ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — As Bo Nix moves to the Mile High City to establish himself as the Denver Broncos’ next franchise quarterback, he’ll have his warm fuzzy blanket waiting for him.
“He’s got—and I’m just talking about Bo—his warm fuzzy blanket is the center that played with him a year ago, so that’ll be nice,” Sean Payton said, talking about how Nix will be fine transitioning to playing under center, thanks in part to Alex Forsyth.
Not only was Nix reunited with former Oregon teammate Troy Franklin in Denver, but he was also reunited with his former center at Oregon Alex Forsyth, who the Broncos drafted one year before their new quarterback.
Being a warm fuzzy blanket isn’t the only way Forsyth will benefit his quarterback. In fact, Forsyth was already a massive asset to Nix before the draft even rolled around.
“Alex, of course when you have a former teammate that you just signed a year ago, he’s a great resource,” Sean Payton told the Denver media about how the team got intel from Forsyth when evaluating Nix in the draft process.
In fact, Forsyth helped sell the Broncos on using the 12th-overall pick in the draft on Nix.
“In talking with Alex even—you try to hit every base and make sure the information you feel you’re seeing is correct,” Payton explained. “Alex went on like, ‘[Nix] was in the offensive line room, handling the protections, talking about what we’re going to do with these looks.’”
Adam Schefter took it one step further, saying Forsyth “raved” to the Broncos’ coaches about Nix leading up to the draft. “Forsyth told the Broncos coaches that Nix is smart, knows every protection, handles it all at the line of scrimmage, and had the universal respect of the entire team,” Schefter added.
Unsurprisingly, Forsyth was one of the first Broncos to reach out to Nix once Denver officially drafted him.
As Nix tries to win the starting quarterback job to open the season, Forsyth will be attempting to do the same at the center position. If they both win the starting jobs, the center of Denver’s offense will be reminiscent of Oregon football in 2022.
Denver’s first-round pick is in line to sign a four-year, $18 million contract with the Broncos. A nice dinner might be in order for Forsyth from his quarterback to thank him for helping him land in Denver.
