Bo Knows Football -Bo Nix, Oregon

First Round Mock’s William Yanish has found use for the old Nike slogan in his latest article about Oregon quarterback (QB) Bo Nix.

A little boy following in his father’s footsteps is an age-old tale. For me, I loved hearing my dad tell short-stories and tall-tales about his adventures. In fact, without those stories I wouldn’t be sitting here right now talking to you.

Football has always been my lifelong initiative.

After my father’s second deployment with the U.S. Army 187th Airborne Regiment in Korea and Vietnam, he was promptly discharged in San Francisco, California. This was 1961. The same time that a young QB by the name of Billy Kilmer was drafted No. 11 overall by the San Francisco 49ers.

After a night of debauchery and a chance encounter in the Mission District of San Francisco, my father and Kilmer were officially buddies, or so the legend goes.

With Kilmer’s assistance, my father secured a walk-on tryout with the Niners. After a bone-jarring hit on a made player, during practice, my father’s days on the football field were over. The player suffered a broken collarbone.

The rest is history.

Stories continue…

One of the nation’s biggest football stars, Oregon QB Bo Nix grew up in the same type of manner around the game. His father, Patrick Nix, was a QB at Auburn during the early 90’s.

In 2019, as a true freshman, Bo was named starting QB at Auburn. Ironically, his first game was a come from behind win versus the Oregon Ducks.

The same year he led the Tigers to a 48-45 win versus Alabama, in the Iron Bowl.

At 6-foot-2 and weighing 213 pounds, Bo is a pretty average size for a QB today. However, throughout high school and college, he has been anything but average on the football field.

The more that I study QBs on film, the more I understand Bill Parcells’ criteria for drafting QBs. It has to do with the evolution of a player and how prepared they are for a career at the next level.

✔️ Nix just so happens to check all seven boxes of that criteria.

One of the most important things that I seek out when evaluating QBs is their ability to overcome adversity. In 2021, after struggling in some games, Nix was benched in favor of QB T.J. Finley. After he earned his opportunity back, Nix beat a tough LSU team and a No. 10 ranked Ole Miss team.

When the transfer portal opened, he decided to bounce and ended up in Oregon for the 2022 season.

The Yanish Report

Creeping arm-strength. Can make all the throws. Dime worthy accuracy. Ball placement could improve. Could step up consistency. Next-level touch and velocity adjustments. Relies on old-school mechanics. Quick compact release. Ball comes out quick. Throws well when off-platform launch is needed. Utilizes all available weapons. Coaches son. Football IQ is brimming large. Best with traditional rhythm and timing based drops used. Uses excellent footwork when setting feet and launch angles. Sees the field well and protects the ball. Doesn’t take many sacks. Athletically gifted. Super mobile. FAST. Excels on bootleg runs and passes. Run-pass option (RPO) and designed runs are dangerous. Will throw blocks on RPO sets. Tough as nails. Scrapes and scratches will not take him off the field.

Looking ahead

Nix exploded under Head Coach Dan Lanning’s tutelage in Oregon. Last year he was responsible for 4,103 total yards 43 total TDs with only seven INTs.

With a year to prepare, he could set Division 1 football on fire in 2023.

Consistently one of the top all-around athletes, whenever he steps on the field, there isn’t much holding him back.

Without clear-cut rankings in the 2023 QB landscape, he could easily cement himself at the top of the class.

My BIG three questions

1. Will he make a run at the Heisman Trophy as the best player in the country?

2. Can he overtake favorites Drake Maye and Caleb Williams and prove himself worthy of the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft?

3. With head-to-head season match-ups versus Caleb Williams (USC) Cameron Rising (Utah), can he lead Oregon to the PAC-12 Championship?

How Nix stacked up and game film reviewed

My Draft Value: First-Round

Game Film Evidence:

Auburn (2021 Jersey No. 10):

Penn State ’21

Arkansas ’21

Georgia ’21

Texas A&M ‘21

Oregon (2022 Jersey No.10):

UCLA ‘22

Washington ‘22

BYU ‘22

Utah ‘22

William Yanish III is a life long football fan. He’s from the little town of Crawford, Colorado. Along the way, he’s lived in Dutch Harbor, Alaska and Brookings, Oregon. Quarterback Joe Montana was his idol growing up. A little bit of CTE from life’s adventures killed his dreams as a football player. Now, he is an aspiring writer and Draft Analyst at FirstRoundMock.com. He’s a fanatic with a dream, which is coming true.