Bo Nix

The Denver Broncos joined in on Thursday night's first-round quarterback frenzy.

The Broncos became the sixth team to draft a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft when they used the No. 12 selection to draft former Oregon signal caller Bo Nix.

Denver is working to replace veteran quarterback Russell Wilson after releasing him in March.

Broncos are drafting Oregon QB Bo Nix with the No. 12 overall pick 🔥

Set an NCAA record as the MOST ACCURATE QB in college football last year 🎯

(via @AlbertBreer) pic.twitter.com/2iKjwB2KrO

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 26, 2024

Bo Nix at 12 replaces Russell Wilson. Half of the top 12 picks this year are quarterbacks.

— Jason Goldie (@JasonGoldie5) April 26, 2024

Nix was reportedly high on the list of Broncos general manager George Paton heading into the draft:

Bo Nix was QB3 on the Broncos board behind Daniels and Williams

— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) April 26, 2024

Denver held a private workout with Bo Nix the day after his pro day. The night before the workout, the Broncos sent Nix three packets of offensive play installation. And the next morning, as they worked in the classroom with Nix, he “crushed it”, per a Broncos source. 

The…

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 26, 2024

Sean Payton wanted and intended to draft Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 draft, when he held the 11thoverall pick. He was ready to turn in the card. But before he could, the Chiefs traded up to the Bills’ spot at No. 10 and took Mahomes one spot before Payton got him, leaving the… https://t.co/GdsRSCqryx

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 26, 2024

Bo Nix may have been 6th QB taken in tonight's draft. But he had been Sean Payton's choice for weeks. Bo was Payton's QB. So much so that trading back, as so many suggested Broncos should, was too risky. #9sports

— MikeKlis9NEWS (@mikeklis9news) April 26, 2024

Nix finished third in Heisman Trophy voting in 2023 after leading the FBS with 51 total touchdowns.

He joins Denver days after the Broncos traded for New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson.

Nix also connected on 364 of 470 pass attempts to set a single-season NCAA record with a completion rate of 77.36 percent.

Some Broncos fans believed the team's interest in Nix made sense because of his potential fit with head coach Sean Payton.

Bo Nix has come a long way and really happy to see him go to Denver. Was hoping for that. They've finally got their quarterback.

— Matt Wagner (@Matt_Wagner24) April 26, 2024

My reaction to when the #Broncos selected their new franchise QB, Bo Nix!!! pic.twitter.com/HlIW5Rbs67

— Kevin Kissner (@KissnerRadio) April 26, 2024

Hot take , Bo Nix will thrive in Sean Payton’s offense

— Go Cry About it🦬 (@USCKMADCK) April 26, 2024

My biggest hot take is that Bo Nix is actually a pretty good quarterback and fits perfectly in Denver

— karan (@905Kar) April 26, 2024

Not defending the pick, but Bo Nix is very much a Sean Payton guy. Quick release, smart pre-snap, very good in the quick game, and extremely willing to work within the confines of a scheme

— Aidan Maher (@Aidan_Maher17) April 26, 2024

With Jarrett Stidham already on the roster, the Broncos' pick could mean that Wilson will enter the 2024 season as a third-string quarterback after starting 11 games for the Jets last season.

Well... so much for Zach Wilson's resurgence in Denver.

— Braden “Brady” Clark (@BradenTClark) April 26, 2024

Bo Nix reunites with former Oregon center Alex Forsyth and will compete with his predecessor at Auburn, Jarrett Stidham, and Zach Wilson for starting QB job

— James Crepea (@JamesCrepea) April 26, 2024

The Broncos were part of an offensively-focused top of the 2024 draft. The Indianapolis Colts at No. 15 were the first team to draft a defensive player.

Broncos might turn their attention to defense later on. Denver is slated to pick next in the third round with selection No. 76.

