Oregon
The Broncos waited and waited, then made a franchise-sized bet on Oregon QB Bo Nix: “I just appreciate the value that they had in me”
So many months, meetings and miles later, the Broncos’ first-round plan proved so simple it translates into two letters.
Bo.
Denver set its course for the future and coach Sean Payton put his quarterback evaluation chops on the line in a major way Thursday night by selecting Oregon quarterback Bo Nix at No. 12.
Nix, a six-year college player who started 61 games and put up prodigious numbers the past two years running the Ducks offense, all along felt like a clean fit from a scheme standpoint. He was not, however, considered a particularly good value in the first half of the first round.
In recent years, however, quarterbacks have been picked earlier and earlier. Never faster and more furiously than this night.
USC’s Caleb Williams, LSU’s Jayden Daniels and North Carolina’s Drake Maye went in succession the first three picks. None of Washington, Chicago and New England, respectively, could be convinced to move off those opportunities.
Atlanta dropped the stunner and picked Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8 two months after giving Kirk Cousins $100 million guaranteed. Then Minnesota moved up one spot to No. 10 to ensure it got the fifth quarterback of the night in Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.
All the while, the Broncos were not concerned.
They waited out free agency. They waited out weeks of trade talks before acquiring Zach Wilson from the New York Jets on Monday for minimal cost. What’s a few more picks and a quintet of quarterbacks?
Payton said at the NFL scouting combine that his team would ace the quarterback evaluation process and other teams wouldn’t. Then he stood pat at No. 12 and had no qualms about taking the sixth quarterback of the night.
“It means a lot,” Nix said. “I can’t thank them enough for taking me, and for putting their belief in me. Like I said, there’s a lot in the future that’s going to need to be done — a lot of work to be done, a lot of growing and a lot of getting better. I just appreciate the value that they had in me.”
They left premium options for teams behind. They could have had Georgia tight end Brock Bowers. They could have had their pick of defensive players. The first didn’t come off the board until Indianapolis took UCLA pass-rusher Laiatu Latu at No. 15, the longest stretch of all offense to start a draft in NFL history.
Instead, they did what so much of the top half of the draft order did: took a swing at the game’s most important position.
The Broncos did extensive work on Nix throughout the process, just as they did with the other quarterbacks in the class. They didn’t have a loud presence at his pro day in March, but Sean Payton and company were in Eugene and held a lengthy private workout and meeting with him the next day.
“We talked a lot of football and we talked a lot about (Payton’s) scheme and what he’s done for so many years and how he’s been so successful,” Nix said. “It was a blast talking football, to be honest with you. It was a blast being in there with him and the other coaches. They brought a lot of guys out there to the private (meeting) and I was just very honored to have them around.”
The way the board fell provides a clean and compelling way to measure Denver’s process. Because Nix was the last of the six off the board, the Broncos will have either outfoxed and out-scouted a dozen other teams or it will look like they forced the issue and took a quarterback because they felt they had to take one.
The ramifications of that are equally clear and every bit as compelling: If Nix solves the eight-year quarterback conundrum this franchise has suffered through, this will be a defining night. The pick took no additional draft capital and leaves Payton and general manager George Paton with seven selections moving forward into the next two days to attack other areas of need. There are many.
If not, the wisdom of selecting a player most didn’t have among the draft’s premier talents will be questioned up and down for years. Could the Broncos have landed Nix later? Is he that much better than Spencer Rattler? How many touchdowns did Bowers catch for Las Vegas against Denver this year?
That’s the nature of making this bet. Payton put his first-rounder where his mouth was.
First-rounders have to produce regardless of position, but especially when it’s a quarterback and especially when a team hasn’t made one since 2021.
If Nix learns to operate Payton’s offensive system the way he did Oregon’s, the Broncos will benefit for years to come. If he ends up performing like a typical sixth quarterback taken in a draft, Denver will likely continue to lag far behind in a division that features two of the game’s best quarterbacks in Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert.
No pressure.
QB Bo Nix, Oregon
Round/pick: 1st/No. 12
Age: 24
Height/weight: 6-foot-2/217 pounds
College: Oregon
Hometown: Pinson, Ala.
Notable: Nix is one of the most experienced quarterbacks in this year’s draft class, playing in 61 career games and recording 15,352 passing yards, 113 touchdowns and 26 interceptions. A four-star recruit out of high school and ranked the best dual-threat quarterback in the 2019 class by 247sports, Nix spent three seasons at Auburn before transferring to Oregon and becoming a college football superstar. He totaled 8,101 passing yards, 74 touchdowns and 10 picks in two seasons with the Ducks, posting a 22-5 record.
