Bill Belichick Cautions Broncos HC Sean Payton on Bo Nix Decision

Bill Belichick has been impressed with Bo Nix, but is he ready to lead the Denver Broncos as QB1?

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton and rookie quarterback Bo Nix. / Ben Swanson/Denver Broncos

One of the things that excited Mile High Huddle about the Denver Broncos taking Oregon quarterback Bo Nix in the first round was his fit with head coach Sean Payton. Russell Wilson was obviously not meant for a Payton pairing, but he still helped the 13th-year veteran outkick his coverage in Year 1 as head coach.

Imagine what Payton could do with the right fit at quarterback. We actually don't have to imagine it; all we have to do is cast our mind's eye back to his 15-year run with Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.

What Payton was looking for in the draft was a quarterback who ticked all the athletic boxes, sure, but the biggest traits beyond that were intangible. We heard him discuss a quick "processor," and harp on accuracy. Really, what Payton was looking for was a Breesian quarterback who could be an extension of him on the field.

With two preseason games under his belt, Nix is looking the part of a bonafide first-rounder. And even more so, he's looking like the "perfect fit" for Payton, even according to the head coach with the most Super Bowl rings in NFL history — Bill Belichick — who recently shared his thoughts on the Broncos' quarterback situation during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show.

"Well, it looks like it," Belichick said when asked whether Nix is the perfect Payton fit. "Sean's a great quarterback coach and he'll have those guys ready to play. He'll tailor the offense around whoever the quarterback is. I think, for Sean, it's probably, like, right now, it's getting to know Bo Nix and feeling comfortable with Bo. What's he really good at? What maybe do we not want to emphasize quite as much? Keep him away from certain things. Or maybe he feels pretty good about everything, and he just needs a little more time."

From the outside looking in, it doesn't appear that Nix needs more time to ripen on the sideline. In comparison to Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson — two young veterans — Nix looks light years ahead.

But Belichick also cautioned against pulling the Nix trigger too early — only to bench him mid-season. Such a demotion can obliterate a young quarterback's confidence permanently, and it risks the draft pick becoming a bust.

"I think you go with him when you feel like he's ready to go," Belichick said. "What I don't think you want to do is put Bo in there and then, after three or four games, find out you need to take him out and put 'Stid' [Stidham] back in there and go that way. I don't think that would work. I think that just creates a lot of confusion, and I really don't think that's what you want to do. If you're sure Bo Nix is the guy, then you go with him. But you don't turn back. You stay with him all the way through."

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Indeed. Does Payton feel like Nix is ready to be trusted with being the Broncos' starting quarterback for a full season? Outward appearances would indicate that the rookie is ready, especially in comparison to Denver's two other quarterbacks, but we don't have the complete picture because we're not in the meeting rooms.

The fit is obvious, though, and that alone could be worth rolling the dice on Nix as the opening-day starter. One of the most exciting aspects of that fit is his football IQ and ability to not only process things quickly at the line of scrimmage but also to make quick decisions and execute Payton's "very fast" offense.

"Sean's offense is a very fast offense," Belichick told McAfee. "They don't go no-huddle, but they substitute fast, they call the play, they get up to the line of scrimmage, and once the ball snaps, everything is moving fast—as fast as anybody in the league. So there's a lot of mental processing and decision-making that has to take place in a hurry. Assuming the quarterback's good at that—we've seen Brees execute it. We know what it is. But I would say it's still not easy to do. If Bo can do it, I think as soon as Sean's comfortable with what Bo can do, he'll just ride it out with him."

Of all the contemporary coaches whose brains you could pick on the subject of Payton, Belichick is among the most apropos. And it's not just because of his former team's two-decade reign of dominance in New England, but the coaching lineage Belichick and Payton share with Bill Parcells.

Belichick's mentorship under Parcells took place in the 1980s with the New York Giants, while Payton's occured 20 years later with the Dallas Cowboys. Two different Parcells eras, to be sure, but the philosophies and Xs and Os principles Parcells taught remained unchanged.

Payton admired Belichick, and during his early years as Saints head coach, he spent a lot of time studying what the Patriots were doing, especially on offense with Tom Brady at the helm. You can believe that the same could be said for Belichick studying Payton's system in New Orleans. Belichick and Payton are essentially two sides of the same Parcells coin.

In Belichick's estimation, Nix has played very well this preseason. But these are exhibition games, and Nix has yet to go against a first-team NFL defense, so what we've seen so far doesn't allow for a perfect apples-to-apples projection. Rarely does the NFL offer up any perfect conditions when it comes to evaluation, though. At a certain point, every team has to roll the dice.

"Look, he's played well in preseason, but it's preseason," Belichick said. "The coverages are simple. But he's delivered the ball well. He's gotten it out on time. He sees the field well. He's done a good job of taking care of the ball. He's done a good job of extending some plays and making good decisions with the ball in his hands under some pressure. But, again, it's against very vanilla defenses... He's obviously done a good job. He's gotten in there and played very well in a couple of preseason games."

Belichick was an obvious admirer of Nix's pre-draft. He isn't surprised by what the former Oregon star has displayed thus far as a pro. Nix played a lot of football in college, giving NFL evaluators 61 starts with which to analyze and project his fit at the next level.

Belichick still scoffs at the Nix naysayers who try to dismiss his accomplishments as the happy byproduct of a being a "system quarterback." Take Nix's 77.45 completion percentage last year at Oregon — an NCAA single-season record — for example.

"Like 75% completion? I mean, granted, not every pass is 80 yards downfield," Belichick said. "I don't care. 75% completion is still 75% completion."

Nix dished on the fit-with-Payton subject following the Broncos' 27-2 preseason beatdown on the Green Bay Packers, in which the rookie signal-caller dazzled with a 140.7 QB rating.

"I think it’s a really good fit," Nix said post-game Sunday night. "Especially tonight, I came out here and was very comfortable with the first few plays that were called. They were kind of keeping it within my comfort level, and that’s huge, especially for someone who’s trying to get in there and execute. You want to run plays that you feel comfortable with, and that’s what Coach Payton was calling tonight.”

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