HEIGHT: 6'2"

WEIGHT: 214

HAND: 10⅛"

ARM: 30⅞"

WINGSPAN: 74½"

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40-YARD DASH: N/A

3-CONE: N/A

SHUTTLE: N/A

VERTICAL: N/A

BROAD: N/A

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POSITIVES

— Very good athlete. Explosive short-area movement; shows good speed in the open field.

— Good creation ability outside the pocket. Willing to break structure; plays with eyes downfield.

— Functional accuracy. Shows the ability to layer throws.

— Consistent, reliable quick game operator. Ball comes out quickly and accurately.

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NEGATIVES

— Oregon did not ask a lot of him as a processor down the field. Ton of screens, RPOs and simple vertical concepts.

— Inconsistent dropback footwork. Too often disrupts his timing when working full-bodied dropback passing concepts.

— Below-average ability to find answers within structure when first read is taken away.

— Inconsistent toughness in the pocket. Shows good flashes, but too often falls away from throws.

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2023 STATISTICS

— 14 G, 364-470 (77.4%), 4,508 YDS, 9.6 Y/A, 45 TD, 3 INT, 188.3 RTG; 54 ATT, 234 YDS (4.3 AVG), 6 TD

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NOTES

— Born Feb. 25, 2000

— 5-star recruit in Auburn's 2019 class, per 247Sports' composite rankings

— Transferred from Auburn to Oregon in 2022

— Five-year starter (three years at Auburn, two years at Oregon)

— 2023 first-team All-Pac-12, 2023 Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, 2023 Heisman finalist

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OVERALL

Bo Nix is still an incomplete player for someone who has played so much football, but his tools are undeniable.

Nix's greatest asset is arguably his athleticism. He is flexible, quick on his feet and dangerously explosive. He consistently escapes pressure and finds a number of different ways to do so. Nix also brings good speed in the open field, which serves him well as a scrambler and as a designed runner.

As a thrower, Nix is a mixed bag. He has a loose arm and can air it out deep down the field well enough. That looseness even applies to Nix's ability to throw on the run, where he really shines. However, Nix's velocity wavers outside the numbers. He can drive it over the middle, but maintaining good speed and arc to the outside is a struggle at times.

It's also hard to get a sense for where Nix is at in terms of being an NFL processor. Oregon's offense lightened the load on him mentally by spamming screens, run-pass options and simple vertical concepts. Even a lot of Oregon's more traditional passing concepts were made easier to read out and trigger on by their use of spacing and abusing the college hashes, which won't exist for him in the NFL.

Nix could also stand to improve his footwork and pocket demeanor. There are moments of good, stable movement in the pocket, but he too often shies away from throws and hinders his ability to throw accurately.

Nix will ultimately be a dice roll on athleticism and accuracy. With that said, it's a little worrisome that Nix is still unrefined in some areas as an older prospect with a ton of games under his belt. Nix would fit best in a spread-oriented offense that emphasizes RPOs, the quarterback run game and vertical passing.

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GRADE: 7.2 (High-Level Backup/Potential Starter — 3rd Round)

OVERALL RANK: 61

POSITION RANK: QB5

PRO COMPARISON: Andy Dalton

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Derrik Klassen

Visit B/R's NFL Scouting Department hub for scouting reports on all of the top prospects.

The Denver Broncos traded for Zach Wilson, but that might not take them out of the quarterback game during Thursday's NFL draft.

Albert Breer of The MMQB reported Tuesday that the AFC West team "quietly did a lot of work on Oregon QB Bo Nix—they had an hour-long Zoom with him on March 7, then sent a Sean Payton-led contingent to Eugene to work him out on March 18."

Breer noted the "interest is there" but also acknowledged that Denver not having a second-round pick "could complicate" its efforts to potentially land Nix.

If Denver truly fell in love with Nix, it could use the No. 12 overall pick on him.

Still, that might be a bit rich for a quarterback who could be the fifth or sixth player at his own position selected with Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy and maybe Michael Penix Jr. potentially going ahead of him.

