Bo Nix vs. J.J. McCarthy: Broncos have to feel good about early reports

They were the fifth and sixth first-round quarterbacks taken inside the top 12 last spring. It is only natural that we group them together going forward. So in the emerging great debate between who is better between Bo Nix and J.J. McCarthy, I would say right now that the Denver Broncos firmly have the upper hand over the Minnesota Vikings. It is way too early, but Nix has a sizable lead at this time.

While I would like to start out by saying that I liked all six first-round quarterbacks to varying degrees, I can understand why many pundits, including yours truly, believed Nix to be a bit of a reach at No. 12 by Denver. He may have had the most starting experience of any of the first-rounders, but he seemed to have the lowest ceiling of the half-dozen. Simply put, where he landed mattered more than anyone.

I compared Nix favorably to Derek Carr coming out. Carr has had a strong decade-plus career out of Fresno State. I envision a scenario in which Nix may do the same. My biggest concern for him is the Broncos have not been anything close to a model franchise recently. No doubt about it, McCarthy went to the best spot of all six quarterbacks with the Vikings, but he is the less pro-ready by far.

And there is much more to that than this to give Nix the leg up on McCarthy at least out of the gate.

Bo Nix leads J.J. McCarthy in the great debate between first-round QBs

Even if Denver stinks, I believe Nix will be a better quarterback than Kenny Pickett. This is because Nix was not a one-year star at Oregon. He shined there in back-to-back years, while having varying levels of success previously at Auburn for three years. This leads me right back to McCarthy. He only played three years at Michigan, only started in two of them and leaned on his teammates in a run-first attack.

What I am getting at is Nix is closer to a finished product, whereas McCarthy may be more of a project than people even realize. Nix has not beaten out Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson just yet, but I have a strong feeling that is going to happen sooner rather than later. With McCarthy, it may be a while before he gets the keys to the car after Sam Darnold takes it on a joyride though the cosmos.

So the starting points for these two quarterbacks in question really are not the same. Of course, there are other factors working against McCarthy in this than even in Nix's borderline trying situation in Denver. Nix signed his contract with the Broncos first, meaning he will not be missing any time at all during training camp. Not to say McCarthy will, but he could, as he was unsigned into last weekend.

Not only is there contractual issues at bay with McCarthy, but similar things apply to the Vikings' other first-round pick in Dallas Turner. They were two of the last five first-round rookies to remain unsigned, joining the likes of Chicago Bears rookies Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze, as well as Cincinnati Bengals rookie Amarius Mims. This is not the end of the world, but it is something, though.

The other thing to keep in mind is that the Vikings have had way more off-the-field issues than the Broncos up to this point. In the wake of rookie Khyree Jackson passing away tragically in a wreck caused by a drunk driver, guess who got themselves a DUI a little more than a week later? Vikings' No. 2 wide receiver Jordan Addison, the player the Vikings drafted to effectively replace Adam Thielen.

All in all, more things seem to be working in Nix's favor over McCarthy to have early and meaningful playing time as a rookie. Admittedly, Nix has the better NFL prototype, as I often compare many college quarterbacks favorably to Carr, whereas my comparison for McCarthy was a better version of Brock Purdy. I loved them both in college, but I am honestly shocked Purdy is this good in the league.

None of this matters until they start in regular-season games, but Nix will start long before McCarthy.