Paton on private workout: “We go out to the field and (Nix) made 10, 15 throws and Sean came up to me and said, ‘This is the guy.’
ENGLEWOOD, Colo — The most common of human traits has presented a new challenge to evaluating college prospects.
Check out the top six quarterbacks who went among the top 12 overall picks Thursday in the NFL Draft.
There were three young guns – Caleb Williams, J.J. McCarthy and Drake Maye. They are 22 or younger who played two full seasons as a college starter, three seasons total.
There were also three older quarterbacks – Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr. and Jayden Daniels. All will turn 24 during this 2024 calendar year. All played at least five college seasons with two different schools.
“It’s kind of the new normal with the COVID year,’’ Broncos general manager George Paton said in a sit-down interview Saturday evening with 9NEWS. “There are age gaps.’’
He refers to college players getting an extra year of eligibility if they were enrolled in school during the 2020 season of the pandemic. The Broncos took Nix, who is the oldest of the six first-round quarterbacks at 24 years, 2 months. He played the 2020 season without it really counting toward his college eligibility, as did Penix and Daniels. Penix wound up playing a whopping six college seasons.
The question posed to Paton: Doesn’t it figure the 21 year olds like McCarthy and Maye have more room to grow than the 24 year olds?
“You look at it, it’s hard because this is new but 24 years old is not that old for football,’’ Paton said. “You evaluate it but you’re really evaluating the player, you’re evaluating the person. Evaluate how they fit in with the organization, especially for a quarterback.
“To me the age, they’re going to be more, especially with a guy like Bo Nix, 61 starts, we feel like he’ll be more game-ready than if we were going to draft a 21 year old.”
There it is. The Broncos are in a dastardly skid of seven consecutive losing seasons. Enough. Broncos Country is getting restless. The team has got to go now. It can’t wait two or three years for a young quarterback to develop. The Broncos have got to go now.
“I got it,’’ Paton said. “I hear ya.”
Nix, a quarterback from Auburn and Oregon, highlighted the Broncos’ 2024 draft that included six other players. Nix went No. 12 in the first round. Utah edge defender Jonah Ellis in the third. Nix’s top college receiver at Oregon, Troy Franklin in the fourth. Cornerback Kris Abram-Draine and Notre Dame running back Audric Estime in the fifth. Utah receiver Devaughn Vele (speaking of age) and South Carolina guard-center Nick Gargiulo in the seventh.
“In honor of the Pac-12 we got four Pac-12 players,’’ Paton said, referring to Oregon’s Nix and Franklin and Utah’s Elliss and Vele. “It was a good class. We feel we got really good value out of the class. All of these guys have really good football character, really talented. I think they’re going to fit in well with what we’re trying to build here.
“We’re excited. Everyone’s excited right after the draft. We like this class. So we’ll see.”
Let there be now doubt the Bo Nix era has begun. Not only is Nix the team’s first-round quarterback, the Broncos took another step toward making him comfortable by drafting his favorite receiver.
The Nix Era came from a pivotal private workout the Broncos held March 18 with Nix in Eugene, Ore. Paton and head coach Sean Payton were there. So was Franklin, by the way.
And it was there that Nix became Payton’s choice, even if most if not all of the so-called QB experts had him ranked behind Maye and McCarthy, and even Penix.
Paton offered a little more detail to that famed private workout to 9NEWS.
“I’d watched all the quarterbacks, seen them live (during the regular season on scouting trips),’’ Paton said. “And then the season’s over, I get with Sean and we watched the quarterbacks (on tape). And Sean liked a lot of these quarterbacks.
“And when we got to Bo it was pretty instant. Sean was like, ‘man.’ You know, Sean.
“He really liked him and then we went to the private workout and spent three hours with Bo in the meeting setting and he was outstanding. And we go out to the field and he made 10, 15 throws and Sean came up to me and said, ‘This is the guy.’
“And I said, ‘Hey, we’ve got a whole process to go through. But he was really the target from then on.”
As for Franklin, the Broncos nearly took him with their No. 76 pick in the third round.
“We did,’’ Paton said. “That was a really tough call.’’
Instead, at No. 76, the need for an edge rusher was prioritized over receiver. As it almost always is. The Broncos selected Elliss in the third round – even though he missed the final three games of last season with a shoulder injury.
“We think his shoulder is going to be fine,’’ Paton said. “He’ll be ready rookie minicamp (in two weeks) I think, maybe a little beyond. I mean he’s a football player. You just look at his family and he can really rush the passer. He’s physical in the run game. The relentless motor really sticks out. You watch Utah’s defense, they all play really hard and it’s led by Jonah.”
When the third round ended, the NFL Draft took an overnight break until Saturday morning with the start of round four. The Broncos went to restless sleep hoping it wasn’t too late to draft Franklin, who despite second-round grades by many had slipped out of round three.
“We thought he would go in the second round,’’ Paton said. “So after our presser (Friday night) we went back and we looked at it. Went to bed knowing we were going to try and figure out how to get him and we did.”
Franklin caught passes from Nix during that private workout for the Broncos’ brass. As the Broncos were busy with drafting players in the fourth, fifth and seventh rounds Saturday, they were also hosting New York Jets’ veteran defensive linemen John Franklin-Myers, who had been granted permission to seek a trade.
He took a physical with the Broncos on Saturday while is agent and the Broncos’ restructured his contract. Franklin-Myers was at Broncos’ headquarters with his wife. It’s a done deal.
On the field, a switch flips. There’s a violent element to Franklin-Myers’ playing style. Personable off the field, he’s a mean son of a gun on it.
“He’s mean. He’s feared, he’s mean, he’s tough,’’ Paton said. “Great guy. Great family. I’ve admired him since he’s been with the Jets. Just the way he plays. They play him all down the line of scrimmage, four years in a row he’s had over 54 pressures. Really physical in the run game. He’s going to bring an attitude that have with Zach Allen, D.J. Jones and some of our guys, he’s really going to help us out. And so for us it’s out eighth draft pick and he really helps the trenches.”
Soon after the trade for Franklin-Myers became reported, the Broncos made more news by selecting Notre Dame running back Audric Estime.
“He’s a power back, first and second down,’’ Paton said. “But he can catch the ball out of the backfield. Big, physical, really hard to tackle. Really good contact balance. A lot of big runs. Everyone talks about his 40 (a disappointing 4.71 at the Combine) but this guy had more explosive runs than just about anyone in the draft. Great kid, you’ll meet him. This kid is really imposing.
“We were really surprised he was there in the fifth round. So he’s going to add to the group and we have some pretty big backs that are hard to tackle.”
As Paton was finishing up his interview with 9NEWS, his top two personnel assistants, Darren Mougey and Cody Rager, were heading the recruitment of 13 undrafted rookies who joined the Broncos.
“The (roster and team) building never stops,’’ Paton said. “The draft’s over but we’re working on our college free agents now. Then it’s on to the next one.
“We’re encouraged with the offseason. The players we brought in, some of the decisions we made, especially here with the draft, so we’re really encouraged with this football team. Looking forward to Sean and the coaches getting around these rookies when they come in. So we’re excited.”
At the very least, the Broncos are better today than they were at this time a week ago.
“We are, we’re much better,” Paton said.
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