Perhaps the Broncos could trade into the second round if Nix is still available. B/R's NFL Scouting Department projected Nix to go No. 34 overall to the Las Vegas Raiders in its most recent mock draft, which is the second overall pick of the second round.

Denver's quarterback room of Wilson, Jarrett Stidham and Ben DiNucci is not exactly one that will inspire wonder around the league. Wilson has failed to live up to the expectations that surrounded him as the No. 2 overall pick of the 2021 draft, and the others are likely better suited to be backups.

Head coach Sean Payton, who worked with Drew Brees during his time with the New Orleans Saints, surely knows this even if he believes a change of scenery from the New York Jets could help Wilson turn things around as his career continues.

Nix was the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year this past season while completing 77.4 percent of his passes for 4,508 yards, 45 touchdowns and three interceptions.

His accuracy on underneath routes, ability to avoid pressure with his legs and tendency to avoid turnovers are surely intriguing to NFL teams, including the Broncos.

But it might take some type of trade or a surprising early pick for Nix to end up in Denver.

Keep an eye on the Atlanta Falcons and Los Angeles Rams at the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night.

Albert Breer of SI.com reported that both are "curveball quarterback teams," noting that the Falcons worked out Michael Penix Jr. in Seattle and had a visit planned with J.J. McCarthy before it was ultimately cancelled.

As he wrote: "Sitting there at No. 8, either of those two could fall right in the laps of general manager Terry Fontenot and Raheem Morris, with Kirk Cousins giving them the flexibility to sit the new guy for two to three years on a Jordan Love-like plan."

Breer added that he's heard the Rams "connected" to Bo Nix, given that his father, Patrick Nix, played college football with Los Angeles general manager Les Snead at Auburn in the 1990s. Per that report, "the two still have a relationship, so at the very least the intel the Rams have gotten on him is good."

The Rams also have an older quarterback in Matthew Stafford, who is 36, so a succession plan would make sense.

Granted, this level of buzz could also be a signal to quarterback-needy teams around the NFL that if they want to get a player like McCarthy or Penix, they may need to swing a deal with the Falcons at No. 8, while coveting Nix might require getting up to No. 19, where the Rams pick.

It's smoke screen season, and both the Falcons and Rams might be interested in moving down the draft board to accumulate more picks. The best way to ensure teams come calling is dangling some intel that particular quarterbacks may not get past Atlanta or Los Angeles.

Oregon quarterback Bo Nix has flown under the radar ahead of Thursday's NFL draft, especially compared to some of the other quarterbacks in the 2024 class.

During an appearance on the Green Light podcast, NFL Network's draft expert Daniel Jeremiah offered his thoughts as to why Nix doesn't appear to be generating interest from teams in the quarterback market.

"I think he gets a little bit punished for the offense. My whole thing is like, in the offense he was in, he literally set the NCAA record for completion percentage," Jeremiah said around the 21:40 mark. "But people look at the analytics stuff with the average depth of target, and he's just getting the ball out quick, easy completions, and then when it's not that he's laying the ball up over the top, so you don't see him working in the middle of the field as much as maybe some of the other guys. So that's where some of it [comes from]."

Nix transferred to Oregon in 2022 after spending the first three years of his college career at Auburn. He had a breakout year in 2023 in which he placed third in the Heisman Trophy voting after throwing for 4,508 yards, 45 touchdowns and three interceptions while completing an NCAA-record 77.4 percent of his passes.

Jeremiah added that Nix's detractors also point to his struggles while playing at Auburn, but he said other quarterbacks like Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Michael Penix Jr. don't face the same criticisms for how they began their respective careers.

"It just feels like Bo Nix is held to some Auburn moments more so than any of these other quarterbacks. ... Guys are allowed to get better, guys are allowed to improve, guys are allowed to play in a little bit more friendly environment in regards to who they're playing with and who they're playing against," he said.

