Sean Payton says Bo Nix is ‘bigger than I expected’

The Denver Broncos and head coach Sean Payton were busy during this offseason, making adjustments to the team’s quarterback room. That culminated in drafting Bo Nix in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

To this point in the team’s Rookie Minicamp, Payton says that there haven’t been any surprises from Nix. In fact, all he can think of is that Nix is bigger than Payton expected him to be.

“It’s been exactly what we saw,” Sean Payton said. “The only thing I can think about that was a little bit of a surprise was when we went to work him out privately and stood around him, he was bigger than I expected. But nothing in the last two days. He’s doing well.”

At the NFL Combine, Bo Nix was listed at six feet and two inches tall. He was also listed at 214 pounds. That’s the same height he was listed at in 2023 at Oregon and down three pounds from his senior season’s playing weight.

Bo Nix brings plenty of experience to Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos. He played five college seasons, for Auburn and Oregon. In all five of those seasons, he was the starting quarterback for his teams. By the time that career was all said and done, Nix threw for 15,352 yards and 113 touchdowns in his career. He also had a career completion percentage of 66.4 percent for his career and 77.4 percent for the 2023 season.

Based on that college career, Sean Payton praised Bo Nix as one of the great quarterbacks in the history of college football.

“The most accurate passer in college football history,” Payton said. “He’s extremely smart and he handles the protections and he’s a tough sack.”

Bill Belichick believes Bo Nix is ‘pretty close to being game ready’

Following Denver’s decision to pick Bo Nix in the 2024 NFL Draft, Bill Belichick praised him, saying that he’s close to being game-ready.

“He’s off all the quarterbacks the highest-rated from the pocket. I think he’s got a good, arm, but [Oregon’s] system is more possession passing. He has almost a 75 percent completion percentage because a lot of throws are closer to the line of scrimmage,” Belichick said.

“He protects the ball well. This is another guy that’s played a lot of football. From Auburn to Oregon, he’s had a full career up there. He’s experienced and he’s probably pretty close to being game-ready.”