of the Broncos interview process. “We tried to send these guys similar tests—they were identical—the night before, 5:00 p.m., e-mailed the test. When I say the test, the series of first-, second-, third-day install. So quite a bit to study. [When it is] 5:00 p.m. and you get three days of install, and we’re meeting at 9 [o’clock] in the morning, it’s almost purposefully a little bit more than we think. Then at what point do they fail? In other words, it’s a lot.
“These guys all were really impressive. We got there at 9 a.m. and we gave him the test at 5 p.m. He’s sitting there in the office, and you could tell that he probably had been in the hotel room, do not disturb, pot of coffee, just grinding on it. So he’s extremely intelligent, really smart. He handled a lot of the protections. I gave you five or six different statistics. Negative play differential. When you watch him, it’s pretty calming. He’s very efficient, and it’s not just because of the [underneath throws]. You see a ton of NFL throws in their offense. His accuracy, he set an NCAA record. Then was he making the throws that we’re going to ask him to make? I think the one thing over the years, if you study it closely, guys that get sacked a lot in college tend to get sacked a lot in the NFL. Sometimes, that might be processing. Often times, we’ll look at the offensive line, the ball comes out and it comes out sometimes in funny body positions. He has a quick stroke.”
Being the son of a coach likely helped Bo Nix in ways that other quarterback prospects just can’t match. That he understands schemes and football likely adds to his quick processing abilities. All things that clearly gets Sean Payton excited to work with the young man.
Payton continued to talk about some of the other aspects to Nix that impressed them during the process that ultimately led to Denver happily taking him with that 12th overall selection.
“George and I watched his Pro Day on video, and the very next day we’re there for his private [workout],” Payton continued. “We tried to count, ‘All right, how many misses were there?’ One of them—it’s really amazing to see the location. When we have critical factors for certain positions, obviously at quarterback one of the critical factors is are they accurate? There has to be receivers, do they catch the ball well? Linebackers, do they… So he’s extremely accurate.
“I was surprised at how big he was. He was a little bit taller than 6’2”, close to 220 pounds. I had just watched TV games until we started the film process. So those were a few of the things. He’s the son of a coach. His father played at Auburn. I’d say he’s kind of a gym rat. He’s older; he’s married. It’s going to be hard for anyone to break 61 games [played] unless there’s another pandemic because he was able to play five years.”
The note about the pandemic is important too, because Bo Nix is 24 and played five seasons in college. If he is going to come into Denver and be that franchise quarterback, then he is going to have to be ready to start Week 1. Given how Sean Payton feels about Bo Nix, there is a good chance he’ll win out that starting job and be the Broncos start this season.
All of us in Broncos Country will be pulling for him to change the course of this franchise.
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