In the lead up to the 2024 NFL Draft, the Broncos' brass made it clear that their first-round pick was a decision it had to get right following an offseason shakeup that included the release of quarterback Russell Wilson.
Denver went on to select Oregon quarterback Bo Nix with the No. 12 overall pick on Thursday night, and Broncos head coach Sean Payton detailed why he believes Nix is the ideal fit for his offense, Michael Baca of NFL.com reports.
"He's extremely intelligent, really smart. He handled a lot of the protections," Payton said Thursday night, via the team transcript. "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."
Nix, 24, enters the NFL with more experience than most QB prospects, having started 61 games at Oregon and Auburn across five collegiate seasons. He thrived in his final year in Eugene with 4,508 passing yards, 45 touchdowns (three interceptions) and a 77.4 completion percentage to become a Heisman Trophy finalist.
Yet, trying to keep Nix within Denver's sights was unnerving all along going into Thursday night, according to Payton.
"Once we knew this was our target, every time [NFL Network analyst] Chase Daniel or [ESPN analyst] Dan Orlovsky got on like, 'This is perfect!' I would be like, 'Shh! Can you be quiet?'" he said. "You can't control that. Look, I think that a lot of times the offense gets built around the player. So we moved in a direction for years relative to what [former QB] Drew [Brees] did, but when he wasn't starting it was [former QB] Teddy [Bridgewater] or [QB] Jameis [Winston]. So it wasn't like 'this guy fits our system,' because our system -- let's just say if it was another quarterback. We want the best player. We did our best to talk about other players and directions. It's difficult sometimes. You don't want everyone to know that this is the player. But I saw what you guys saw. I would cringe and (general manager) George (Paton) would cringe. We're like, 'Ah!' Those are things you can't control."
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