Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton points to the similarities between Bo Nix and Drew Brees

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Bo Nix and Drew Brees are nearly identical, at least from a physical standpoint.

At this year’s NFL Combine, Nix checked in at 6-foot-2, 214 pounds with 31.875-inch arms and 10.125-inch hands.

At the 2001 NFL Combine, Brees clocked in at just over six-feet tall, 213 pounds with 31-inch arms and 10.25-inch hands.

The moment the Denver Broncos and Sean Payton used the 12th-overall pick on Nix, the comparisons with the 24-year-old rookie and the future Hall-of-Fame signal caller began. And they haven’t slowed down since.

Sean Payton would be thrilled if Nix was as identical to Brees on the field as he is physically.

On Tuesday, following the Broncos’ eighth OTA practice of the offseason workout program, the man who coached Brees to his gold jacket chimed in on the comparisons.

“All right, we’re looking for similarities. I would say mentally, [Nix] wants to know as much and as fast as he can,” Payton said, pointing to a trait that Brees almost certainly had. “I think there’s maybe a maturity level because, again, [Nix] played 61 games [in college] and when [the Saints] got Drew, it was off of his rookie contract and coming off an injury.”

To Payton’s point, in college, Nix racked up 61 career games. By the time Brees signed with Payton and the New Orleans Saints in 2006, Brees had played in 59 NFL games.

“[Nix] locates the ball well and he’s accurate and I think Drew was,” Payton continued, finding other, very significant, similarities.

Last year, Nix set the NCAA single-season record for completion percentage, connecting on a whopping 77.45 percent of his passes.

In 2018, under Payton in New Orleans, Brees set the NFL single-season record for completion percentage, finding his target 74.4 percent of his passes. The following season, Brees, once again, led the NFL in completion percentage at 74.3.

Early on in his NFL career, Nix has put his impressive accuracy on display.

“He’s throwing the ball extremely well,” Payton said during Week 2 of OTAs on May 30.

However, Nix isn’t an exact clone of Brees. Not everything with the two quarterbacks is the same.

“Their personalities are different,” Payton said on Tuesday. “He’s the son of a coach. Drew wasn’t necessarily the son of a coach.”

Fortunately for Payton and the Broncos, the similarities on the football field are what will decide whether Nix was a boom-or-bust.

Early indications, especially from the man who knows Nix and Brees the best, are encouraging.