Broncos get 'our guy' with selection of Oregon quarterback Bo Nix at No. 12 in NFL draft

ENGLEWOOD – The Broncos have been looking for stability at quarterback since Peyton Manning led them to a Super Bowl 50 win in the 2015 season. They hope they found it Thursday night.

With the No. 12 pick in the NFL draft in Detroit, the Broncos selected Oregon quarterback Bo Nix. He will compete with Jarrett Stidham and recently acquired Zach Wilson for the starting job.

“I was just very excited, almost speechless when I got that call,'' Nix said. "I'm just very excited, very happy to be a Bronco."

General manager George Paton said at the Centura Health Training Center that the Broncos considered trading down with the hope of still getting Nix as well as some additional assets. But they ultimately considered that too risky.

“We did think about (trading down), but not too far,’’ Paton said. “We could have moved a couple picks back and maybe gotten some picks. But at the end of the day, this was our guy. Let’s just take him. Let’s not overthink this. We would have been sick if we had lost him just for a couple of fifth-round picks.”

Denver held a private workout with Nix on March 18 on campus at Eugene, Ore., and spent three hours with the quarterback. Nix said he felt good then about the possibility of going to Denver and how well he fits the scheme of head coach Sean Payton.

“I was super excited, super thrilled to work with them,'' said Nix, who will be introduced to the media Friday in Denver. "I had a blast, and I definitely saw a great relationship there at that moment. So I'm just happy to be a part of their team now."

It marked the first time the Broncos have had a first-round draft pick since they selected cornerback Pat Surtain II No. 9 in 2021. Nix became the second-highest drafted quarterback in Denver history, following Jay Cutler going No. 11 in 2006.

“He stood out in a lot of areas,’’ Payton said. “You pay close attention to the film study. … His arm strength, we saw it at the (March 17) pro day, but even in the private workout was very good. He’s super smart. ... The process was long and thorough, and man, we’re excited. … We got our guy. … We’re glad it worked out the way it did.”

Payton said the Broncos were so enamored with Nix that he joked he thought about flying to Birmingham, Ala., where Nix watched the draft, to knock on the door and inform him of his selection. But he joked that something could have happened and the plane then needed to be “diverted.”

Payton lauded Nix’s strengths in “sack differential, turnover differential, accuracy.” But asked if Nix might start as a rookie, Payton said, “These guys are all going to compete.”

Payton had said at last month's NFL owners meetings in Orlando, Fla., it was "realistic" the Broncos could trade up high into the draft and Paton last week said that also was a possibility. Paton said the Broncos “never really got too serious” about trading up and Payton admitted what he said at the owners meetings wasn’t accurate.

“I was actively involved in trying to pretend we were moving forward,’’ Payton said.

Quarterbacks were taken with the top three picks in the draft in USC's Caleb Williams going No. 1 to Chicago, LSU's Jayden Daniels No. 2 to Washington and North Carolina's Drake Maye No. 3 to New England. At No. 8, Atlanta pulled off a shocker by taking Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr.

Then Minnesota moved up from No. 11 to No. 10 in the draft with a trade with the New York Jets and took Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy. The Broncos then went with Nix, and an NFL draft record was set with six quarterbacks going in the top 12. Paton said he had on Denver’s draft board six quarterbacks going in the first round, which tied a record set in 1983.

“I wasn’t shocked at all," Nix said of Penix, who was a rival in the Pac-12, going to the Falcons. “I think this class of quarterbacks is very strong."

The Broncos, though, were surprised by the selection of Nix, with Payton saying “it got a little crazy for a minute.” The Las Vegas Raiders were believed to have been interested in Penix and Paton was wary they might turn their attention to Nix after the pick by Atlanta. So that was one reason to not trade down.

After playing his first three years at Auburn before going to Oregon in 2022, Nix in 2023 completed 77.4% of his passes for 4,508 yards with 45 touchdowns and only three interceptions.

"I found him to be the most intriguing of the bunch, all six of the quarterbacks I looked at,'' NFL analyst and former star quarterback Joe Theismann told The Denver Gazette. "He has all the ability in the world to be the guy. I really like his skill set and he has the ability to throw the ball down the field very well."

Some analysts had said that taking Nix at No. 12 would be too early. ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid had told The Denver Gazette "it would be a massive reach in my opinion." 

When the Broncos were on the clock, they also had a choice of Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, whom Payton really likes and any defensive player in the draft. No defensive player was selected until UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu went No. 15 to Indianapolis. That was the latest in draft history for a defensive player being selected, the previous latest being No. 8 in 2021.

"I don’t think it’s a reach,'' Theismann said of the selection of Nix. "Number one, you need a quarterback and it wasn’t like you were giving up a lot of draft capital.”

Some have questioned Nix’s ability to throw deep since he mostly utilized a short passing game with the Ducks. But Hall of Fame and former Oregon quarterback Dan Fouts, talking to The Denver Gazette earlier this month, said "he's got an arm that will surprise because he’s quick and he’s got great mechanics."

Theismann said Nix fits well with Payton’s scheme. It has been said that, with his accuracy, he has some of the same traits as Drew Brees, the future Hall of Fame quarterback Payton had for 14 of his 15 seasons coaching New Orleans before joining the Broncos.

“When you look at their offense, when you look at the scheme, (there are) a lot of really fun concepts that I’ve run in the past, a lot of fun things that I’ve been able to do and have success in,” Nix said.

Nix said he talked in depth to Payton about some of those things during the private workout last month and during some Zoom interviews he had with the Broncos.

The Broncos have had 13 different starting quarterbacks since Manning retired. They acquired Russell Wilson in March 2022 for a bevy of players and trade picks and thought he would be the answer, but that didn’t work out. Wilson was benched for the final two games of 2023 in favor of Stidham and was released last month.

Now, the Broncos are hoping Nix eventually can be entrenched as a long-term starter.

Remaining picks

Denver has the following picks left in the draft:

Round 3: No. 76

Round 4: No. 121 (from Miami)

Round 5: No. 136 (from Cleveland via Carolina)

Round 5: No. 145 (from New York Jets)

Round 5: No. 147

Round 6: No. 207 (from San Francisco)

Round 7: No. 256 (from N.Y. Jets)