Woody Paige: It's time for the Broncos to know Bo
Bo knows football. Bo throws footballs. The Broncos must board the Bo bandwagon.
No matter who Payton, Paton & Penner decide will be the 2024 season’s starting quarterback – Jarrett Stidham, Russell Wilson, Ben DiNucci or a risky veteran from parts unknown – is it possible that Denver picks Nix for next? Not only could the Broncos trade down and draft Bo Nix late in the first round, but they also would get a selection in the second round (which they don’t possess) and a second fifth-round choice. The Broncos slot in the No. 12 overall position for only the fourth time in an NFL or AFL draft.
They previously picked players Marv Montgomery (1971), Ryan Clady (2008) and Knowshon Moreno (2009). Left tackle Clady was voted to four Pro Bowls in his seven seasons with the Broncos. Montgomery also was a starting left tackle for four of his 6 1/2 years in Denver, and Moreno had a 1,000-yard rushing season in his fifth and final year with the Broncos.
But none are in the Pro Football Hall or the Broncos Ring of Fame. So, 12 may be good but not great or gawdawful. It is a tweener.
The Broncos have chosen quarterbacks in the first round only four times in the franchise’s entire history. Three were results of trades – Jay Cutler 11th in 2006, Tim Tebow 25th in 2010 and Paxton Lynch 26th in 2016. Tommy Maddox was selected 25th in 1992.
Tebow was a circus act and won one playoff game. Cutler was a freak show; Maddox served a bad backup for two years and lost all four starts when John Elway was injured, and the lousy Lynch started four games in his two seasons in Denver and lost three. The Broncos played in eight Super Bowls with three starting quarterbacks who were drafted in the first round by other teams – Elway (5), Peyton Manning (2) and Craig Morton (1) – and won 3.
Just once it sure would be clever if the Broncos drafted a quarterback in the first round who would be developed and play here 10-15 years and win three or more Super Bowls. Could Bo be the chosen 1? At least three mock drafts have connected Nix with the Broncos, and Pro Football Focus stated them as a perfect pair. Former Colorado quarterback Joel Klatt, the top college analyst on Fox Sports, told a Denver sports radio show he compares Bo Nix to Drew Brees.
Stay in the know on the stories that affect you the most. Payton coached Brees. Bo was not named in honor of two-sport superstar Bo Jackson, but, rather for his grandfather Conrad, who was given that nickname as an exceptional high school football coach.
Both Bo Jackson and Bo Nix played at Auburn, as did Patrick Nix, Bo’s father, an ex-Tigers quarterback who last month coached an Alabama high school to the state championship. The younger Nix spent three seasons at Auburn, graduating magnum cum laude, before transferring to Oregon, where he finished third in the Heisman balloting and first in the National Football Foundation’s Scholar-Athlete award. Nix set the NCAA record for most college games started by a quarterback – 61 – and threw 45 touchdowns, with only three interceptions, while completing 77.
4 percent of his passes. The 6-foot-2, 217-pound Nix is ranked fourth to sixth among QBs in the draft. He likely will go in the middle or toward the end of the first round.
The Broncos could take Bo at 12 or trade, with, for example, the Eagles for the 22nd pick. In the draft trade evaluation chart 12 is worth 1,200 points and 22 780. Philadelphia’s second rounder is assessed at 360 and its fifth for 32.
6 points. A fair deal. Because of the quarterback situation in the league and despite the Bears’ uncertainty, the first three picks, in all probability, will be Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels.
The next three are Michael Penix Jr. , J. J.
McCarthy and Nix in indefinite order. Nix should be available in the 20s. The Broncos have four up-close and personal opportunities to see and interview Nix – at the Senior Bowl, the NFL combine, Oregon’s Pro Day and an invitation to Broncos headquarters.
The team’s scouts already have studied Nix against Colorado twice, in the Pac-12 championship game and during his seasons in the SEC. Nix could spend a season of seasoning under Stidham – or Wilson? – become the franchise’s future quarterback. How ‘bout Broncos and Bo bonding? Who knows? .