2024 Scouting Report: QB Bo Nix, Oregon (FREE)
Bo Nix, for me, has been a very confusing prospect to try and grade out. Oregon is known for being a great spread offense and someone with college experience (in Nix’s case a lot of experience…5 years) will be able to run that offense very well. Take that experience, throw it into a good system with notoriously awful PAC-12 offenses and you should have a very efficient offense. That is exactly what they had.
The confusing part for me is, how much of Oregon’s and more importantly Bo’s success is from those factors, and how much of it is from Bo being a good quarterback? Upon watching and rewatching the film, I initially hated Bo and have now begun to like him enough to be one of the better talents in the class. I think you have Penix and Daniels in tier 1 with Nix a step below in tier 2.
What has impressed me the most while watching Bo is his command of the offense, something he’s been able to develop over time, but also he knows where the ball is going before the snap, and not in a bad predetermined target way. Nix is best in the short-medium game, which makes sense for the scheme that Oregon ran, but he’s not a wash when it comes to throwing deep, he’s potentially the best thrower from the pocket in this class, tough to say definitively when comparing him and Penix.
Mechanics-wise Nix is very solid. His mechanics are good with a fast delivery, as noted earlier he’s good at all distances and has the arm strength to reach anywhere an NFL quarterback would need to. Nix also has decent speed if he needs to use his legs. How do you describe someone that is good at everything? Good is probably the best word. I think the reason I can’t make a decision is that he doesn’t have a ‘superpower’ like most prospects. Williams and Daniels are great at improvising and on the run/running. Penix is an unphased killer inside the pocket. Nix is just Nix.
Prospect Grade: B-
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After the first preseason game, I had thought Nix would win the starting job from Stidham and lo and behold, that happened. Congrats Bo. Nix has definitely performed better than I had expected in the preseason and while I do still believe he is behind Penix/Daniels/McCarthy, the gap between all 4 of them isn’t as pronounced as I had initially thought. Nix is Drew Brees-lite, and I know I said that about Penix initially but Penix seems to be more in the gunslinger category than Brees is.
Nix’s playstyle is perfect for his new head coach, Sean Payton, and kudos to the Broncos for bringing them together. This will likely be one of the more efficient offenses in 2024.
Prospect Re-grade: B+
(Photo by James Snook-USA TODAY Sports)
