Jay Glazer, who is very connected, details the pre-draft process where Sean Payton's total obsession over Bo Nix was on full display. You have to hand it to Payton and the Broncos; they clearly saw something there with Nix and were going to make sure they were drafting him.
Check out the crazy story that Jay Glazer detailed regarding Sean Payton and just how obsessed he was with Bo Nix:
CRAZY STORY 😳 @JayGlazer details how Sean Payton was “driving him crazy” during the draft process w/ concerned calls, CONVINCED the Rams may be trading up to take Bo Nix.
— KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM (@KOAColorado) February 6, 2025
So Glazer got the go-ahead from McVay to tell Payton that they weren’t 😂#KOASuperWeek | @ChevronColorado pic.twitter.com/hXhCH0x0h7
Sean Payton seemed convinced for quite some time that the Los Angeles Rams had their eyes on Bo Nix. Apparently, as Glazer noted, Payton got fed some bad information. During the pre-draft process last year, Bo Nix was not seen by many as a first-round pick, even.
Some thought the QB was a second or third-round pick and used terms like "check down merchant" to describe him, claiming that when in college at Oregon, he was not asked to do a whole lot. Well, I suppose sometimes in QB evaluations, you have to dig deeper to figure out the actual truth about a player. I do recall Justin Herbert, when he was coming out of Oregon in the 2020 NFL Draft, was seen by some as a questionable QB prospect for similar reasons.
Bo Nix was the sixth and final QB taken in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. All of Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, Michael Penix Jr, and JJ McCarthy went before Nix. Heck, the Broncos wanted to ensure they got Bo Nix so much that Sean Payton detailed how they manufactured interest in wanting JJ McCarthy, so the Minnesota Vikings actually traded up to take McCarthy.
Nix was right there for the taking with the 12th overall selection. The first two weeks of the 2024 NFL Season were not easy for any rookie QB, but the Bo Nix doubters were out in full force after those first two games to try and claim that they were right about the QB all along. It's a good thing that an NFL season is longer than two weeks...
After starting 0-2 with Nix throwing zero touchdowns against four interceptions, the Broncos finished the year 10-5 and Nix proceeded to throw 29 touchdown passes against just eight interceptions. The turnaround was insane, and by the time the regulars season ended, it became clear that Bo Nix was no worse than a top-12 QB in the NFL.
Yet again, Sean Payton was right.