{"id":171667,"date":"2024-04-26T16:30:43","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T20:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=171667"},"modified":"2024-04-26T16:07:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T20:07:22","slug":"broncos-payton-draft-chiefs-mahomes-nix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/04\/26\/broncos-payton-draft-chiefs-mahomes-nix\/","title":{"rendered":"Rival HC Name-Drops Chiefs&#8217; Patrick Mahomes to Justify 1st-Round Pick"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes may be the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/02\/08\/chiefs-mahomes-game-manager-49ers-purdy-newton\/\" target=\"_self\">source of nightmares<\/a> for defensive coordinators and players. He was certainly a force in the Denver Broncos\u2019 plans for the 2024 draft. Denver selected Oregon quarterback Bo Nix with the No. 12 overall pick. It\u2019s a slot that many view as a reach for the record-setting passer.<\/p>\n<p>But Broncos head coach Sean Payton wasn\u2019t about to let that kind of opportunity pass for a second time.<\/p>\n<h2>Broncos&#8217; Sean Payton Compares Taking Bo Nix to Missing Patrick Mahomes<\/h2>\n<h3>Sean Payton Hasn\u2019t Gotten Over Losing Patrick Mahomes to Chiefs<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cI think the biggest thing is trusting what you\u2019re seeing, and I say that respectfully,\u201d Payton said on the \u201cPat McAfee Show\u201d on April 25. \u201cEveryone has jobs to do and it\u2019s always like, \u2018Well, manage the draft.\u2019 [Or], \u2018They could have backed up and got him.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lqlwjh6wTno\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">heard that with Patrick Mahomes<\/a> when Kansas City took him. And I\u2019m like, \u2018Well, they couldn\u2019t have backed up and got him because we were taking him with the next pick. \u2026 Before Penix was taken, we were discussing a slight wiggle. Then you start looking at it and saying, \u2018Is it worth the risk for a third-round pick?\u2019 And I\u2019m just glad it worked out in our favor.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Denver Broncos seeing that everyone is talking about the Atlanta Falcons taking Michael Penix Jr. instead of their massive reach for Bo Nix: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aZjyteRyuC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/aZjyteRyuC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Kyle Yates (@thekyleyates) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thekyleyates\/status\/1783898441136910622?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 26, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Chiefs acquired the No. 10 overall pick of the 2017 NFL Draft from the Buffalo Bills, using it to select Mahomes just one slot ahead of Payton\u2019s former team, the New Orleans Saints.<\/p>\n<p>Payton has referred to that moment often, and this pick could show just how much.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we evaluated him, he was <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NFLonFOX\/status\/1568987874632114176\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">clearly an elite player<\/a>. The best quarterback I had ever seen on college tape. In the draft room, we pick 11. The Chiefs trade up to 10 ahead of us to take make that selection,\u201d Payton said on \u201cFox NFL Kickoff\u201d in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Payton said things got so far that he let former quarterback Drew Brees know the plan if Mahomes made it to them. Mahomes did not.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was gonna happen, and then it didn\u2019t happen,\u201d Payton said.<\/p>\n<p>The rub for Payton is having to see the player he coveted \u2013 who has become every bit the player he projected during his evaluation \u2013 at least two times every season for the duration of their respective stays in the AFC West.<\/p>\n<h3>Chris Jones Rips NFL Rule Change<\/h3>\n<p>The NFL announced plans to allow players to wear the protective \u201cguardian\u201d caps often seen worn over helmets at practice during games this season. Chiefs lineman Chris Jones is not a fan of the decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StoneColdJones\/status\/1783937492594409522\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">craziest thing ever<\/a>,\u201d Jones posted on X, quoting another post on the impending change. \u201cThese caps make no difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud835\uddd5\ud835\udde5\ud835\uddd8\ud835\uddd4\ud835\uddde\ud835\udddc\ud835\udde1\ud835\uddda: Guardian Caps have been authorized for in-game use for next season. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BXNj4KNhMj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/BXNj4KNhMj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NFL_DovKleiman\/status\/1783923394372583444?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 26, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The NFL denied in-game use last season only to do an about-face this season.<\/p>\n<p>It will be interesting to see which players decided to don the caps this season. It will also be interesting to see if that number changes from the start of the season through the final week. That wasn\u2019t the only issue on the docket either.<\/p>\n<p>Commissioner Roger Goodell is also pushing for an 18-game regular season slate. While Jones did not weigh in on that, his reaction will be one to watch.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton brought up Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to justify his draft decisions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2879,"featured_media":171668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[32094,7811,1576,512],"class_list":["post-171667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chiefs","tag-bo-nix","tag-chiefs-featured","tag-patrick-mahomes","tag-sean-payton"],"modified_by":"Josh Buckhalter","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2879"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}