Broncos HC Sean Payton Claps Back Hard at Bo Nix 'Reach' Critics

"They don't know what they're talking about," Sean Payton said.

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

If you're among the ever-growing legion of Bo Nix skeptics who panned the Denver Broncos' selection at No. 12 overall in the draft, Sean Payton has a message for you. It's an empathetic one because he understands that you've likely been misled by what he calls 'the NFL train,' but it's also quite blunt, as is his way.

"When I hear people say this guy he could have gotten in the second or third round, I know they don’t know what they’re talking about," Payton told his former FOX SPORTS colleague Jay Glazer during an illuminating hour-plus long conversation on the Unbreakable podcast. "But all of those things can move scouts and coaches and their grading and their opinion, so trust what you see. Tune out the white noise when you’re trying to evaluate anybody."

Payton is talking about the proliferation of NFL draft media, the mock drafts, and the cacophony of conversation and opinions that it spews out on social media. All it takes is one credible talking head to render an opinion, and pretty soon, the echo-chamber phenomenon takes effect and an entire pre-draft trope takes shape in a way that can actually affect a prospect's draft stock because not all teams are as impervious to 'the NFL train' as Payton and the Broncos, and some do fall prey to the noise.

There are a lot of great draft analysts out there, and we have several on staff here at Mile High Huddle, like Erick Trickel and Nick Kendell, but when it comes to 'draftniks' or draft 'experts,' Payton doesn't quite understand why anyone subscribes to their opinions.

"Honestly, in my opinion, humbly, I don’t know how many great evaluators are out there," Payton said of the draft media landscape. "It’s a tough position to evaluate to begin with and I think once we knew that Bo was the guy we were going to draft, we knew that we couldn’t be the only team seeing what we were seeing. And come to find out, we weren’t. I’m just going to say that relative to teams behind us."

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Glazer backs up Payton's claim that Nix was his guy all along with a little anecdote about the Broncos head coach calling him with a "crazy plan to make sure everyone knew Bo Nix was [Payton's] guy." It would appear that Glazer talked Payton out of his idea, which had something to do with showing up at Nix's house. Perhaps the idea was to be there when the pick was made? I'm not sure. But that would have certainly cemented any claim Payton made that Nix was always his guy.

Glazer also let slip Payton's plan, ostensibly, to leak a report of the Broncos being interested in Michigan's J.J. McCarthy, in order to help push Nix down the board to No. 12. Go listen to that conversation. It's like two long-time bros chopping it up for an hour or so, often forgetting that the cameras and mics are turned on.

The further we get into the offseason training program, the more circumstantial evidence has emerged to back up Payton's claim that he had his sights set on Nix. There were multiple teams ready to take Nix off the board behind the Broncos, if Payton had balked, like the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 13 and the Los Angeles Rams at No. 19.

Payton couldn't care less about who those teams were gunning for. All he cares about is that he got his guy. And so far, the proof has been in the pudding.

Payton still seems to scoff (good-naturedly) about the tropes surrounding Nix ahead of the draft. They ran the gamut from Nix being a system quarterback, to being an Auburn burnout/failure, to lacking NFL arm strength. Payton saw beyond those surface critiques, and the Broncos made sure to extract data that backed up the head coach's evaluation of Nix, which would also include a private workout that the head coach emerged from in a kind of "That was something else," bemused state.

"There was a lot made of his offense. I’ve heard it a million times," Payton said. "‘He led college football with the most quick throws.’ We got it. We understand all that. Then when we analytically remove all the quick throws from every quarterback, he was still first in his class, first in his class, first in his class, accuracy, touchdowns-to-interceptions—all these recordables. Sacks… the guy gets rid of the ball. There’s so many things that we kept seeing on tape. And then we saw down-the-field arm talent. We’re seeing it right now."

Indeed, the early returns on Nix have been nothing short of exciting. A good way to put it? As advertised.

Nix has received nothing but superlative praise from Payton publicly. It's one thing for the coach who drafted the quarterback to sing his praises, even early on amid a three-way open competition with two other veterans, but when the skeptical and quarterback-traumatized local Denver media can't resist the excitement based on what Nix has shown in the Broncos' practices that have been open to the press, it takes on a different complexion.

When it comes to Nix's pre-draft stock, another common trope was the Drew Brees comparison, which immediately connected him to Payton and the Broncos by default. Watch Nix's tape at Oregon, and the similarities he shares with Brees quickly become evident, even if he is a bit bigger, stronger, and faster than the future Hall-of-Famer.

Payton seemed to resent that Nix was getting that comparison because it so obviously laid bare the Broncos' probable interest in him. But even though the two quarterbacks share some traits, Payton says he wasn't exactly searching for the next Brees in the draft.

"Listen, I’m not necessarily looking for that," Payton said of finding a Brees clone. "I’ve heard that narrative and that was used a lot. But I think we’re all looking for athletic guys that are 6’2 and a half, that are 220 pounds… this guy’s the most accurate passer in the history of college football."

During his conversation with Glazer, Payton low-key flexed on behalf of his new quarterback every chance he got. There's a bromance a-brewin' in Denver, which makes this open competition thing at quarterback seem quite transparent, like Payton's just going through the motions to satisfy the locker room.

"Ultimately, you’ve got to look at the tape," Payton said, "and if you studied the tape, this guy started 61 games in his college career. And he’s 6’2-and-a-half, 220 pounds, and all I could go by is what we saw on tape, and now, what we’re seeing in practice during these OTAs. And we’re down to two weeks left, so there is that nice bit of confidence when all of a sudden, all of the things you’re predicting, that you’ve seen, begin to come to fruition."

Can you sense the giddiness? Bo Nix is Payton's guy. The veteran coach talks like he's the cat that got the canary. Like he knows something nobody else does. Only time will prove whether Payton was right, and all the Nix critics were wrong.

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