Throughout his football career, Bo Nix has frequently drawn comparisons to former NFL quarterback Drew Brees. Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton spent 15 seasons with Brees while the pair was with the New Orleans Saints. Payton crafted an offense that played well to Brees’ strengths, and the Saints would win a Super Bowl in 2010.

So when a player who closely resembled Brees showed up in the 2024 NFL Draft, Payton had to be sure the Broncos landed him.

Prior to Nix’s Week 1 regular season debut, Brees was asked about Nix. Brees would give the young rookie quarterback a commendatory review.

“I’ve been really impressed with him,” said Brees in an interview with RG.org. “A few things that stick out to me – first off, the guy had 60 starts in college, 60 high-level starts at Auburn and Oregon. That’s significant. That is significant in a young quarterback’s growth and development.”

Brees: Expect ‘growing pains’ with Bo Nix and young quarterbacks

Nix’s collegiate experience has both been discussed a positive and a negative. He would experience two very different offensive systems at Auburn and Oregon, with the latter tuning better to his strengths. Some have also knocked Nix for how long he spent in college, and the fact that he’s an NFL rookie at 24 years old.

Oregon operated an offense that closely resembled a pro-style offense. Throughout training camp and the preseason, Nix has been praised for how far along and how prepared he is.

“He steps into a situation where it’s a new offense and it’s the NFL,” said Brees. “Developing chemistry with your team, that kind of thing. You’re used to waking up, being the guy. You’re used to a situation where you’ve got a routine and you know how to prepare and you’ve seen all these different defensive looks. You’ve seen all these different defensive pressures, right? There’s just a different level of knowledge and experience that comes with that many starts and I think it just accelerates their ability to be able to step in and be a starter. I feel like that’s part of the formula.”

While Nix impressed in the preseason, his first regular-season start didn’t go as most thought it would go. Against the Seattle Seahawks, Nix would go 26-for-42 with 138 pass yards and two interceptions. He would start to warm up near the end of the game, when he would record a rushing touchdown. At that point it was too little, too late, and the Broncos would lose 26-20.

For a majority of rookie quarterbacks, their first season in the league can be filled with growing pains. According to Brees, the first season or two in a young quarterback’s career is very important in terms of development. However Nix’s first season in the league goes, it’s important to build on the starts he gets under his belt.

“When you talk about young quarterbacks that are getting their opportunity to play in the NFL, I think you need at least 50 high-level starts,” said Brees. “Whether that comes in college or whether that comes to the NFL, what I’m saying is, if you draft a kid who only has had 20 college starts, but he’s this top prospect and he’s got unbelievable talent. That’s great, but chances are, he’s going on a team who has some holes to fill, right? There’s going to be a little bit of an uphill battle. There’s going to be struggles and the guy still needs about a season and a half or two before you’re really going to know what you have.”