Bo Nix's Auburn football career deemed 'exceptionally mid'
FanSided's John Buhler found Bo Nix's three-year Auburn football career to be "exceptionally mid" compared to a "great" two-year run in Eugene, Oregon leading the offense under two different offensive coordinators in Dan Lanning's first and second seasons as Ducks head coach.
"He was drafted 12th overall out of Oregon because he was apparently so pro-ready," Buhler prefaced before saying, "The Pittsburgh Steelers got them into the same type of nonsense when they reached on local product Kenny Pickett out of Pitt only two offseasons ago.
"The biggest difference is that Nix was not a one-year wonder in college. He was great during his two-year run at Oregon. While he was exceptionally mid while at Auburn, Nix did show a few flashes of brilliance playing for his father's school, albeit very few."
From a statistical standpoint, Nix wasn't one of the more impressive QBs in the SEC during his three years on the Plains. But it was certainly not on him. AU's offensive line fell apart in Gus Malzahn's final year and didn't recover under Bryan Harsin while the depth of talent at WR significantly thinned from 2019 to 2021.
Bo Nix predicted to resemble his Auburn football version in the NFL
Blogging Dirty's Nick Halden believes the Denver Broncos will be getting a version of Nix that more closely resembles what he was in Auburn than the Heisman candidate he became in his two seasons at Oregon.
"The NFL version of Nix is likely much closer to what we saw in Auburn and not the player he was with the Ducks," Halden prefaced before saying, "Whether it is his ability to process the field or not letting a play go the reasons to avoid Nix in Atlanta are obvious. Perhaps in the perfect NFL system, Nix could be a solid backup but he clearly isn't a starter long-term, and drafting him as such sets your team up for failure."
It seems NFL talking heads have a strong aversion to Nix's Tigers career. It's not a stretch to say he might not be in a position to even start in the pros right now if it wasn't for his transfer to Oregon.