The Denver Broncos have become a destination team again in the NFL, but that doesn't necessarily matter when it comes to the NFL Draft. Regardless of where a prospect really wants to go, you're really at the mercy of the draft process playing out.
In terms of the overall fit and situation, however, it's not out of the realm of possibility that a number of top running back prospects in this year's draft would have wanted to go to Denver. And according to Gus Malzahn (via Chris Tomasson), RJ Harvey's head coach at UCF, the Broncos were one of the teams Harvey had "circled" going into the draft as a spot he would want to land in.
And Harvey got his wish. He landed in one of the best possible situations around the league, not just because we love the Broncos but because the Broncos were one of the teams heading into the draft with a clear RB1 vacancy. Harvey is now getting his chance to fill it.
But it shockingly wasn't just the lack of a running back that caused Harvey to want to come to Denver. He had other reasons for wanting to come to the Broncos, and fans of the team will absolutely love it.
RJ Harvey said Bo Nix was a big reason why he wanted to come to the Broncos
"Bo Nix. I love how he plays. I feel like this is a great team, had a great year last year, a young team, great defense... I’m just ready to get to work with all the vets.”
- RJ Harvey (via Broncos PR)
Nix and Harvey have been in contact since the draft. As far as the three degrees of separation, this year's offseason has been a fascinating exercise in "who you know" being so important in the NFL. For Harvey, you don't even need three degrees of separation between he and Bo Nix. Both Harvey and Nix were coached -- at least for a time -- at the college level by Gus Malzahn.
Malzahn was Nix's coach at Auburn before he transferred to Oregon to play for the Ducks.
It's another notch on Bo Nix's belt. Nix put the Broncos back on the map last year, not singlehandedly, but close. He needed help this offseason, and RJ Harvey was one of the biggest investments made in order to get him exactly that.
Harvey was the 60th overall pick by Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos in this year's draft. Before Harvey, the highest draft picks Payton used at the running back position in his final 10 years with the Saints were Alvin Kamara (67th overall) and Mark Ingram (28th overall) in 2017 and 2011, respectively. He just didn't use a lot of high picks at the position, which tells us exactly how highly he thinks of this guy.
And as much as Harvey loves Bo Nix, you can't help but feel like Nix is going to love him, too.