Bo Nix may very well find success in the NFL, but the idea that anyone can tell you whether he will or won’t in this place and time is honestly speaking nonsense — at best.
As a columnist, it’s my job to make an argument, then back it up with facts and/or logic in an attempt to make you think.
When it comes to sports, and really most everything outside of a remedial math problem, I don’t have all of the answers. I have opinions, and I’d like to think they’re relatively sound ones based on some level of education, experience or rationale, but in the end they are in fact my simple — or in some cases more complicated — thoughts on something still very much in motion. And that’s Bo Nix.
The now former Oregon quarterback was just selected 12th overall by the Denver Broncos in the recent NFL Draft, and prior to, during and after the pick became official, people from NFL’s Mel Kiper, to Fox’s Colin Cowherd, further to NBC Sports’ Mike Florio, and infinite miles beyond that to every local sports talk radio host looking to kill a segment or two, told us whether is was a good, bad or tragic pick by a Broncos team desperate to right the wrong that was Russell Wilson.
“It’s the perfect system for him,” some said.
“He lacks the arm strength,” others said.
“He’s a second-round pick that went in the first round out of desperation.”
“This was a massive reach.”
“If he continues trending upward, he could be a quality NFL quarterback.”
“Bo Nix does not have the profile of the quarterback that’s going to save Denver…he’s closer to being a backup in the NFL than a franchise starter.”
That last one is my favorite and spawned from a Yahoo! Sports staff that graded the pick an “F” shortly following Roger Goodell’s announcement of said decision by a team who’s “quarterback thirst had officially gone too far.”
But while every one of the aforementioned thoughts were spoken with supreme confidence, they’re all still guesses as to how the young man’s career will play out.
That’s right, while certainly not as arbitrary as a coin flip, prognosticating who succeeds or fails at quarterback in the NFL is a less-than-perfect science. No one chosen first overall has been taken for kicks and giggles, but rather based on exceptional past performance, measurables and/or talent that warrants such.
Yet, with that in mind, Jamarcus Russell, Jeff George, Tim Couch and David Carr are all examples of hefty mistakes with the No. 1 overall pick, while players like Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, more recently Brock Purdy and lest we forget pick No. 199 in the 2000 NFL Draft, Tom Brady, were all chosen without fanfare and with very limited expectations. I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of all those guys, all of whom went on to very productive or exceptional careers under center at the highest level.
Which will Nix be? Good question, but the answer realistically is either one.
I know that’s not hip to say in a world increasingly built on strong, aggressive and largely half-baked takes, but it’s accurate as the result of…well, you know…the lack of a time machine.
Bo Nix was a marginal quarterback at Auburn, and an exceptional one at Oregon, so who’s to say how that same guy will translate to a faster and higher level of football in the NFL?
He’s improved over time.
Gotten physically and mentally stronger over that same time.
And per the people around him, owes much of that progress to a maturation process that knows no time.
So, the idea that he can’t play seems a bit reckless, while the one leaning toward him panning out seems far more likely, at least over time.
See what I did there?
Bo Nix seems to be a likable guy and one with a bevy of intangibles to go with, at the very least, a level of tangible assets to make him a success in the NFL. But while I can’t say for sure how they will translate, or whether the young man will make it big, I might just bet on it being a win for the Broncos opposed to one for the people telling you something different.
Sorry, that felt like me making an argument — but at least it’s a sensible one.
Local Denver, CO
Comments / 0