Overreaction Monday: 5 teams that already regret not drafting Bo Nix in first round

No matter how many games you watch Bo Nix play, you come away feeling some sort of way about him. When it is good, like it was for the most part for him at Oregon, he looks like he could be the next star at quarterback in the NFL. When he is going up against Washington, Georgia or just playing at Auburn in general, he looks like a guy who is going to play three years in the league and wash out.

However, I tend to side on the belief that he will have staying power in the league, but will not be as good as the Denver Broncos organization thinks he will be. Regardless, I bet there are a handful of NFL teams out there that feel mighty stupid for not drafting him. He was the sixth quarterback taken in the 2024 NFL Draft as the No. 12 overall pick. Many passed on him, while others did not move up.

What I want to do today is to take a look at five NFL teams that may be feeling some sort of doubt about the present and future of their quarterback position. I could end up with so much egg on my face, but I am willing to go there for the sake of absolutely delicious preseason content. It is Overreaction Monday after all. Surely, somebody out there is wishing Nix was leading their franchise.

Let's start with a team who only has questions about their first-round rookie quarterback after injury.

5. Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings fans may not admit it, but I think Kwesi Adofo-Mensah made another GOB Bluth huge mistake in letting Kirk Cousins walk, signing Sam Darnold and then drafting a project quarterback in J.J. McCarthy, one who is now hurt and out for the season. At least with Nix you would be getting one of the most pro-ready prospects at the quarterback position coming out of college.

Nix is a student of the game, as illustrated by how he grew in Kenny Dillingham and later Will Stein's offensive systems. I expect he will try to do the same in Sean Payton's in Denver. With Kevin O'Connell being a great teacher, I would venture to guess that Nix would have started 12 games for the Vikings this season, probably hovered around .500 and maybe gotten this team into the playoffs.

Instead, the Vikings will trot out there the forever reckless Darnold, hoping McCarthy will heal up fast.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers will not admit this either, but I endured the Arthur Smith experience first-hand for three years. I can tell you three things. One, you will run the ball. Two, your play-calling will perpetually suck in crunch time. And three, your best players will be blocking for guys who are on the verge of getting cut. Factor in Russell Wilson being washed and Justin Fields being overrated, and there it is!

Nix has taken a beating for years with his play at two Power Four schools of note, enough to the point where he is now slightly underrated. I don't know if he will reach the heights Wilson did in his prime, or if he will occasionally wow us like Fields can under center. I just know that he can run a strong, ground-centric offense and not embarrass the team he plays for doing it. Pittsburgh could be a mess.

Unfortunately, the Steelers whiffing on Kenny Pickett is why Nix was never a serious draft option.

3. Los Angeles Rams

It pains me to say this, but I don't know if the Dawgs on the Los Angeles Rams roster are going to be good this year. Matthew Stafford has a powerful right arm, but his best days are behind him. It wouldn't shock me if he retired in a year or two. As for Stetson Bennett IV, he is back in football after his yearlong sabbatical to get his head on right. He just may only be a mercurial backup in the NFL.

The other part is Jimmy Garoppolo will be suspended for the first two games of the season as Stafford's backup. He is handsome and was a decent NFL quarterback at some point in time. I just think he is destined to do work on TV because he is so flipping handsome. Nix could have done as well as Jared Goff did during his first year in Sean McVay's system. The Rams may have missed out.

Los Angeles could win the NFC West if San Francisco falters, or conceivably finish in the basement.

2. Las Vegas Raiders

This one is probably the most painful. The Las Vegas Raiders not only play in the same division as the Broncos, but had the pick after them at No. 13. They took my Dawg Brock Bowers to play some tight end for them. Although I still like Gardner Minshew II and Aidan O'Connell as their quarterbacks, Antonio Pierce has made it a point to make Raider Nation feel incredibly worried about the position.

While the combination of Minshew and O'Connell may prove to be better in the end, Nix would have at least given the team a franchise quarterback worth building around. I compared him favorably to Derek Carr coming out, the quarterback the Silver and Black are trying desperately to replace. To potentially see him star for a hated division rival, one that has been garbage for years, has to be awful.

We can only hope that Minshew harnesses the power of his prophesied father in one Ken Stabler.

1. New York Giants

And we have arrived at the team that done messed up A-A-Ron more than any. While I may have loved the Malik Nabers pick at No. 6 at the time, who is throwing him the football? Daniel Jones is just good enough that the New York Giants administration cannot quite kick. Drew Lock is better as an idea of a quarterback than what he is on the field. I have never see a sloppier quarterback ever run the Air Raid.

Nix would have fit the Giants Forever IBM ethos. He fits New York, even though I would not classify him as a Yankee. He was a far better player in college than Jones and Lock. Since I still believe that Brian Daboll is an excellent offensive mind, I would venture to guess that this partnership would have worked. Instead, Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen will likely be fired by the end of the season.

Everyone was wanting J.J. McCarthy in The Big Apple, when the better answer may have been Nix.