3. Bo Nix, Broncos
Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton has never taken a quarterback in the first round of the NFL Draft since he's been a head coach in the NFL. That's not all that difficult to believe considering he had such a great run with Drew Brees and the Saints, but he's in uncharted waters at the quarterback position nonetheless.
The selection of Bo Nix was met with plenty of criticism by the media. There are a lot of people who believe that Nix is simply too old to have the upside of a typical first-round pick at the quarterback position (even though Joe Burrow was 24 in his rookie year for the Bengals as well). And it's true -- at 24 years of age, Nix would be the oldest first-round quarterback ever selected if it weren't for the complete outlier of Brandon Weeden.
But Nix has been everything Sean Payton hoped for and then some so far with the Broncos. Payton has been gushing about his accuracy, quick release, and understanding of the offense early on. Nix has been taking a majority of the 1st-team reps for the Broncos throughout the course of training camp and has been extremely impressive.
There's a chance the 6th quarterback taken out of six in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft could be one of the most pro-ready in the class. People were underwhelmed by Nix for a variety of reasons: Some didn't like his arm talent, some didn't like the offense he ran at Oregon, some feel he's reached his upside already.
Whatever the case, Nix appears to be a really good fit for Sean Payton's offense and could wind up being a lot better in the 2024 season than the general consensus expected when he was drafted.