A terrible NFL Draft trend shouldn't doom Bo Nix before Broncos career begins

The Denver Broncos are under the microscope. Perhaps it's because Sean Payton is their head coach, or maybe it's due to the way their trade for Russell Wilson will go down as one of the worst deals in NFL history. The fact that the Broncos then botched Wilson's benching and subsequent exit from the team only made matters worse, and now the team is rebuilding behind first-round draft pick Bo Nix.

Nix has been thrust into the spotlight, as the franchise pinned its hopes on him after selecting him with the 12th overall pick in this year's NFL Draft. Nix's selection in the top half of the first round shocked many pundits and people around the league, but Payton has been steadfast in his praise for the former Auburn and Oregon quarterback, maintaining that drafting Nix was always the plan, while even comparing him to Patrick Mahomes.

Nix will need to overcome the weight of history if he is to prove that Payton's faith in him is well-founded, at least according to The Sporting News. That's because the last five players who were the sixth quarterback drafted, as Nix was, haven't had much success in the NFL.

Let's see what Bo Nix can do on the field before writing him off

That list includes Ryan Finley, Jacob Eason, Kyle Trask, Sam Howell, and Jake Haener, and yes, I promise those are real people. Of that bunch, only Howell has done anything of note in the league, but it's not fair to compare Nix to any of these guys just because he was the sixth quarterback off the board. This year's draft was considered to be loaded with arms, and the data backs it up. Nix was taken 12th overall, behind Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, Michael Penix Jr., and JJ McCarthy. There's only been one other time in history that six quarterbacks were even taken in the entire first round, and most of those guys ended up being pretty good.

Of the aforementioned list, Trask was taken in the second round, but every other player was taken in the fourth round or later. Unlike Nix, who is currently competing in Broncos camp with Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson, those players weren't drafted with the expectation that they would ever be the team's starter. Even Trask, the highest drafted of the bunch, had to sit behind Tom Brady. There's no such impediment in Denver.

Brady's career is exactly why this whole conversation about Nix is silly. The seven-time Super Bowl champion was once the 199th pick in the draft. Do you know how many quarterbacks have succeeded after being drafted 199th? You don't need to visit Football Reference to know that Brady's the only one. Is Bo Nix going to be Tom Brady? Probably not, but it's not fair to expect him to fail due to a silly statistical quirk that doesn't consider at all the context of his situation or his abilities as a player. Let's see him on the field before passing judgment.