It wasn’t raw talent that landed Oregon quarterback Bo Nix in Denver.

It’s not that he doesn’t have any. He does; a player with his statistical output in the Pac-12 (4,508 passing yards, 45 touchdowns with just three interceptions and a 77.4 completion percentage this season) certainly has God-given ability. It’s just that Nix’s physical talents – arm strength, escapability, size and strength – weren’t what Broncos head coach and de facto GM Sean Payton liked most.

The smartest guy in the room liked the fact that his 24-year-old rookie quarterback will most likely be the other smartest guy in the room – the quarterback room.

“He’s extremely intelligent, really smart. He handled a lot of the protections,” Payton told the press Thursday night, referring to some of the tests Nix passed with the Broncos prior to the draft. “When you watch him, it’s pretty calming. He’s very efficient, and it’s not just because of the [underneath throws]. You see a ton of NFL throws in (Oregon’s) offense.”

Trevor Siemian was smart, too.

Then again, Peyton Manning is no dummy, either.

What a quarterback has above the shoulders is most definitely important, but intelligence isn’t a sure-fire indication of future success. It’s not as if Nix is “only” a football savant. Per Payton, Nix was impressive in several key – most importantly, key to the coach himself – areas, including passing accuracy, sack differential, turnover differential, third-down passing and performance during situational football such as end of half, end of game, red zone and two-minute scenarios. On paper, Nix, who played more college football in total than his other first-round counterparts, looks like a can’t miss.

But not everyone saw it that way.

To point, there were five other quarterbacks taken before Nix in the draft; the next one wasn’t taken until the fifth round. Most national outlets weren’t too bullish when it came to grading the Broncos selection of Nix – Bleacher Report gave Denver a D; Chad Reuter of NFL.com offered up C; USA Today was hard on Paton and Payton with a C- overall, citing the Nix selection as an “overdraft.” The list could go on, but by and large, the consensus was that Nix was, for lack of a better term, a “reach.” The only bigger reach, perhaps, was the selection of Michael Penix Jr. to Atlanta – partially because Penix wasn’t graded that highly by most (largely because of his injury history) and partially because the Falcons had already signed free agent Kirk Cousins to a monster deal in the offseason. Many agree that Pennix Jr. has talent and upside if he stays healthy, but the situation – a team that didn’t seemingly need a quarterback using the eight overall pick – was mysterious at best.

Whether the Broncos took a big reach or not is yet to be determined. Sure, they might have been able to wait on Nix. Then again, when a team needs a quarterback, they just need one. And there’s no sense in gambling on whether or not another team eyes “your” guy in the same way as “you” do. Whether Nix was taken 12th or 24th or 36th, the Broncos got a quarterback, and presumably the one they wanted (as evidenced by the fact they didn’t move up to get any of the others).

Several local draftniks try to dispel the sentiment that Nix was a reach. Cecil Lammey of DenverFan.com, one of the area’s most thorough draft analysts, believed that plenty of teams had eyes on Nix – so there was a risk to Denver had they tried to wait – and that Nix had earned a first-round grade not just this season, but last season, too. Heck, even former CU quarterback Joel Klatt – who knows a thing or two about football – said well before the draft that Nix was an ideal fit for the Broncos. Cody Roark of MileHighSports.com suggested that most importantly, Nix is a fit for Payton specifically. Russell Wilson’s “lack of fit” was well documented; Roark believes Nix’s play is predicated on timing, something that suits his head coach perfectly.

In essence, the consensus is that there’s no consensus on Nix or how the Broncos should be viewed for drafting him.

While Nix’s future success is anything but certain, one thing certainly is: The success or failure of Bo Nix and Sean Payton are undeniably linked.

If Bo Nix is a bust, then so too is the Broncos’ hiring of Sean Payton, who boldly broke ties with Russell Wilson, setting the wheels in motion for an entirely different gameplan in Denver. The Broncos are in the midst of the franchise’ longest-ever run of futility, a trend that Payton has been tasked to stop.

The smartest guy in the room just drafted one of the smartest quarterbacks in the class.

But if Nix can’t play, Payton is no longer the smartest guy in the room.