Oregon's Bo Nix was the sixth quarterback taken in the first round of the NFL draft Thursday night, but the Denver Broncos feel they got the one they coveted with the 12th overall pick.
Broncos coach Sean Payton joked he thought about flying to Alabama to knock on Nix's door before they announced the pick -- as they QB did not attend the draft but watched from home with his family and Oregon coach Dan Lanning and offensive coordinator Will Stein in attendance -- but then realized that might not be smart if the draft didn't unfold as they expected.
Payton also said he and Broncos general manager George Paton cringed a bit every time an analyst projected Nix to Denver or talked about what a perfect fit he was for Payton's offense.
"Once we knew this was our target, every time Chase Daniel got on or Dan Orlovsky, anyone, 'This is a perfect fit' -- I'm like 'Shhh, will you be quiet.' ... You don't want everyone to know this is the player, but I saw what you guys saw," Payton said.
Nix is the seventh Duck quarterback ever to be drafted in the first round, joining Justin Herbert (2020), Marcus Mariota (2015), Joey Harrington (2002), Akili Smith (1999), Chris Miller (1987) and George Shaw (1955).
Oregon has now had a first-round pick in five straight NFL Drafts, with Nix following Penei Sewell (2021), Herbert, Kayvon Thibodeaux (2022) and Christian Gonzalez (2023).
Oregon now has 22 total first-round picks in program history, including 10 since 2013 and 13 since 2000.
A Heisman Trophy finalist and Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, Nix put together one of the greatest seasons ever by an Oregon quarterback last fall while leading college football in passing touchdowns (45) and ranking second in passing yards per game (322.0), passing yards (4,508) and passer rating (188.32), and setting a NCAA single-season record with a 77.45 completion percentage (364-of-470).
Nix set Oregon single-season records for completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns, and became the first Duck ever to surpass 4,500 passing yards in a season. He also threw just 3 interceptions, becoming the first FBS player since at least 2000 to record at least 45 passing touchdowns and no more than three picks in a season.
He now joins a Broncos organization ready to start anew at quarterback after benching high-priced veteran Russell Wilson late last season and releasing him this offseason. Nix joins a quarterback room that also includes Jarrett Stidham, who started games for the team late last season, and former first-round pick Zach Wilson, who was recently acquired via trade with the New York Jets.
As for whether Nix could start to open his rookie season, Payton said that will be determined in the months ahead.
"Bill [Parcells] taught me a long time ago, 'Let's let 'em play.' We've got to maximize the reps that we have, let him develop, and that stuff will sort itself out," Payton said.
Payton said knowing that USC QB Caleb Williams (drafted No. 1 overall by the Chicago Bears), LSU's Jayden Daniels (No. 2 to the Washington Commanders) and North Carolina's Drake Maye (No. 3 to the New England Patriots) would be the first three quarterbacks off the board, he felt confident that the Minnesota Vikings were focused on Michigan QB JJ McCarthy at No. 10 and the only wildcard Denver had to monitor was the New York Giants at No. 6. But once the Atlanta Falcons surprised everyone by drafting Washington QB Michael Penix at No. 8, the Broncos had to worry about the Las Vegas Raiders maybe trying to trade up ahead of them.
In the end, it worked out and they got their guy.
"I would say early into the process, shortly after these workouts, he stood out in a lot of areas," Payton said of Nix. "You pay close attention to all the film study, and obviously he's played a lot of football, but sack differential, turnover differential, accuracy, third-down passing -- first, first, first, first in his class. First in end-of-half, first in end-of-game 2-minute situations, second in red zone. A lot of those other things that ... I would say his arm strength, we saw the pro day but even in the private workout, was very good and he's super smart. ...
"'The process was long and thorough, and man, we're excited."
Having drafted Oregon center Alex Forsyth as a seventh-rounder last year, Payton said he too was a resource in the evaluation of Nix, but as they went through the process the QB kept checking every box.
"He's extremely smart. We tried to send these guys similar tests -- a series of first, second, third-day install, so quite a bit to study. [At] 5 o'clock when you get three days of install and we're meeting at 9 in the morning, it's almost purposely a little more than we think [they can handle] and at what point do they fail? In other words, it's a lot. These guys all were really impressive," Payton said. "We got up there 9 a.m., he had the test [since 5 p.m. the previous night], he's sitting there in the office and you can just tell he had probably been in a hotel room, 'Do not disturb', pot of coffee and just grinding on it. So, he's extremely intelligent, real smart, handled a lot of the protections. ...
"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 set an NCAA record."
Said Paton: "He was just an ideal fit for what we want here."