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Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Oregon went on the road earlier this year and played against the Michigan Wolverines in The Big House, and had zero problems with 110,000 fans in the stadium. So by comparison, 80,000 fans at Camp Randall shouldn’t be an issue for the Ducks. However, it is a night game in Madison in the middle of November. Temperatures are expected to get down into the high 30s, and it will certainly be loud.
If Oregon can take care of business early and get out to a lead in the first quarter, it will have a big part in taking the crowd out of things. They will also need to try hard to stay ahead of the chains, succeeding on first and second down so as not to give the Badgers’ faithful an opportunity to get loud on 3rd down.
While the Ducks should be sizeable favorites on paper, crowds and momentum can play big roles in a game like this. Lanning and his staff need to make sure that they can nullify that impact early in this one.
Starting next season, the price of Oregon Ducks football season tickets will be increased. In an interview with reporter John Canzano, Oregon Athletic Director Rob Mullens said he believes that this season proved that the season ticket value for football is “tremendous.”
The good news is that a “talent fee” or tax is not in the current plans at the University of Oregon. The Tennessee athletic department recently announced that a 10 percent fee will be added to the purchase of tickets across all sports starting next year. The reason being for this is to help the school pay its athletes.
Coach Dan Lanning had nothing to say on the matter but Mullens told Canzano that Oregon is trying to generate an additional $20.5 million to reach the projected Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) cap in 2025.
“Can we raise $20.5 million? How do we allocate $20.5 million?… We don’t have unlimited resources… We have one sport that generates revenue for the other 19 sports… We’re spending a lot of days planning for what’s about to take place on July 1.”
– Mullens told John Canzano
Mullens said that Oregon will not cut any sports and will stay at 20 total (football, volleyball, men’s/women’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s/women’s cross country, men’s/women’s golf, men’s/women’s tennis, men’s/women’s track & field, women’s soccer, women’s lacrosse, women’s beach volleyball, women’s acrobatics & tumbling, rugby, ice hockey). With that being said, he also mentioned that there will be “tough decisions” regarding funding scholarships and operations in some sports.
“That is not on the table for us today. Obviously, we’re still learning about things.”
– Mullens told John Canzano
For some background on the 2024 season ticket prices, it was $279 in the upper parts of sections 35 through 39 as well as sections 23 through 27. On the most expensive end, tickets were $589 plus a required $1,950 donation to the Duck Athletic Fund (total of $2,539) in the charter box.
The season ticket prices for the 2025 football campaign have been updated on the GoDucks website. On the cheapest end, tickets are $339 in the upper part of sections 35 through 39 as well as sections 23 through 27. On the most expensive end, it will be $659 plus a required $2,020 donation to the Duck Athletic Fund (total of $2,679) in the charter box. Looks to be just a slight increase next season compared to what it was this season.
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Tank cars on the train tracks outside of the Zenith Energy oil terminal in Portland also contain a placard warning of toxic inhalation.
Tony Schick / OPB
Oregon regulators have canceled public hearings for a controversial fuel terminal in Portland.
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality staff say they conducted an unannounced inspection at Zenith Energy’s terminal on Wednesday. Inspectors concluded they needed more information from Zenith before considering its application for an air quality permit, which would have allowed it to continue storing and moving fuels between railcars, ships and pipelines.
DEQ subsequently canceled its two public hearings scheduled for November and December.
During the inspection, DEQ staff say it appeared Zenith had done construction work that was “more expansive” than they expected.
In 2020, Zenith installed a valve and welded pipe so it could start handling diesel and renewable diesel at another dock, called the McCall Dock. The company didn’t notify the state for three years. DEQ issued a warning letter in March 2024. This week was the first time DEQ staff were able to see the dock modifications for themselves.
“We’re very understaffed, and we have a lot going on,” said Lisa Ball, air quality manager in DEQ’s Northwest Region “So, we had not been out there to examine the construction that was on site.”
Ball said the inspector is completing a report of what they saw at Zenith’s terminal, which will be published on DEQ’s website when it’s complete.
The Houston-based company has been operating a fuel terminal in a Northwest Portland industrial area since 2018. It has since drawn intense opposition from many local environmental groups and Portlanders, who have criticized Zenith for violating multiple local regulations.
An activist with the environmental action group Extinction Rebellion watches over a protest garden planted near the tracks of Zenith Energy’s oil-by-rail terminal in Portland, Oregon, on Sunday, April 21, 2019.
Bryan M. Vance / OPB
Ball credited people who have publicly raised their concerns about Zenith for Wednesday’s decision.
“I really thank the community for their continued engagement and support in this permitting process. You know, it was their questions and comments that led us to further investigate,” Ball said. “I just really hope that they can see that the information that they provided to us was helpful and it really led us to take action.”
DEQ staff say they will schedule another public information meeting by early December, where they will share more information about the inspection and next steps.
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