Shocking report indicates Broncos liked Bo Nix over Caleb Williams

The Denver Broncos loved Bo Nix in the pre-draft process back in the Spring of 2024. In fact, Broncos head coach Sean Payton has stated on multiple occasions that it only took about 15 throws at Bo Nix's private workout for the team that he was absolutely sold. Smitten.

But there were still a lot of NFL Draft "experts" and analysts out there who simply couldn't believe Payton when he said that he loved Nix and that Nix was their preferred target at the quarterback position in this draft. Surely he liked JJ McCarthy or Drake Maye better than Nix, and obviously he would have had Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels higher on his board.

Well, not so fast...

Broadcaster Kevin Harlan drops incredible note about Broncos ranking Bo Nix above Caleb Williams

Longtime Broncos scribe Jon Heath, a legend in the industry, recently made a fantastic note about something CBS play-by-play maestro Kevin Harlan brought up in the Broncos' recent loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Harlan, who gets access to Sean Payton and every head coach he's calling games for in a pre-production meeting, dropped an incredible nugget about the Broncos having Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels above every other quarterback in the entire 2024 NFL Draft class.

Harlan reiterated the story we've heard before about Payton being enamored by Nix at their private workout and that the Broncos had,“[Nix] and [Jayden] Daniels rated one-two and in no particular order.”

This is a bombshell of a report, no question about it. Back when he worked for FOX, Sean Payton had said of Caleb Williams that he was the type of prospect the NFL might have to implement a lottery system for, and that he felt he was of the "generational" variety. And I'm sure Payton liked Williams plenty, and perhaps that was a factor in the overall big board ranking for the Broncos.

Payton has acknowledged in the past that he and the Broncos knew they wouldn't be able to get the former Heisman winner based on his consensus ranking, but this is pretty staggering.

And frankly, we are seeing results on the field that might indicate Nix was the better option coming out, at least within the first 10 weeks of the season. Nix has improved dramatically from Week 1 and is on track to potentially contend for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Sean Payton said during the pre-draft process that he believed the Broncos would be better at evaluating QBs coming out than other teams. While that seemed arrogant at the time, it's kind of funny how things have flipped on their heads after they were so heavily criticized for taking Nix 12th overall, or even in the first round, for that matter.

Nix leads all NFL rookies with 15 total touchdowns this season.