B/R's NFL Scouting Department ranked Nix as the No. 5 quarterback in the latest draft big board and predicted he would be picked in the second round by the Las Vegas Raiders in its three-round mock draft.

The Minnesota Vikings would be "comfortable" with using a first-round pick on Oregon quarterback Bo Nix if the team's plan to trade up doesn't work out Thursday, a source told Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson.

Robinson described the source as "very-well connected."

The Vikings currently hold the No. 11 and No. 23 picks of Thursday's draft. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Monday the team has expressed interest in trading those selections for the New England Patriots' No. 3 pick.

In the case the Patriots decide to hold onto the pick and draft either LSU's Jayden Daniels or North Carolina's Drake Maye, the source indicated "the Vikings are comfortable standing down in trade talks" and using one of the existing first-round selections to draft Nix, Robinson reported.

The Vikings recently held a private workout with Nix in Oregon, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer reported earlier this month.

Nix is ranked as the No. 62 overall prospect, and No. 5 quarterback prospect, on the latest B/R 2024 NFL Draft Big Board.

A five-year college starter, Nix transferred to Oregon in 2022. He finished his 2023 season as a Heisman Trophy finalist after throwing for 4,508 yards, 45 touchdowns and three interceptions, while adding 234 yards and six scores on the ground.

B/R NFL Scout Derrik Klassen wrote that Nix is "still an incomplete player for someone who has played so much football, but his tools are undeniable."

"Nix would fit best in a spread-oriented offense that emphasizes RPOs, the quarterback run game and vertical passing," Klassen wrote.

Oregon leaned heavily on RPOs throughout the campaign their first season under Will Stein as offensive coordinator.

The Vikings saw some ball-running mobility last season from rookie Jaren Hall, who made two starts and three appearances in 2023. Nix could be a good addition if Minnesota is looking to continue giving their signal callers chances to run the ball.

Originally projected as a second-round pick, Nix could slide to the first Thursday due to demand for quarterbacks.

The latest 2024 NFL Mock Draft by B/R NFL scouts projects four quarterbacks being taken within the top five picks, potentially raising demand for second-tier prospects like Nix as well as Washington's Michael Penix Jr and South Carolina's Spencer Rattler.

Thanks to the additional first-round pick the Vikings acquired in a March trade with the Houston Texans, Minnesota has a good shot at Nix if it chooses to target him in the first round. The question then would be whether the team feels the need to use the No. 11 pick on the former Oregon signal caller, or if they're comfortable waiting until No. 23.

The Los Angeles Rams haven't made a first-round pick since 2016, though that drought is scheduled to end on Thursday night, as the team currently holds the No. 19 overall selection.

The direction they'll go with that pick remains to be seen, though ESPN's Adam Schefter noted that if the Rams choose to pick a successor for the 36-year-old Matthew Stafford, Bo Nix is a player to watch:

"[General manager Les] Snead was a graduate assistant coach at Auburn in 1993, when the school's quarterback was Patrick Nix, Bo's father. Patrick helped lead Auburn to an 11-0 record as a sophomore that season. Snead could go from watching one Nix make a mark on a team he was associated with early in his career to another Nix trying to make a mark on his team years later."

Schefter added that quarterbacks like Nix and Michael Penix Jr. are dividing opinion. One general manager told him there was an "undercurrent of support" for both players ahead of the draft, though his team didn't give either first-round grades and saw them as second-day prospects.

Other teams will surely see things different, and Schefter noted that there has been speculation that Penix could go as high as No. 8 to the Atlanta Falcons (which would be a somewhat curious move after their offseason signing of Kirk Cousins).

As for the Rams, having a succession plan in place for Stafford makes sense, but the Rams should be in win-now mode after reaching the postseason in 2023. Using a first-round pick on a player like Nix would be bypassing the opportunity to bring in a player who could make an immediate impact and would probably be met with some frustration from fans.